Searching the online want ads I came across a transcriptionist job. I was looking for something to do when classes canceled now that my Business English course was finished. So I clicked on the link and completed the test. The idea of getting paid in US dollars really appealed to me, especially with the dollar at over 16 pesos.
The next day I received an email that said I qualified to become one of the transcriptionists for the company. They also had a need of translators Spanish to English, but I wasn’t sure my Spanish was up to the task. I knew my English was quite good, so I opted to stay with that.
There were a number of training videos to watch. And watch them I did. The whole process seemed a bit complicated, but I signed up for my first assignment anyway. The video reassured me that someone would always be available on Skype if I had any questions.
The email with the assignments was sent out at 6 pm eastern time with the assignments due by 4 pm the next day. Well, this presented somewhat of a problem. While I have computer and internet access, it typically is during the day since we have no electricity at our home in La Yacata. Then there was the one hour time difference to contend with. I checked in for my assignment at 8:15 am my time, only to find that my assignment had been classified as “abandoned.” I contacted the Skype person and she explained that it was because I needed to have verified my acceptance of the assignment by 9 am EST. She changed the classification and I downloaded the audio.
I moved the file into the Express Scribe Transcription program and began my work. The audio segment was a recorded focus group for Linkedin. For the most part, the recording was easily understandable. However, getting used to the Express Scribe program took some time. Before I knew it, it was time for my classes (See Saturday Classes) and I hadn’t really advanced much. After my classes, I set to work on it again, taking the time to transfer what I had finished to the Google document file. Again, my unfamiliarity of the procedure slowed me up. By the time I had the information transferred, it was nearly 3 pm my time, which meant I wouldn’t meet the 4 pm deadline.
I contacted the Skype on-call person again to tell her of my dilemma. I had only managed to get 12 minutes of a 30-minute audio clip finished. Boy, that was discouraging. I had spent more than 4 hours on it. She told me to mark the file with the “I need help” button and to stop working on it. I would get paid for my 12 minutes but the person who finished my assignment would get the remaining pay.
I thought maybe with practice I could get faster, so I was determined to try another assignment. Then I got sick and the days passed and I guess maybe I didn’t have the time after all. The problem was my schedule. I need to have a day or two to work on assignments since I can not devote my whole day to it. With the 4 pm deadline, there was just no way I was going to be able to finish. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t going to work out. So much for mucha moolah.
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Surviving Mexico 