work

[Cari L. Waters-Drewry]

Am I the only one who is slow? I'm a reporter in the Northern California area, and have barely worked in the last two months. Is it just me or are there others out there? What is going on with our industry??

[Jaimie]

Hi!
I just joined this website. I am a court reporting student, attending college in Stockton. I saw that you are local. :)
Is work still slow for you?

[S. Arielle]

You're welcome!! That's what I do....agencies in Florida all the way to Mitchigan have my info....My main office that I work for is in California....so I've covered all over the US. And always keep in touch with the calendar people, like that when something comes up, your name is the name that pops up in their mind to call.....

[Cari L. Waters-Drewry]

Wow. Thanks Arielle. that's a great piece of advice. I would have never thought to do that.

[S. Arielle]

Cari, what you should do is send your info to the East Coast agencies and ask them to call you or email you when their clients are going to your area....that usually helps too. The bigger firms usually have a set time to pay, either twice a month or once a month.

[Cari L. Waters-Drewry]

I hear what ya, Kelly and Arielle, and while I do keep in contact with probably 3-4 firms, it's hard finding firms that pay decent and pay within a reasonable time frame. I've been a reporter for almost nine years. My first five and a half years, I was "on staff" with a great firm in SF. They do mostly work comp, and while that was good for the first few years while I got my feet wet, after a while I needed more. I then started firm calling, found a few that I liked to work with, but then it became I was waiting too long to get paid with some of them. So now I just hang with, like I said, 3-4, and when it gets slow, it's hard to call around to other firms because they will rely on their "regulars" during those times.

This industry is such a juggle. You're either "on staff" with one firm, or you play the hop around game. Sometimes I kind of wish I had a home again, but then I like being affiliated with other firms as well. This has been my first week in two months where I've actually worked all five days. I just wish I could keep that study pace -- maybe not all five, but at least three full days. I just feel like it's so hard either finding a firm that has work as well as one who pays within a reasonable time frame. The rates don't even really matter all that much to me. I just wanna work.

Okay. I've whined enough for now. Thanks girls...C

[S. Arielle]

I'm with you Kelli.....I keep in touch with many agencies and I get calls from 2-3 agencies every day to work....and it's good stuff.....all day, expedited or daily and video and lots of copies and hookups....so like I tell others and like what you say, you have to contact a bunch of good agencies, get your name and experience out there and also, I charge them their rates....and they are fair. I don't work for the agencies that pay crap to their reporters but I'm also not a prima donna demanding rates that are so high that they just won't use you.

it's usually slow around holidays, so I know the slow time is coming. but I also work in NY and the whole Wall Street mess of depos is starting already....all the mortgage-backed securities messs is starting already.

[Patricia Babits]

I'm torn whether I should keep doing CART next semester or hope depos pick up. Even though I'm only CARTing twice a week, it seems those are the days I'm being asked to do depos. It's nice having a stable paycheck, but it is also so much less than I would make doing a few good depos.

[Kyung]

It's been slow. I've been blogging about it all over.

[Cari L. Waters-Drewry]

Yeah, they've all been in the Santa Cruz area. If I had the money to pay for a hotel, maybe I would have considered it. It's a bit too far for me to drive.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Patricia, please check your spam folder... you should have received at lease 7 job offers this last 2-3 days.