Frustrated with this field!!

[Jennifer Benci]

I have been working in New York for about 7 months now, and I am having so much trouble getting steady work and pay. I know the holidays just passed, but it's been like this for me since the summer. I work steady for a few weeks and then barely get any work for the next month or so. Because of that, my paychecks don't come on a regular basis and I have trouble paying my bills. Is anyone else having this problem??? I am seriously considering relocating to anywhere where I can get steady work and income!

[Indrani Peyton]

Thanks Monti and Melissa.
Monti, I look forward to April/May and seeing if your prediction comes true.
Melissa, I believe you're right. My grandma always says that "When you speak it into the air, you can't take it back and more than likely it will happen". That goes for good bad and the ugly.... Thanks again.

[Melissa Hill]

I totally believe in just keeping positive. If you concentrate on the negative, that's what you'll get. You get whatever you think about. I truly believe that. I'm not being pollyannaish. It's just the way things work. Have you ever noticed in your life that whenver you think about something A LOT (whether negative or positive) things start appearing that match that thought? It's not coincidence. Let's just keep positive and put our attention to things getting better and better, k??

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

By the way guys, according to many economist these are the worst economic periods we have seen in decades.
some sectors are reporting their worst results since the great depression.
This is no joke, we just have to keep the faith as we go forward.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Hi indrani,
I believe as soon as these bankers start lending the bail out money that we gave them companies will start suing again.
I have a feeling April/may will get busier.
But what do I know, am just a simple videographer that can barley spell :P

[Indrani Peyton]

I hate to be a nuisance; but you guys are really scaring me. I just finished commenting from Monti's string where he posted an article from the Baltimore newspaper regarding the Court reporting industry growing 25% thru 2016. The link is as follows: http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/011109emsCOURT.html

As a returning court reporting student, I was excited to see a positive article. But then at the bottom of the article, I was disturbed to see damaging and negative comments from court reporters. These comments made me somewhat depressed and second guess my choice of joining the court reporting ranks. Now, I see several of you have commented negatively here too re: the last minute depo link on csrnation. WHAT IS GOING ON? Csrnation is a wonderful site that I have enjoyed learning from and have recommended to so many people; yet lately the negativity is getting a bit overwhelming. I'm not a punk or overly sensitive either. I like looking at things realistically instead of "flowery" and with total optimism. I just want a clear picture of what I am getting into. Can anyone please give me some insight as to whether or not I should continue being a student or seek other options..... I ask with appreciation and the most positive attitude possible. LOL

[Judy]

Chris,

You may be upset with your situation, but don't take it out on me.

Judy

[Jonathan]

My sister is a reporter and she had the same problems; small jobs here and there: agencies not being very busy; not enough work to spread around, etc. Instead of focusing on just New York go to where the work is. She lives in AZ, but is now working in DC.

[Ann Morales]

I have not yet taken any jobs through Last Minute Depo. For the reason that Chris mentioned of not getting paid is why I am leary of taking any work from agencies I have never worked for or heard of or that was not recommended by a fellow reporter. However, I would still do it occasionally but would prefer to stick to the ones I already work with. What it ultimately boils down to is the individual agency, their personal intentions and is really not a reflection of Last Minute Depo or CSRnation.

It's sad that Chris has not been paid and I hope he does get paid soon. When I first started reporting eight years ago, I worked for an agency that was run by two young reporters who attended my school years before I graduated. Well, I took two months of work for them. They told me they paid within 60-90 days. I believed everything they told me because I was new. I didn't see a penny...until I decided to take them to small claims. It was absolutely terrible.

I was 6 1/2 months pregnant when I started reporting, was put on bedrest at 8 1/2 months at which point the agency was still begging me to take jobs for them even though I had told them I was on bedrest and very pregnant. And they KNEW they had no intentions of paying me!!!!! Basically their excuse was that they couldn't get half of their clients to pay them. But then I called a few of those clients and they confirmed that they had paid.

One attorney felt so bad because she remembered that I was pregnant that she offered to obtain a copy of the canceled check and forward it to me along with a letter stating she had paid me. A few days before we were supposed to appear at small claims court, the agency finally called me and paid me about 90% of what they owed me. They still short-changed me on some jobs. But at that point, I was lucky to even see a penny. Took them almost a year to pay me.

But basically, once I figured out they weren't going to pay me which was right around the time my daughter was born, I had already put in two months worth of work, I was so broke that I had no $$ to even purchase a birth certificate, let alone hospital pictures of my newborn, and I was thinking of returning to work within two weeks after having had a c-section! My mom bought us groceries for a few weeks till we got back on our feet.

And then after that, I just worked for an agency that really took advantage of me. Again, I feel for it. They did pay me, but they treated their reporters like garbage!! And again, short-changed me wherever they could, free rough drafts for all attorneys, very low page rates, and I never saw any copy order $$.

So after about 18 months of reporting, I decided it was time to do something else. I couldn't handle it anymore. I took a five-year break and pursued another career. Because of the way the economy is, I returned to reporting, something I thought I would never do. I had no intentions of returning. But I did. And I'm glad I did, because I realized that I did miss it. I just didn't do things right, and I was very naive when I started. But I learned a lot in the five years I took off reporting, of how to run my "own business" because you are the one who calls the shots in this business!

So that's why I don't freelance as much. I'm much more careful this time around. That doesn't mean I won't do it, just more careful as to how I do it. Have a good night, everyone!!

[Melissa Hill]

Has anyone else had a bad experience taking jobs through "last minute depo" and not getting paid?

[Melissa Hill]

Hey Chris,

Just curious what firm you took the job with. I took a job thru CSRnation last week and now you've got me a little worried! They were out of San Diego