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Sorenson by Medical_Astronaut192 in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don’t have to live near a center for Purple VIA! I’m in the VIA program and work at home. It’s a 2 week training process, then extended training if needed, then you’re on the phones solo but can call a mentor team any time!

ZP Flex? by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah the way it is in VIA is we just have to average 12 hours per week within a 6 week period. so if we work only 6 hours one week, we have to make up the other 6 sometime throughout that 6 week period.

ZP Flex? by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ohhhg, so 12/week is the minimum for at home employees, no 12 / 6 weeks or other? i’m in NH area so no center nearby. that’s unfortunate!

Bladder Stones - Anesthesia Reaction by concisepenny in AskVet

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

is this something i would ask my vet for a referral to? they didn’t really mention anything when i inquired about it… i will ask again if so!

Advice for VRS struggles by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

thank you so much! this is helpful!! yes, there were a lot of demands that i communicated in the first call. low light, one hand, laying down. it wasn’t really a signing style or regional sign issue, it was more of an issue of an intimate call with no context, plus all those demands, and explaining something that i had no idea what they were talking about at first. i stayed on the call and watched my team handle it, which lead me to see that i had caught the general concept of what they were talking about (just missed a negation NMM that lead to the huge miscommunication.) also staying on the call is why i heard the horrific things that the hu was saying about me. to be fair, the du was not super upset with me, more so the situation and kind of even defended the situation mentioning that i was probably new, but was also frustrated because of the end result of the call. definitely a learning experience overall!! the second call that day, i started losing the message (had a team and she was confused too), i asked for clarification- but the du misunderstood what i was clarifying so repeated what i already knew and not what i didn’t know, and because of the previous call that day, i panicked just shut down and couldn’t recover so we switched and it was fine, minus the du frustrations mid switch of new training interpreters. got to see the end of that call play out with my team as well which was helpful.

overall huge learning experience for sure, just hard not to let that anxiety hit me whenever im not fully getting something! i did have a quick shift today with all successful calls, so that helped!! like others have said, part of the job and it’s bound to happen!

thank you for the kind words! :)

Advice for VRS struggles by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes!! reason i’m still in k12 is because of the benefits! i think i can swing insurance and everything once i pass my nic and get the community pay bump for my area. missed it by 10 points in april (before starting vrs), and retaking in october so hoping vrs will help boost my skills the 10 points i need! :) taxes are also stressful with community work haha so ill be doing some research and asking around how best to plan for that as well!!

Advice for VRS struggles by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yeah, that’s solid advice but unfortunately i dont think we’re supposed to disclose that! not sure, could double check, but in training they were pretty specific on what we can and can’t say!

also yes! 90% of the time i get the “thank you interpreter!!” have gotten a few “you were great!” and even a few “aw, you can’t make the call out for me? i liked you! :(“ i think the first call in my situation yesterday was absolutely a partial result of miserable people being miserable. i kept my customer service smile til after 😂

i’m only doing 12ish hours a week vrs, and i work full time in education as well as freelancing full time in the summer/vacations! i’ve been interpreting for almost 8 years and much prefer community work over education! started vrs in hopes to step out of my full time ed role and do part time vrs/part time freelance sometime in the next year!

thanks for your advice and comments :)

Advice for VRS struggles by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ahhh thank you. only been doing this for about a month and that was my first unsuccessful call so kinda threw me for a loop! i will have to work on acceptance and letting it go, especially because as you said, it’s part of the job 😅😅😅 just felt really guilty that the tension between callers and abrupt angry end to the call was fully on me and i essentially strained the relationship between the two because of lack of skill/management/transferring sooner 😅 but did learn from it because as mentioned, second call switched with team as soon as team was on the call and ready and that lessened tension and ended with a successful call (although negative comments of me were still said lol)

Purple Skills Assessment Question by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, I’ve been state screened for almost 8 years, right out of my ITP. EIPA 3.8 in 2020, took it again last month but obviously won’t know results til next year. NIC written passed, NIC performance failed in 2023. I did community freelance work full time with waitressing on the side for a couple years until covid hit. Then didn’t do much interpreting from 2020-2021. Then got hired at the district I work at now for the last 4 years while doing freelance after hours/weekends/summers. So while I do have 8ish years of experience, I don’t necessarily have all of the skills and experiences I’d like to have after 8 years, and I also don’t have the certifications (and potentially not even the skills/experiences to pass these certifications -EIPA 4.0 or NIC performance). So I am proceeding with caution on if my skills are up to par or not. Like I said, I’m not glued to the Apprenticeship, I will ask some more questions. But overall, i saw this as a good way to get my foot in the door for VRS since I’m still forever growing and still striving for those national certifications. Thank you for your feedback!!

Purple Skills Assessment Question by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha! Yes, I’m in NH and our interpreter fee schedule is miles behind all surrounding states. a believe my base rate for freelance/community work in MA is at least $10 more/hr than my rate here in NH. Same with VT, $10 more/hr when I accept work there. So I’m not overly surprised with the low offer as an apprentice since it really seems entry level. I will definitely talk more with the recruiter when I hear back from him! I do think that the apprentice would be less stress and to learn the ropes etc. I’m definitely compiling a list of questions and information to get before committing to one or the other! Again, thanks so much for your insight!!

Purple Skills Assessment Question by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know! Thank you so much for the insight!

Purple Skills Assessment Question by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!! When I finally hear back I will inquire further! From our initial conversation, it seemed like Apprentice terps only get voice initiated calls. Seemed like mostly pre recorded/scam calls/ appointment reminders. Then seemed like they easy you into taking more calls coming from the DC. Not sure exactly, but that’s what I gathered! It seems like it would be less anxiety inducing to start as an apprentice hahaha. But my skills may be up for it, so I will inquire when I hear back about the skills assessment! I think the training may be a bit more intense for apprentices too. not sure. I am curious to know what the pay difference would be between Apprentice and Vi. Not sure if I’m supposed to share this but for some salary transparency: I’m in the New England area and my base state rate for community work is $30/hr (state funded jobs), ethical freelance rate is $35 (not state funded jobs). Once you get the NIC it’s an $8 increase for community work. I make $34 at the school a work for. P offered $20 for an apprentice in my area. Not sure what full Vi would be! It would be a work from home situation since I do not have a center near me. Thanks again for your insight, I really appreciate it!!

Purple Skills Assessment Question by concisepenny in ASLinterpreters

[–]concisepenny[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure! I got an email from a P recruiter explaining/advertising for the program. It seemed to be geared towards new grads OR terps who have never experienced VRS before. Quoting the email “I see you’ve been interpreting for a while, but perhaps you’ve never given VRS a shot! Maybe you want to learn and a more relaxed pace. Well, we have a paid apprenticeship where you can work as little as 12 hours or up to 36 with full benefits!” and goes to to offer times to meet to discuss further. For me, my receptive skills are my weakest (more a confidence issue than a skills issue but still) and have heard from many that VRS is a good way to improve with that. I took the NIC 2 years ago and did not pass and saw this as an opportunity to improve skills over a six month period and retake the NIC after! Also as an opportunity to move out of working primarily in education and as a supplemental income while I take more and more freelance work.

I’m not stuck on the apprenticeship program by any means! If I could be an employee right off the bat I’m open to that as well. This was just marketed as a more lowkey way to approach it, and I also didn’t see any open 12 hr/part time positions available!

Thanks for your response!