sign language interpreter

agent

installer

interpreter

senior software engineer

Sorenson Communications

You will spend your entire shift as a captioning agent speaking into your headset, repeating conversations. Just one side of the conversation is all you will hear and speak aloud unless you’re on a conferenced call or lecture. I believe those were called CAAS calls, they were pretty much high priority college lectures, police matters etc. If you make any mistakes you’re required to correct to be sure convos are verbatim otherwise your call quality score/adherence will suffer and you will be warned until they decide to cut you all together or your hours. It was initially 91% you had to score on scheduled test calls then they became random and you had to score at least 95% or better. Software used is dragon. It is faulty, but no matter the kinks you will be blamed for not performing at a perfect 95 or better. I was a PT captioning agent, do not apply for PT. You are not guaranteed job security regarding hours, they will sacrifice you first when budget cuts come and you’ve been warned now, they will happen/ Company is funded through FCC overall this company pays CA’s cheap hourly rates but you get basic level benefits. I never used mine the whole year I worked here nor did I ever get assistance with needing to use it. HR is a joke, mangers are a joke and you’re basically on your own once training/nesting is over. (Which is the typical wfh experience, there is only a wfh chat via teams to converse with others) The job is extremely easy and makes you feel good that you’re doing work for the HoH but that is the only pro, the work you put in and the strain you put on your body/voice  is worth at least $16 hourly. Your managers are going to be discouraging because even though they manage, they still caption as you do so they’re of little to no support and will only tell you to do better if you score low and basically tell you they’re just doing their jobs. When budget cuts come into play they will place everyone in a lottery based schedule where full timers get first dibs at hours and still get regular pay whether they come to work or not. Part timers come second with their regular part time schedule, and if you score lower than 95% adherence PT or FT you will get bottom of the barrel hours/schedules. I was scheduled to work 2 days a week. And couldn’t afford to pay my bills. Please remember this before you get stuck here. No room for error in this position. Everyone’s socially awkward and to themselves no matter the position. When you leave the company, you’re pretty much dead to them. My manager used to be a warden and she managed like it. My supervisor was of no help when I needed a few things I asked for via email. They also take forever to respond to you via email, fairly quickly if it’s through teams. The door is ever revolving when it comes to management in the Texas remote department for some reason. My manager would never work the days I was scheduled once they cut hours within the company so I was working on my own and had to go to the main “remote workers chat” for help until they assigned me a new manager. I was randomly told this one morning of the change. Daily you will have tech issues with the speech to text software Dragon —no matter which zone you use eg: pink, green white etc. this job taught me to never allow yourself to be under paid for a hard day of work, know your rights within the workplace, alert hr before things get worse, and as soon as you hear about budget/hour cuts find somewhere else to work. You’re just a butt in a seat here in this company. 

I have loved working for Sorenson.  I'm honestly so surprised to see negative reviews from some other interpreters.   I guess it must be due to different management at different centers.  I work at the St. Augustine center.   Management is fabulous at this center.  I have never worked for a better company.   Some of the benefits are:

Competitive pay scale as compared to community or educational settings. Time and a half for several holidays.

VERY flexible schedule.  I can work 15 minutes a week or 29 hours a week (they are not offering full time except for people who were already full time before they changed it).  I can also decide I don't want to work for a while, like if I want to take an extended 2 month vacation,  and come back after and jump right back in.  

You get a 10 minute break for each hour worked.  So you can work 50 minutes and take a 10 minute break or you can save it and take up to a 19 minute paid break.  If you want over a 19 minute break during the day you have to schedule a non-paid break.  I never do, because I can eat in 19 minutes and I'd rather get paid. Some people have complained about stats/login percentage.  Its very simple.  Keep your break time under 10 minutes per hour worked and you have met the requirement.  I've never been under my login percentage.  I'm there to do a job and I'm thankful they offer the breaks they do.  In many jobs you work 8 hours and get a 30 minute break.  If we work 8 hours we get 80 minutes.  What's to complain about?

Our center has a massage therapist that comes in once a week to do neck and shoulder massages, if you want them. We also have a relaxation room with a massage chair.

Snacks galore in the break room and they bring in actual catered meals from time to time for different reasons like interpreter appreciation, etc.  That happens maybe 3 or 4 times a year.  Even if you're off that day you can come in and participate.  

Sorenson offers tons of free workshops.  Many you can get CPUs for.  Also, if you work an average of at least 16 hours per week they give you $500 a year that you can use to pay RID dues, NIC testing, etc. 

I honestly can't say enough good things about this company.  If you've been in the work force for any time at all.  You know that 95% of companies do not offer the above benefits.  

Working here helped when I was needing guaranteed steady income (which vascillates in this profession). Office atmosphere is warm and welcoming (even during all the changes made w/Covid). Lovely co-workers gave me a sense of family. Whether you were there 5 days a week or 2 times a month, everyone took care of everyone. Facilitating communication between callers feels good, and its a neat thing to see and "meet" so many new people everyday. 

The company itself offers a few incentives now and then to get people excited to come in and work or add more time, offer workshops and trainings for CEUs, covering certain certification fees for you if you qualify (I did qualify, but my director let the time to apply for reimbursement run out and I was out of luck), etc. 

Maybe that one experience started it, but for some unclear reason, I started feeling stressed at the office often. Coworkers from my center and others out of state have voiced similar emotions, that we don't feel heard ( ie: when we have feedback about a program or something we specifically use), that we aren't worth our pay (what about covid suddenly changing your job description - from working on site to at home - so that the company reclassifies your entire job and docks your pay (from $3-11/hr depending on person!), or have to go through extraordinary measures to get the tiniest of raises (even after being at the company since it's inception!). 

The break times are pre-set apparently that is so the calls don't get backed up due to too many taking a break at once, but it's made into such a big deal that many of us have felt forced to stay seated during that time, even when the need to take a quick RR feels urgent, just so we are not dinged. 10 min breaks fly by when you are in a large office and you have to walk out and down a hall for the restroom, then back and across the office to the cubbies or break room, then back to your desk. Ppl who don't have this specified break time, time yourself and hope you aren't hungry AND need to use the ladies room during the same break. Lol

I want to love this place bc I have worked with some amazing people and I believe the goal of this business is on target. It would just be nice to feel appreciated instead of undercut. Also, the "peons" in the company have a voice too, and it's just as important! ;P

You sit in a cubicle for eight hours a day doing nothing but repeating phone conversations you don't want to hear in a robotic voice that puts stress on your vocal cords and general mental well-being. No matter how hard they try to get you to socialize with your team, you always feel isolated because there is never any downtime and breaks are scheduled so that you never see any of your team members.

The metrics are almost impossible to meet. If you leave your desk outside of your scheduled break or if you stay at your desk during your scheduled break because of being stuck on a call or because management tells you you're not allowed to leave your desk because call volume is too high, then your two most important metrics, schedule adherence and login percentage go down heavily. The accuracy metric is also extremely unfair because the transcription software does not work at all. They refuse to fix it or invest in a better software.

Promotions are based on favoritism. If you don't kiss up to the managers, they will hate you and make disparaging remarks about you behind your back. The team supervisors and training mentors are extremely cliquish. They seem to have never matured past high school which makes it feel just like being in high school. However, you wouldn't even want to get promoted anyway because team supervisors are essentially just regular agents with more responsibilities for not much more pay.

The benefits are decent, but when you have your first panic attack and have to go the hospital, good luck with that $1500 or $2700 health deductible. Also good luck getting the time off to see a doctor. While the paid time off is generous, you'll never get to use it because they never approve paid time off. This is because the company is extremely adamant about getting more customers, but refusing to open more offices and instead over-hiring so that no one can find a seat to work at. As a result paid time off blocks are extremely competitive and if you miss out on them, then tough luck.

Overall, this job is not worth it. It's a job that can easily be automated and therefore will be automated in five to ten years from now.

I have never worked with more competent and responsible engineers -- both endpoint and IT. If you work there, Be sure to acknowledge others' help otherwise you will find yourself alone: this is absolutely true of any place you work. Management & HR, on the other hand, is completely wanting. 

The projects are engaging, but if you have Linux and because no one else does, you are left hanging in the Git/GitHub wind. Remote work is the standard.

The biggest drawback is no one wants to turn on their camera. That was a bummer for me because I felt no connection with anyone, and because the vast majority used avatars, I never connected a name with a face.

There's a big gotcha. A new CEO was hired, and he thrust CaptionCall and Sorenson back together, and he edicted new programming styles, CMs, review procedures, release processes, ... IOW, a lot. There were three layoffs in the second year. Half of the IT group quit. I wish that didn't happen! 

My manager had a completely unreasonable idea of "flex time." In fact it was nonexistent. If you do something wrong -- no matter the size -- you will hear about it and see it on your review again and again. They like to "dredge." One error erases a full year of accomplishments.

CaptionCall and Sorenson have completely and incompatible missions and clientele. CaptionCall is for the hard of hearing who tend to be grandmas and grandpas; Sorenson is for the deaf, either by birth or otherwise. The companies do great, great good, but two years ago, things began to spiral.

Watch out particularly for HR. /They do not have your back, and their practices put the company in litigational danger./

Working in the product department at Sorenson feels less like a professional environment and more like an adult daycare center. The daily routine is dominated by empty rituals (meetings, presentations, and busywork that exist solely to maintain appearances). Substance takes a back seat to optics. You’re not rewarded for delivering real results, you're rewarded for looking like you're engaged, preferably through illustrative slides and endless meeting participation.

Promotions don’t go to the most capable or impactful contributors; they go to those who navigate office politics and put on the best show. Deaf individuals are prized token employees. The culture rewards passivity and surface-level productivity. It’s a comfortable place for people who want to coast, but a frustrating one for anyone who values meaningful work.

Leadership at the executive level is weak and uninspiring, with a majority in their roles due to connections rather than competence. As a result, the company experiences frequent mass layoffs. 

The engineering and operations departments seem to be the only pockets where actual leadership and execution matter. Unfortunately their competence is often overshadowed by fundamentally misled product teams drunk on buzzwords like "Agile."

The people are friendly and the work environment is stress-free, but that’s because there’s little pressure to actually accomplish anything of value. It’s all theater. If you're looking for a challenge or a place where talent and drive are recognized, look elsewhere. 

The typical day in the IT ops spec position is testing production applications. Required every hour and every half hour. Management adds new processes monthly that should be handled by other departments. NOC IT ops spec engineers are so busy handling the testing there is no time to improve the NOC as a whole. There is people in management that have no IT experience trying to run things. They do not understand how a NOC is supposed to run most of the time. We get calls for service desk related matters (Single user issues) most often. All employees are instructed to contact the NOC, they are confused by which is NOC and which is service desk. That is 95% percent of the calls that are taken by the NOC. No raises are provided. Employees that have been there 10 years made less than I did.  Some employees are not team players, and you will occasionally have to pick up their slack so things are finished on time. (Testing). When doing incidents, More often than not you will get yelled at by upper management for not being proactive enough. Even though we sometimes have poor reporting alerting systems. We tend to find out things are broken by emails coming from interpreters. Or from reports from service desk. Rather than the monitoring tools implemented. During my time there, I had attempted to improve processes and improve reliability of some systems, but the amount of pushback I got from upper management, made it impossible to do. So I gave up trying. All in all, a pretty bad experience. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I worked at home as a Remote (Voice) Captioner. Although the starting pay was low, the job was fun, very fulfilling, a little challenging, extremely interesting & entertaining, and a wonderful experience. Interviews and meetings were all online (like Zoom) and all of the supervisors were super nice and encouraging. There was always a team of supervisors available to answer any questions, even while you're working, as well as tech support any time you had equipment problems. Also lots of opportunities for advancement. Great company to work with. Most enjoyable job I ever had! 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
For me, the technical requirements and computer & peripheral equipment issues.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone I encountered was very friendly, down-to-earth, supportive and encouraging. The culture is professional, but relaxed & welcoming. I never heard any profanity or gossip. Positive vibes only!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Equipment checks before going "live"; sign in for my shift; listen for the call signal; dictate the caller's words into the microphone (using some special pronunciations for certain words) and watch the printout on the monitor screen to make sure the voice recognition software types the words correctly; use the keyboard to correct any errors (this is what the deaf or hard-of-hearing person will be reading on their screen); caption the entire call; wait for the next call signal; repeat. Text my supervisor if I have any questions or problems.

Over almost ten years, I worked 28 hours a week on average.  At first, the job was challenging and engaging.  As time went on, the corporate management style became increasingly paternalistic, punitive, and arbitrary.  Policies changed so often that it was difficult to remember all of the intricacies, which is a distinct disadvantage when each detail can impact your bidding priority, your immediate health, or your credibility. Most requests for reasonable accommodations were denied, and simple requests had to go through the internal ADA accommodation request protocol even thought they did not rise to an ADA-level disability  (ie: a footrest, a chair pad, something to soften the glare of the overhead florescent lighting). Any employee asking questions about why the rules were the way they were was met with "send your ideas to our suggestions email" or was considered mildly insubordinate (or more).  Morale ranges from middling to low. The culture of the company as a whole is this way.   Oh, and they told us we couldn't discuss our salaries, which of course is blatantly illegal and has been since the 1930s.

CAVEAT: the individual interpreters and one director were a joy to work with and were very supportive even when acknowledging that they, too, were having difficulty with the vicarious trauma they experienced and with the way most things were handled.

They will lure you in by promising a transition to full time (where benefits are offered). Don't believe them - there are actually very few FT workers .... Lots of PT workers & they continually hold job fairs due to the high rate of turnover.
There is very little interaction between employees... after almost a year I only know the names of 1or 2 people & that's to nod at while passing in the hall. Work stations are not assigned so you are not guaranteed the same spot. Some people are disgusting slobs and leave the station a mess...bring your own Lysol wipes to disinfect & clean keyboards & mouse...they are not always provided....computers are often broken...allow enough time for your arrival in case you have to hunt around to find a working station or you risk logging on late.  Also I hope you have a good bladder...they'll give you one 15 minute break per 5 hrs & they often schedule your break 3-3 1/2 hrs in so control your liquid intake. If you sign out of the queue to run to bathroom you'll negatively affect your adherence stats... it's barbaric...
It's an ok PT job if you have something/someone else to supplement your income (another job, social security, spouse, ...you cannot live off this & forget about health insurance, PTO, etc.). Perfect for college students & retirees....

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Sign language interpreter 248 salaries reported	$42.55 per hour
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