Would you accept unrelenting boredom for £50k p/a?

getmore4less

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

How can you manually assign 100,000 data entries to 10 different categories in nine hours based on "poorly written descriptions"?


If you took ten hours without breaks that's almost three entries per second isn't it? That's phenomenal and I'd want more pay!!! (Sounds a bit like diagnosis coders in the NHS who can be very well paid, but I don't think they achieve rates like that).


From a business point of view, I'd want the people writing the descriptions to be better trained - but that might put you out of a job - but maybe that's what you want...

Requires a fair bit of training and experience to get to there.

A quick look at job sites looks like NHS band4/5 jobs or outsourced £20-£25ph

getmore4less

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

From a business point of view, I'd want the people writing the descriptions to be better trained - but that might put you out of a job - but maybe that's what you want...

for the business this guy work in there is no incentive to make the input from the customer any better

The OP says this business is getting £190ph and paying out £350pd for the £50k salary

[Deleted User]

McCloud1 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice!

How tricky are those subjects to grasp? My coding is, as I say, rusty at best. That does sound pretty amazing though, once I knew I could trust it I would be able to zone-out whilst I check at least, instead of having to maintain a faint whiff of consciousness.

Yeah there are a few modules, I used openpyxl and xlswriter, both have limitations though which make it difficult for a newbie to achieve the desired effect.

Err.. dunno, I'm about to be figuring out how to use Azure for work so I'll tell you then! We have 20gb+ of data to analyse a day.

If you've been learning python, maybe keep with it and try using some of the NLP modules - https://elitedatascience.com/python-nlp-libraries

also https://www.kdnuggets.com/2015/11/seven-steps-machine-learning-python.html

I won't lie - this stuff isn't simple. Hence you're getting paid well to be a human version of this. But if you figure this out.. well, your likely to find LOADS more stuff to use it with.

andrewf75

Interesting. I'm personally quite open to doing something boring as long as it isn't stressful. I think the work-life balance is always key. But it clearly seems like this isn't right for you. I'd save some money and work on a plan to get out. Can you do this part time maybe? Then you could invest more time in something more interesting.

Manxman_in_exile

getmore4less wrote: »

Requires a fair bit of training and experience to get to there.

A quick look at job sites looks like NHS band4/5 jobs or outsourced £20-£25ph

Doh!


Of course you are absolutely correct! I was thinking of the US where HMOs (or whatever they are called) rely on accurate ICD coding to maximise their revenue. Coders there are well paid. Here the NHS largely relies on medical secretaries to do this.


ETA: I still think that two to three codings per second is incredible work!

paddyrg

I get bored quickly, it would not be ideal for me.

Within a couple of days I would be looking at ways to automate the system, starting with custom keystrokes or even looking at some kind of prescreening.

McCloud1

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

How can you manually assign 100,000 data entries to 10 different categories in nine hours based on "poorly written descriptions"?


If you took ten hours without breaks that's almost three entries per second isn't it? That's phenomenal and I'd want more pay!!! (Sounds a bit like diagnosis coders in the NHS who can be very well paid, but I don't think they achieve rates like that).


From a business point of view, I'd want the people writing the descriptions to be better trained - but that might put you out of a job - but maybe that's what you want...

I'm trying very hard to be vague enough that colleagues/clients cannot identify me whilst giving a true picture of just how boring it is. I don't have to do 100,000 per day.

The people writing the descriptions are clients, not people who work for my boss. If clients did it properly to begin with they wouldn't need us, but we service some of London's busiest professionals who are much more concerned with more important matters.

getmore4less wrote: »

for the business this guy work in there is no incentive to make the input from the customer any better

The OP says this business is getting £190ph and paying out £350pd for the £50k salary

Exactly, I actually hate that we can get away with charging so much for old rope. It takes away any pleasure you could otherwise take in being 100% accurate, which would take forever and be irrelevant in the vast majority of cases.

There is no single person who cares about this, it will only be thought of if I make a huge error and it's the 0.1% of cases where the data is reviewed.

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Err.. dunno, I'm about to be figuring out how to use Azure for work so I'll tell you then! We have 20gb+ of data to analyse a day.

If you've been learning python, maybe keep with it and try using some of the NLP modules - https://elitedatascience.com/python-nlp-libraries

also https://www.kdnuggets.com/2015/11/seven-steps-machine-learning-python.html

I won't lie - this stuff isn't simple. Hence you're getting paid well to be a human version of this. But if you figure this out.. well, your likely to find LOADS more stuff to use it with.

Thanks. I'm no Einstein but I'm sure it's something I'm capable of learning, it's just whether I can switch my brain back on at the end of each day to do so!

McCloud1

paddyrg wrote: »

I get bored quickly, it would not be ideal for me.

Within a couple of days I would be looking at ways to automate the system, starting with custom keystrokes or even looking at some kind of prescreening.

Here is where it get's tricky in the automation process. Most entries are split across multiple categories, and how they are apportioned is entirely down to my 'gut feel' based on the descriptions. Couple that with overlapping keywords and it looks fairly impossible to someone like me who's only familiar with high-level languages.

I'm going to look into some of the suggestions and maybe see if I can get any feedback on Stack Overflow before I spend too much on on the wrong path.

Pennywise

I'd be looking for a new job. Yours sounds as if it's ripe for either automation. Could be either by artificial intelligence looking for keywords etc., or alternatively, could be that the "coding/analysis" as such is passed downwards for others to decide on coding at source and key details and coding straight into the system, both rendering your role redundant.

getmore4less

McCloud1 wrote: »

The people writing the descriptions are clients, not people who work for my boss. If clients did it properly to begin with they wouldn't need us, but we service some of London's busiest professionals who are much more concerned with more important matters.

if these guys are making very big money(£500ph) then paying big money(£190ph) to get something done is not a problem, and if the person getting paid big money can pay someone normal money(£25ph**) to get the job done there is margin for a few people in the chain.

** £25ph is around £52k per year for an employee getting holiday pay
Farming out the work for £30ph is not good business on your part unless you bonus is really good