CAD/CAM technician seeking advice on working remotely

I was offered a job opportunity working remotely. Has anyone here ever worked or is designing remotely from home? Is this worth my time or is it just a waste? It's not the first time I've been approached to work remotely but I was worried about paying for the computer/time and effort spent on creating a setup at home. Did the company provide for your computer/dongle? What was your wages for your work was it hourly or piece work. What did you ask for or what did they offer? Do you have deadlines? What it's like with communication about a case?
I know it's a lot of questions. My interview is in a couple hours so I'll add to the post with details of how it went. Thanks guys!

 

[CoolHandLuke]

it can be worth your time but you'll need volume. most labs pay designers the lesser of two costs: either 3-5$ per unit, or 15-18$/hr when they are in house. if you are working from home they don't have a way to monitor or regulate your activity so it will likely be piecework pay. the expectation should be that you use your computer but have access to their dongle, unless they also have agreed to provide you a work computer, so ask. your deadline will probably be everything they sent to be done the same day they requested so they can be put into production before the staff go home, probably between 4pm and 6pm.

communication should be through a dedicated app to their QC person, a desktop sharing app such as Teams, Slack, Discord, Skype, or zoom. worst case scenario you end up sending the case through the baked in sharing software of exo/3shape which is bafflingly poor as a communication device.

 

[jesusdesinger10]

Thank you COol hand Luke! I would definitely ask for at least 7$/unit though bc full contour charges 5$/unit and their designs are crap and don't follow preferences. A known issue for every Lab. This is probably where the issue lies.
I've been designing for almost 10 years now so my experience alone gets me 30/hr just starting out in lab. Obviously I would be doing a lot of other different things but just to give you and idea. I've been at another lab for piece work and 7/unit was what they were giving me but I was working in lab so as u can imagine things didn't last very long. They automatically thought I was rushing bc I completed 5-6 units an hour. But that's just my speed for a normal crown. I wasnt going to sit there at the lab and take 30minuets so I could make 14/hr anyways but working from home is a different story. I prefer to take my time but I'm not going to take my time for 5/unit. No way. I would want their larger cases anyways. That's what I have most experience in and those are the cases that take up the most time. Getting 2 full arch at home a day with 30/hr shouldn't be a problem bc that's what I would do in lab. Im not going to do that case for 7$/unit. I really don't see how this works out for people. Problems occur all the time and with being on their dongle could add to this. I'm prepared to ask for 7$/unit or $28/hr. Well see what he says

 

[tehnik]

So what did he say?

 

[jesusdesinger10]

Okay so I spoke to a lady name Alex from Dandy and she said her designers are on salary but never said how much because they wanted me to take a practical test on my computer and design 8 cases. I took the practical. BIG mistake. All she did was give me a link and a passcode. The problem is I had to download another piece of software to properly log on. Once I got on I had to locate all the files and import them into their 3shape.. Because they wanted me to loom (record) while I was designing it was a pain in the ass bc the connection was lost on their end more then a couple times bc I assume other people were logging into that computer which then kicked me off not just on dental manager but their network. Nothing saved. So basically bringing me back to square one. I was in 4 hours. So I had to download it again log on again record notes again followed ridiculous preferences, fixed incorrect prescriptions with wrong scan flags etc. I completed all designs (even though she said I only need to complete 7) exported everything correctly into a new file that included my design files for them in case they wanted to use them. So here's the best part. She never got back to me until a week later after I emailed them a couple times to tell me they didn't want to go any further with my application or even consider me. Her and "the team" would like me to reapply and stay connected with them for future openings.
Took me 8 hours. No offer. No thanks for completing the practical. I kind of felt like a dumbass after wasting my entire day. But whatever at least I tried

 

[tehnik]

Good to know it is Dandy, so more people will know what they will be dealing with when they get an offer.

 

[Doris A]

Okay so I spoke to a lady name Alex from Dandy and she said her designers are on salary but never said how much because they wanted me to take a practical test on my computer and design 8 cases. I took the practical. BIG mistake. All she did was give me a link and a passcode. The problem is I had to download another piece of software to properly log on. Once I got on I had to locate all the files and import them into their 3shape.. Because they wanted me to loom (record) while I was designing it was a pain in the ass bc the connection was lost on their end more then a couple times bc I assume other people were logging into that computer which then kicked me off not just on dental manager but their network. Nothing saved. So basically bringing me back to square one. I was in 4 hours. So I had to download it again log on again record notes again followed ridiculous preferences, fixed incorrect prescriptions with wrong scan flags etc. I completed all designs (even though she said I only need to complete 7) exported everything correctly into a new file that included my design files for them in case they wanted to use them. So here's the best part. She never got back to me until a week later after I emailed them a couple times to tell me they didn't want to go any further with my application or even consider me. Her and "the team" would like me to reapply and stay connected with them for future openings.
Took me 8 hours. No offer. No thanks for completing the practical. I kind of felt like a dumbass after wasting my entire day. But whatever at least I tried

Here is some interesting reading about Dandy.

Dandy

So I know from lurking here over the years that it's been tried before, but I just wanted to post up here that I am evaluating the "Lab provided IOS" model first hand. Company is Dandy (https://www.meetdandy.com/),and in my brief discussion with their Lab director, it looks like they are doing...

dentallabnetwork.com

 

[HonestAbe]

Okay so I spoke to a lady name Alex from Dandy and she said her designers are on salary but never said how much because they wanted me to take a practical test on my computer and design 8 cases. I took the practical. BIG mistake. All she did was give me a link and a passcode. The problem is I had to download another piece of software to properly log on. Once I got on I had to locate all the files and import them into their 3shape.. Because they wanted me to loom (record) while I was designing it was a pain in the ass bc the connection was lost on their end more then a couple times bc I assume other people were logging into that computer which then kicked me off not just on dental manager but their network. Nothing saved. So basically bringing me back to square one. I was in 4 hours. So I had to download it again log on again record notes again followed ridiculous preferences, fixed incorrect prescriptions with wrong scan flags etc. I completed all designs (even though she said I only need to complete 7) exported everything correctly into a new file that included my design files for them in case they wanted to use them. So here's the best part. She never got back to me until a week later after I emailed them a couple times to tell me they didn't want to go any further with my application or even consider me. Her and "the team" would like me to reapply and stay connected with them for future openings.
Took me 8 hours. No offer. No thanks for completing the practical. I kind of felt like a dumbass after wasting my entire day. But whatever at least I tried

It makes me wonder if they do this just to offload some work and then use the designs without having to actually do it themselves. Burning a lot of bridges in the process but the cynical side of me wonders....

Sounds super frustrating but thank you for the detailed information about the whole thing.

 

[Affinity]

Dandy strikes again! Thats a hiliarious story, sorry for your trouble, buy why dont you just start your own design service? Its pretty simple and in high demand.. you would make more than $30 an hour if you dont mind staring at a computer all day.. I cant do it, my shoulders start to feel like they are on fire. Id pay you to design and many others here too. Dont fall for mr dandys dirty tricks.

 

[jesusdesinger10]

Dandy strikes again! Thats a hiliarious story, sorry for your trouble, buy why dont you just start your own design service? Its pretty simple and in high demand.. you would make more than $30 an hour if you dont mind staring at a computer all day.. I cant do it, my shoulders start to feel like they are on fire. Id pay you to design and many others here too. Dont fall for mr dandys dirty tricks.

It makes me wonder if they do this just to offload some work and then use the designs without having to actually do it themselves. Burning a lot of bridges in the process but the cynical side of me wonders....

Sounds super frustrating but thank you for the detailed information about the whole thing.

Not so cynical to me. I saw three or four other folders of other people's designs.

It makes me wonder if they do this just to offload some work and then use the designs without having to actually do it themselves. Burning a lot of bridges in the process but the cynical side of me wonders....

Sounds super frustrating but thank you for the detailed information about the whole thing.

It makes me wonder if they do this just to offload some work and then use the designs without having to actually do it themselves. Burning a lot of bridges in the process but the cynical side of me wonders....

Sounds super frustrating but thank you for the detailed information about the whole thing.

Of course. It threw me for a loop. I've never tried out somewhere and not get paid for it. There were three or four other folders of peoples names with their designs made me wonder too.. (I couldn't help but look around ) I'm onto this company. They pride themselves on being the first fully remote dental laboratory but I think they are phony. Something about this whole experience rubbed me the wrong way. Remote designers, sending files to labs to print for them. If it looks like a fish and smells like a fish then it's a fish.

 

[jesusdesinger10]

Dandy strikes again! Thats a hiliarious story, sorry for your trouble, buy why dont you just start your own design service? Its pretty simple and in high demand.. you would make more than $30 an hour if you dont mind staring at a computer all day.. I cant do it, my shoulders start to feel like they are on fire. Id pay you to design and many others here too. Dont fall for mr dandys dirty tricks.

Sounds like you know Dandy well. The lab My husband works for mills for them. Really weird that they have them mill 200 crowns but prefer not to open their own lab with mills.
I guess we will all work for Dandy one day or get screwed over by them. Like what's their deal? Care to shed some light on the subject

 

[Affinity]

Dandy Shmandy. 'the career of your life is but a drop in the illimitable ocean' Dandy is a very well VC funded drip. I know one guy that will find another career than work for a middle man again.
If you say no to the dandy man, they will go away. They do not hire techs, they hire PR.

 

[harmonylab]

Okay so I spoke to a lady name Alex from Dandy and she said her designers are on salary but never said how much because they wanted me to take a practical test on my computer and design 8 cases. I took the practical. BIG mistake. All she did was give me a link and a passcode. The problem is I had to download another piece of software to properly log on. Once I got on I had to locate all the files and import them into their 3shape.. Because they wanted me to loom (record) while I was designing it was a pain in the ass bc the connection was lost on their end more then a couple times bc I assume other people were logging into that computer which then kicked me off not just on dental manager but their network. Nothing saved. So basically bringing me back to square one. I was in 4 hours. So I had to download it again log on again record notes again followed ridiculous preferences, fixed incorrect prescriptions with wrong scan flags etc. I completed all designs (even though she said I only need to complete 7) exported everything correctly into a new file that included my design files for them in case they wanted to use them. So here's the best part. She never got back to me until a week later after I emailed them a couple times to tell me they didn't want to go any further with my application or even consider me. Her and "the team" would like me to reapply and stay connected with them for future openings.
Took me 8 hours. No offer. No thanks for completing the practical. I kind of felt like a dumbass after wasting my entire day. But whatever at least I tried

probably real cases. a shady way for them to get free labor.