Home-based transcription allows you to work from the comfort of your home and make a good living without any special education or experience. Even though like in any other real job, it will take you practice with the study to gain efficiency, a transcription career is very rewarding due to the pay and flexibility it offers.
To put it in simply, transcription is converting live audio or its recorded version into an electronic document. The myriad forms of audio could be a lecture, interviews, a podcast or a webinar, etc. General transcription, as the name implies, is a type of transcription that requires the conversion of audios under any genre, including webinars, business recordings, interviews, and telephone conversations, just to name a few. This kind of transcription does not require specific knowledge on any subject.
What Skills or Characteristics are Necessary for Becoming an Expert Transcriptionist?
A good command over English grammar and punctuation is a must for one to become a transcriber. If you can discern properly between the US and UK English, that's an added advantage.
Once you begin transcription work, you will realize that the audios differ in terms of quality, accent, speed, etc. If you are a keen listener, you have a better chance of getting the words right.
You could encounter audios with non-English words, or a word that you may never have heard before. It would require research on Google to discern words that could be names of towns, people or other things that are not clear in the audio. This would enhance the acceptability of the work you submit.
Sometimes, transcribing a single file could produce several hundred, or perhaps thousands of words. It goes without saying then, that you need a good typing speed to perform better at work.
An experienced transcriptionist is generally able to transcribe one hour of audio in about three hours, while a newer transcriptionist may take even more time: it translates to $25 per audio hour, making it really not worth your time. A respectable pay would be somewhere in the range of $50 to $60 per audio hour.
How to Become a Certified Transcriptionist?
First take a quiz to find out whether transcription is right for you.
Once you decide, then taking up a transcription training course like the one by TCI is highly recommended which will give you a head start over others in this competitive industry.
Get the necessary transcription equipment.
Create a professional transcriptionist resume focused on your transcription skills.
Apply for transcription jobs and get hired.
Always practice transcription on tools, like the accuracy assessment tool from TCI that will help you in further improving your transcription skills.
Where to Find Transcription Jobs as a Beginner?
To search for your preferred transcription job, you can look up the various job boards on the web, where recruiters/employers regularly post their job requirements. For example, TCI has its own job board where you can find job postings from employers who are head-hunting globally. For further details, visit the TCI Job Board.