Previously, people perceived work in the field of transcription as an additional opportunity for earning money. However, with the increase in digital technology, this profession has become the most in-demand. Every day, it’s like a student or an employee of a large company wants to hire a transcriber. Therefore, platforms are developing today that hire experts in this niche full-time, and their income can sometimes exceed the salary of a teacher or nurse. If you decide to become a transcriptionist – this is an excellent prospect for the future! Below you will find a step-by-step guide to help you successfully develop in this profession and you can check transcriberry.com to hire a transcriber to get more information about transcription.
How Will the Transcriptionist Profession Develop in the Future?
According to Grand View Research, from 2024 to 2027, the demand for transcription services will increase by 6.1%. At the same time, researchers argue that in 2019, the US transcription market volume to $ 19.8 billion. This success is primarily due to the increase in data that people want to store in text format.
Research & Markets also researched transcription and found that services in this niche for healthcare professionals will grow to $ 16.64 billion between 2024 and 2024. Note that this figure is equal to 5% of the annual growth of the United States.
Are you surprised by these numbers? Well, these studies confirm how large the transcription service is developing. We’ve put together the most compelling reasons why 2024 is a great time to become a transcriptionist.
However, when mastering the profession, keep in mind that cooperation with offline platforms in transcription will lead to failure. Many transcription companies prefer to work online, as most stores and institutions are developing deeper on the Internet with the advent of the coronavirus. Business owners are confident that people will have to go through more than one serious illness, but everyone will use the Internet, and it is the online sphere that will bring profit.
Types Of Transcriptions You Can Work In
There are ten types of transcriptions that are in demand and profitable:
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Academic transcriptions
These services are used by students from schools, colleges, and universities. Working in this niche, you have to transcribe lectures, research, laboratory work that the teacher demonstrated.
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Business transcriptions
Today, there are practically no secretaries who would diligently print discussions, reports, minutes, etc. Firstly, most business people do not want to make such meetings public.
Secondly, the accuracy of printing is questionable. Therefore, business people prefer to record conversations on a dictaphone and transmit them to professional human transcribers.
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Transcriptions of speeches
Working in this niche, you have to transcribe speakers’ lectures, various events, debates, conferences, etc.
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Interview transcriptions
Working in this niche, you have to transcribe video or audio to text for media workers, law enforcement agencies, recruiting companies. Your task is to transcribe the interview accurately.
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Focus group transcription
Some companies ask transcriptionists to decipher focus group research to apply it to business development. Your task is to transcribe conversations and pull out information that will positively affect the product or services of the business.
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Market research transcriptions
Working in this niche, you have to decipher the target audience’s conversations to provide the company with data about the brand, products, or services from real consumers. Your task is to create reports in text form, with statistics and quotes from people. Based on this information, companies will understand what they should implement products or services and what needs to be changed or improved
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Legal transcriptions
Working in this niche, you have to transcribe various court proceedings and testimonies of witnesses of incidents. That’s why you need special skills here: fast and accurate printing.
At the same time, you must remember confidentiality because in your hands will be the negotiations of lawyers, prosecutors, etc.
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Medical transcription
This niche is the most demanded and profitable one. Your task is to decipher the conversations between the doctor and the patient, the conversations between the ambulance and the patients, and the doctors’ conversations during the operations. Medical knowledge will come in handy here because you have to write about diagnoses, and the slightest mistake can affect a person’s life.
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Technical transcriptions
Working in this niche, you have to transcribe conversations of engineers, computer scientists, builders, and other technical experts. Here, as in medicine, you will need technical knowledge, including mathematics and physics. Conversations between technical experts include various terms that are not used in everyday life.
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Common transcriptions
Working in this niche, you have to decipher the records of all the above types of transcription. Therefore, you will need a lot of time, knowledge, and effort to cope with the tasks.
Based on this information, you can see that it is necessary to have special education in some areas of transcription, such as legal, medical, or technical. You do not need special knowledge in other areas because tasks are reduced to a minimum, and you need to type quickly.
10 Steps To Master the Profession of a Transcriptionist
Some of you may think that becoming a transcriptionist is easy. To do this, you need to send a job application to the company, tell them about yourself, your skills, and that’s it.
However, to get invitations to work, you need to put in a lot of effort. Therefore, consider the following ten steps that will make you a professional transcriptionist.
1. Determine Working Day: Full Or Part-Time
The profession of a transcriptionist is attractive because it does not require binding to the workplace. However, before you provide these services, ask yourself the question: “Do I want to work full-time in the organization, self-employed or part-time?”
If you prefer to work full time in an organization, then you have to find a company with stable orders. If you plan to work for yourself, you should spend a lot of time placing orders on platforms with many visitors. Thanks to this, you will have regular orders, and you will gain popularity.
The difference between these two types of work is that you do not have to look for orders yourself by cooperating with an organization. Working for yourself, you will spend a lot of time looking for clients, which is not always profitable.
If you plan to work part-time, we recommend partnering with transcription companies. The fact is that an independent search for a client can take all the free time, and then additional work will have to be postponed. Therefore, consider these nuances to find a job that suits your capabilities.
2. Define Your Skills And Opportunities
Do you want to devote yourself to the profession of transcriptionist? Before you proceed with the following steps, check the pros and cons because the job of a transcriptionist requires total commitment to the client. During work, you will have to listen to low-quality recordings. Sometimes you will have to decipher the records against the background of the conversations of strangers interfering with concentration. Are you ready for this? Give an honest answer.
In addition, you should consider that records may contain different accents, styles, tones of the English language. If your level of English is low, then this job is not for you. Sometimes you may come across incomprehensible words, so you should work with dictionaries not to make mistakes when decoding audio or video.
Finally, ask yourself a question – are you ready to work in this area for years, or will your nerves only last for a couple of days? You have to work on tight deadlines very often, which means you have to sacrifice sleep. Every day you will have to coordinate work with the client, make corrections to have a stable income.
If you are confident in your abilities after answering these questions, please proceed with the following steps. When in doubt, stop because burnout from work will not lead to good.
3. Practice In Transcriptions
To understand how this area works, download the transcription files. By listening to files and typing words in text editors, you will feel the whole atmosphere of the profession. In addition, you will once again determine whether you are ready for such a job.
After you have done a little practice, contact a company that provides such services and ask for a test task. The test results will show if you need more training or if you are ready to work.
If you are a beginner transcriptionist and have never heard of this profession before, you will need a month of practice. If you get poor results after a practice test, don’t despair. Practice for a few more months and hone your skills.
4. Apply for a Transcriptionist Certificate
Now that you have successfully transcribed your recordings, it’s time to apply for a transcriptionist certificate. This is an optional document because many companies do not require documents confirming your knowledge and skills. Your work is an excellent example to determine if you are suitable for the job.
However, with such a certificate, you get a lot of benefits. For example, you don’t have to queue up to get job invitations. Also, you do not have to pass additional tests to show the quality of your skills – you will receive tasks immediately after the conclusion of a cooperation agreement.
To get a certificate, you need to find online platforms that provide transcription testing or professional courses. After passing the exams, you will receive a certificate. However, check certificate meanness – do not take tests in companies without a license.
5. Become an Entry Level Transcriptionist
If you have received a transcriptionist certificate, this does not mean that you should immediately declare yourself as an expert. First, find an entry-level job. As you gain skills, you can move on to harder jobs and move up the career ladder.
In addition, you will delve into the nuances of the profession that you have not heard of before. For example, you will learn how to edit transcriptions, format, and add documents in tables. Entry-level jobs have few requirements. Therefore, because of the mistakes you have made, you will not be fired – this will be a sign of what is worth improving.
6. Find a Freelance Job
If you are planning to work for yourself or part-time, you should try becoming a freelancer – this is an employee who does freelance assignments. If you have a certificate, you can post an advertisement for transcription services on FlexJobs.com or Freelancer.com.
If you do not want to waste time posting announcements about services, visit the boards with requests to complete tasks. For example, on Indeed.com or Glassdoor.com, there are messages every day asking you to transcribe different entries. Such announcements are one-time – each time, you will have to look for new ones.
7. Create a LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn is a social network for employees and employers. The platform is used by over 660 million people from 200 countries. You can create your profile, in which you describe your skills, achievements, certificates in the field of transcription. Employers will respond to your resume and offer jobs. You can also visit groups that publish various job announcements. When cooperating, ask employers to send reviews about you – the more reviews, the more trust you have in you.
8. Create PayPal Account
Whether you work for yourself or a company, customers prefer to pay for orders through PayPal. Why? Because, according to employers, PayPal is a convenient payment system for paying salaries to remote workers, which takes a minimum of commissions. So if you don’t have a PayPal account yet, create one.
9. Find Full Time Transcriptionist Jobs In Top Companies
Once you have tried your hand at entry-level jobs and improved your skills, you can start looking for work at the best transcription companies. Look for companies that offer full-time, so you have a steady income. Note that professional transcription companies select employees more carefully, even though they have a certificate. Therefore, you must approach this step consciously. The desire to make more money is good, but do not waste time looking for work in large companies if you still doubt your skills. For example, you can go to jurisprudence, medicine, or technological institutes to get a high-paying job.
10. Renew the Certificate
Transcriptionist certificates are not eternal – companies issue them from 1 to 3 years. Contact the company where you took the courses and retake the exams to renew the certificate. Employers highly value employees with such documents. Therefore, we wish you success in mastering a new profession – work hard, and you will succeed!
