General Transcriptionist Salary- Can it sustain a living?

General Transcriptionist Salary- Can it actually sustain a living?

Transcriptionist being a job that demands consistency and quality, can surely sustain a living as it pays $162.33 per day for a fresher (Zip Recruiter, n.d.). As experience and quality increase, the pay scale increases to $456 per day! (Zip Recruiter, n.d.) The vantage of having a laptop and decent typing skills can surely fetch you real money as a transcriptionist.

As a transcriptionist, you are required to convert an audio or live speech into the text format with proper grammar, spelling, fast typing, along a technological upper hand. That was all for the outline, but at ground level, it might be a little frustrating to extract real money for starting as a transcriptionist. However, one can surely have a head start if accompanied by a transcriptionist course and higher technical knowledge. Finding an apt company to work for can be tiring, but all the experience you gain in finding it is always worth the penny. Once you settle up with a company according to the work atmosphere, there comes a place to sharpen your efforts, consistency, and skills. The head starts that you gain from there help you switch companies based on the salary they offer.

To start from the base, one needs to have a certificate or an associate degree and additional key skills of time management, concentration, critical thinking, and computer knowledge. It is always good to start with some online practice sessions before stepping on to a job. Based on the type of transcription, your workplace will also be decided. The salary will also be dependent on the demand, and the type of transcription one opts for. General transcriptionists do not fall into medical or legal categories.

The list for the types of transcription are namely, 

  • Academic transcription 
  • Business transcription 
  • Conference transcription 
  • Interview transcription 
  • Market research transcription 
  • Legal transcription 
  • Medical transcription 
  • Online transcription 
  • Audio transcription 
  • Podcast’s transcription 
  • Video transcription 
  • Sermon transcription, etc. 

Your workplace will be your home, offices, courtrooms, hospitals/ medical clinics, and academic settings (Types of transcription, n.d.).

As you go further in the article, you will encounter how to opt for an online certificate course for transcription from beginner to advanced level. The article has funneled down to the affordable and quality institute for the course and has provided the link for it. It also includes links that will also offer links for practicing transcription online. Additionally, job links for beginners as well as for people with experience are also present.

Is Transcription good as a side job?

No doubt transcription can become a perfect side job due to its flexible timings and assured payments based on the company which hires you. Minimum three hours a day can fetch you $252+ for a week. As a beginner, you might take a long to transcribe one audio script, but as you pace up, it becomes easier and more enjoyable to donate a minimum of three hours a day for an audio script. If your goal is to complete one audio script per day, it becomes easy to earn.

Importance of Transcription

  • It becomes a bridge in transporting ideas despite language barriers.
  • Any decision or opinion can be easily circulated.
  • Any information is not restricted to one area, data is not lost.
  • Encourages other people to put down their thoughts easily.
  • The uniqueness of a particular language can be easily exalted instead of being neglected thus introducing more attention to a particular language. 

Do you really need a course to teach you transcription?

Even though the job might sound easy to a level but when it comes to execution, it requires quite an amount of patience, accuracy, precision, a good ear, and an experienced idea about the software to be used. And such kind of learning surely comes from expert teaching as not everything is available online for free. Companies, while hiring, also need proof that they are hiring learned employees, thus requiring them to have a certificate for it. Quality surely comes from experience!

Are you fit for transcription?

Not everyone can become a transcriptionist as not everyone can be a chef, so testing your language skills, typing skills will surely help you to decide. If salary is the turning stone for you to decide whether to continue as a transcriptionist or not, you will surely find your answer by the end of the article!

After learning, we can choose which type of transcription to go for, and thus it is always better to know the types of transcriptions and the jobs assigned under each.

Which type of transcription is apt for you? (Types of Transcription, n.d.)

  • Academic Transcription – This type includes transcribing research notes, thesis, essays, lectures, group discussions, seminars, conferences, dissertations, etc. 
  • Business Transcription – This type includes transcribing plans, business meetings, earning calls, conference meetings/ minutes, workshops, product launch, interview, seminar/ webinar, etc. 
  • Conference Transcription – This type includes transcribing board meetings, trade shows, conventions, corporate meetings, surveys, presentations, etc. This type is a part of business transcription.
  • Interview Transcription – This type includes transcribing the one-to-one interviews, job interviews, police interviews, radio interviews, legal interviews, news/journalist interviews, telephone interviews, etc. 
  • Market Research Transcription – This type includes transcribing opinion polls, customer analysis, product research, advertising research, etc.
  • Legal Transcription – This type includes transcribing jury instructions, court tapes, meeting minutes, sworn statements, police interrogations, telephone conversations, summons, client tapes, letters, written evidence, etc.
  • Medical Transcription – This type includes transcribing medical history, lab report, patient chart, surgery notes, operation reports, emergency room reports, discharge summary, rehabilitation reports, pediatric/ geriatric reports, SOAP notes, etc.
  • Online Transcription – This type includes transcribing multilingual articles and a variety of other sources.
  • Audio Transcription – This type includes transcribing digital audio files.
  • Podcast’s Transcription – This type includes transcribing digital podcasts files.
  • Video Transcription – This type includes transcribing digital video files.
  • Sermon Transcription – This type includes transcribing sermons/ religious lectures which help the pastors/ ministers to spread good teachings.

A beginner transcriptionist can earn around $15 per hour, while an expert transcriptionist can earn around $25-$30 per hour. Once you know which type of transcription you want to follow, you may also take up an internship to sharpen your skills.

Where do I check my transcription skills?

Before hiring, the company usually has tests that help the company to get an idea of your transcriptional skills. However, to know our weaknesses and strengths, it is always better to test those skills ourselves. Here are some websites which help you practice:

Equipment Required for a Transcriptionist- (Transcription Equipment: What Do You Need to Work as a Transcriptionist? n.d.)

This subheading will help you know the expenses of being a transcriptionist, which will further help you balance your income.

  • Desktop/Laptop – For basic tasks of a transcriptionist.
  • MS Word – All your transcriptional work needs MS Word as the base.
  • Headset – A noise cancellation headset can help you to focus at the same time it will help you to hear the audio with clarity so that you don’t miss out on words or type them wrongly. 
  • Foot Pedal – With the help of a foot pedal, you can pause the audio using your foot, this practice helps in saving time. As an expert, you may be expected to complete long and many audio/video files. In that situation, the habit of using a foot pedal proves to be more beneficial.
  • Transcription Software – This software plays a major role in your job as a transcriptionist. The software has the advantage of timestamps, clear audio, can process different audio/video file formats, etc. You won’t be required to spend much money on this software. Their free versions are available but spending a dollar more can prove to be more helpful and will also help you in having an upper hand while transcribing. 

Few Software:

  • Transcriptional Kit (Optional) – As the name suggests, the kit includes a set of all of the software, headset, foot pedal, etc required for transcription.
  • Ergonomic Desk Chair – Since transcription will require you to sit for long hours, it is important to maintain the spine, neck position in a proper manner. Bad sitting habits may lead to backache, severe shoulder muscle pain at the same time strain in your eyes as well as your lower back. A good adjustable ergonomic chair is known for helping you to sit for long hours due to its design and comfort. 
  • Text Expander – Even though its absence doesn’t make much difference, its presence can have a lot of impact on saving time. In this generation of texting, abbreviations are more commonly used. In the flow of completing an audio/video file very often, we might use words like gonna, wanna, Idk, u, r which is not acceptable, and it can easily affect the accuracy of the transcript. In order to avoid this, the text expander not only expands such abbreviations but also corrects such words. Speed plays a major role in affecting your payment. It is also claimed by experienced transcriptionists that text expander software has increased their efficiency by 30%.
  • Law Dictionary/ Medical Dictionary (Optional) – Very often we don’t actually know the terms which are quite common in legal as well as in medical scripts. In order that we don’t misspell them, these dictionaries are used.

Where do I start my job as a beginner? (17 Transcription Jobs, n.d.)

Usually, the sites will have few tests before recruiting you into transcription. However, one should be aware that the starting days might only be invested in growing skills; thus, only patience and perseverance can help you keep going. Once you learn the skill and are habituated with it, it becomes easier for you to pick up one audio/video file one day and thus keep going! Your accuracy and speed majorly decides your salary and increases your demand and reputation.

  1. Transcribe 
  2. TigerFish
  3. Crowdsurf
  4. Castingwords
  5. Upwork
  6. Transcription Outsourcing LLC
  7. GMR Transcription
  8. Daily Transcription
  9. Rev

Where do I choose a job as an expert?

Under every website, you may find an example of how the job profiles are to make it easy for you to choose the most appropriate one. In addition, most of the websites have further specialized requirements for a particular job. You will know each of them individually once you click on the website and browse through them.

  1. Indeed

Highest Paying Cities in Ascending Order in the US (Indeed, n.d.)

  • Dallas, TX – $28.73
  • Los Angeles, CA- $21.37
  • Sacramento, CA- $18.62
  • Phoenix, AZ- $16.99
  • New York, NY- $16.03
  • Houston, TX- $15.06
  • San Antonio, TX- $14.11
  • Gainesville, FL- $11.00

Top Companies Offering Jobs for a Transcriptionist. (Companies that hire for remote transcription jobs, n.d.)

Note that the salaries are subjected to change based on the demand, type of transcription, experience, and efficiency of a person. Happy Transcription!

General Transcriptionist Salary- Can it sustain a living?

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