The Complete Guide to Transcription Jobs in 2021(Part-1)

Introduction :

 

In this ultimate guide on transcription jobs for beginners , you'll learn everything you need to know about how to become a paid transcriber in 2021. You will learn about what skills you need to have to become a transcriber, the ideal typing speed,what equipment you need to get started,language skills,and more.

 

I will discuss different transcription tools you can use to transcribe faster and improve the quality of your transcript.I'll also discuss how much money you can potentially earn as a transcriptionist and explain the difference between $ earned per hour and per audio hour.

 

Finally,I will go through 11 different popular transcription platforms and discuss how difficult it is to pass each exam. I'll also discuss the job availability in 2021, how much you will earn per audio minute or audio hour,how long it takes to transcribe a minute,payment options,who can apply to these transcription jobs,and more!

 

 

The Complete Guide to Transcription Jobs in 2021(Part-1)

What are the requirements to become a transcriptionist?

 

👉High level of English(to become an English transcriptionist)

 

If  you're going to become a Spanish or Italian or German transcriptionist of course, you  just have to be fluent and have a high level in the language you are hoping to transcribe in.

👉Excellent skills in English writing,grammar,and punctuation

 

👉Decent typing speed(You should be able to type at least 60 words per minute)

 

If you don't know what your typing speed is,there are some typing speed tests that you can do.Now really,you don't have a great typing speed to become a transcriptionist.But the faster you are at typing,the more money you will make,because you will be able to transcribe these files faster.For most of these platforms,there is no minimum typing speed, you just need to be able to transcribe the file within the allotted time that they give you.

 

👉Access to a laptop or personal computer and internet

 

A lot of people ask if they can do transcription jobs on their mobile phone or on a tablet.But I would say all of these you need to have a laptop or a personal computer of some kind,because the software is just not built for tablets or for mobile phones that they want you to use when you are transcribing.

 

What equipment do I need?

 

👉Laptop or PC (Windows or Mac)

 

👉Good quality headphones

 

I mean,you don't have to have $100 Sony headphones,I recommend you have over the ear headphones,and ones that have a cord and ox cord that you can plug into you can use Bluetooth,of course that's no problem.But I find that sometimes with Bluetooth headphones,it might cut out a little bit here and there.Whereas if you have just your standard over the ear headphones that have an ox cable that plugs in directly to your laptop or your computer,that way you don't have to worry about charging them and you get a constant stream of audio without any you know cutting in and out.

 

👉Ergonomic keyboard (optional)

 

These keyboards are specially designed to help reduce strain by keeping your hands wrists and arms at a more comfortable and natural position than you would get with a standard keyboard.Of course this is optional.I wouldn't recommend you buy this without having a job.But let's say you get a job transcribing for a platform like rev or transcribe me and you want to be able to transcribe faster or you find that your arms or your wrists are starting to lock or seize up than an ergonomic keyboard will make it more comfortable for you as you're typing.

 

👉Foot pedal (optional)

 

Transcription foot pedals make transcribing much faster,because you can simply tap the pedals with your feet to fast forward or rewind the audio as you are transcribing. So foot pedal is sort of like when you're driving a car,you have two different pedals that you can tap with your foot, either to fast forward or rewind the audio. And this makes it so much faster because you don't have to move your hands from the positions of the letters on your keyboard.You just have to press rewind or fast forward with your foot and then you can keep transcribing.The recommended transcription foot pedal that also can work with rev is the Infiniti foot pedal.If you're just starting out you just need a laptop or PC and headphones.

 

What transcription tools can I use?

 

If you're transcribing for different clients that you get on Fiverr or Upwork, or people per hour or any of these popular freelancing platforms,then you usually have more liberty to use different transcription tools.

 

👉Audacity (Free)

 

It is a free program where you can eliminate background  noise and improve audio quality.You can also slow down audio so you can understand it more clearly.

 

👉Grammarly (Free version or Premium version)

 

I also recommend you use Grammarly.Grammarly is a free tool,or you can purchase the premium version.But I wouldn't recommend this if you're just starting out because it is quite expensive.But you can use the free version to help check for spelling grammatical and punctuation errors in your transcript.

 

👉Otranscribe (Free)

 

Also you could use Otranscribe,which is a free web app to make transcribing files easier with an integrated player.

 

👉Google Docs (Free)

 

Google Docs and what you can use with this is they have a built in speech to text software so that you can dictate the transcription into the document.And the Google Docs will transcribe it for you automatically.So this might save you time.If you don't feel like typing everything out or say you,you know you broke one arm or you just your hands are tired from typing all day.This is an alternative,you can listen to the audio and then repeat what it's saying so that Google Docs will transcribe everything that you are saying into the document.

 

👉Otter.ai (Free trial then paid)

 

Finally, you can use Otter.ai.This has a free trial,but then it is paid.But it is the best software I have found for automatic audio to text conversion.And this again will speed up the transcription process because you can just put the mp3 or audio or video file into Otter and it will automatically transcribe it for you.And then of course,you go through it and check for any punctuation errors or spelling errors and cleaned it up before you would submit it to your client.

 

How can I Improve my English level?

 

If you're English level isn't excellent,it will be hard for you to become an English transcriptionist.That is not to say that you cannot practice and get better because if you improve your punctuation skills and your writing skills,then you definitely have the option to become an English transcriptionist.You can also see many YouTube tutorials to improve your English level.Practice Hard and get the Success.

 

How much money can I make?

• Be very careful when you're watching different videos on YouTube,and these youtuber say you can make $20 an hour transcribing.In general this is absolutely 100% false.
  
• Unless you are a freelance transcriptionist and you have private clients that you transcribe for,or you are transcribing for a very high level company that offers excellent pay rates,you are unlikely to make $20 per hour.
• What most YouTubers DO NOT tell you is that you can make between $10-$22 per audio hour.
• In general,it takes 3-4 hours to transcribe one hour of audio.
• That means,you can expect to earn between $10-$22 every 3-4 hours or depending on how long it takes you to transcribe one hour.
• If we do the math,that equals $3-57 an hour or slightly more/less depending on your typing speed and the difficulty of the audio or video file.
  

 

I Hope you understand this article about Transcription jobs.In next part,we are going to discuss various Platforms that are providing the transcription jobs.So Stay tuned and Happy Earning!!