How to Obtain a Transcription Career

If you are trying to find a job doing transcription work you will need to find out if it will work out well for you. You will need a place which is quiet (without children) because you need to hear what is being said accurately. You will need a reliable computer with fast internet. You will also need Microsoft Word. If you do not have any of these things it will cost you a bundle to get started.

Transcription is listening to what is being said and typing it out in Microsoft word or another type of word processing program. Each company will have different formats and different rules. Each company will vary on how they pay you also. Some places will pay you by the page which works well if you have a foot pedal and you can type fast without pausing a lot. You will probably make around $7 or $8 an hour. I know this doesn't seem like a lot of money but you will also not have to have a babysitter and you will not have to pay for gas. You can sit at home in your pajamas and make money.

Transcription work is hard to get the hang of. They will want you to do the best that you can and sometimes that isn't good enough. There aren't a lot of companies that hire people without experience but you can find some that do at wahm.com. You will find a list of transcription jobs located in the message board section. You will need to create a resume and send it to the companies. You will need to take a speed test to see how fast you type for your own sake. If they want somebody who types 80 wpm and expects this you will be hurting yourself if you can only type 20 wpm. You will not make as much as you are supposed to because you cannot work as fast.

The more that you type the faster that you will become. I went from not knowing the home row on the keyboard to typing over 100 wpm. All you will need is a little practice on the computer.

If you get lucky and find a place that wants to hire you make sure you know what your schedule is. Some companies only have work available at certain times of the year which will leave you with nothing to do for months at a time. You need to know what you are getting yourself into. Make sure to print off all reference papers and material. Make sure that you save copies of everything. Once you have worked for a transcription company for at least one year you can get into many other companies that may pay you more money. Once you have the experience it will work towards your benefit.