How Transcription Skills Can Help You Build a Home-Based Career

Starting a career in transcription seems like an attractive proposition to many. Some believe that the work is merely listening and typing what you hear. The truth is that transcription is much more challenging than what it sounds. You must possess certain transcription skills to build a successful career in transcription. If you want to discover what those are, read on.

Transcription Skills to Become a Professional Transcriptionist

Since transcription work involves the conversion of audio into text, it calls for sharp listening skills.
You need to be good at multitasking as you need to listen, comprehend and type simultaneously.
You have to be really good at fast and accurate typing.
Good research skills are a must, as you are often required to search for industry-specific information.
A good command over language in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation is required
Make sure you have knowledge of formatting as per client specifications.
You should also have a working knowledge of computers and the software programs that are used.

Starting a Career in General Transcription

General transcription isn't as easy as it may seem, as the scope of the subject it covers is widely varied, so an interest in general knowledge does help. As your career progresses, you will begin to realize how much a well-informed person you have become. The upside to starting a general transcription career is that you don't need any formal training, while it obviously gives you an upper hand over others if you take a training course for general transcription.

A good general transcriptionist should nurse a passion for perfection at work, you may need to repeatedly listen to the same audio several times to get it right. You will also face the challenge of poor audio, multiple speakers, heavy accents, and such, so things can be rather frustrating at times, but don't get discouraged. Patience is the key in such situations.

Another skill specific to general transcription include the ability to research on the web using the right keyword combinations to obtain relevant information. This makes a job in general transcription even more challenging compared to other forms of transcription, but it's well worth the trouble.

Tips for Starting a Work From Home Transcription Career

For a transcriptionist without any certification, starting out as a home-based transcriptionist can be difficult in the beginning as companies would first want to see your transcription skills through sample assignments before giving you live work. Quite a few companies have their own set of transcription tests to judge your caliber before deeming you fit for live work. You can also practice your transcription skills with the TCI Accuracy Assessment Tool and get instant accuracy results.

If you intend to start off as a home-based transcriptionist, it's advisable to have reliable phone connection for work as this would facilitate better communication and coordination between you and the client. The basic equipment required to start a transcription career at home are earphones, a foot pedal, and a very good transcription software. You might have to pay for a good transcription software which will help you control the audio with the foot pedal. On an average, transcribing an hour of video can take up-to 5 hours. Once you have sorted your equipment, you can start emailing your resume to companies you find of your interest.