Transcription job advice

I have done some transcription jobs before and these are the things I used to ease my work: 1. Dictionary. This is important especially when you are not sure what the speaker was saying but you caught some letters of the words. It can also become handy when your employer what's you to rewrite what you have transcribed. 2. Other reference books. This is optional, depending on the transcription job you have. I have tried medical transcriptioning and boy it was hard. Almost all of the terms are not familiar to me so I don't know if I'm transcribing the right word or not. 3. Headset. It is hard to transcribe when you use speakers. You would understand more what the speaker is saying when you make use of a headset because it blocks out the noise around you. Also, it can become handy. What I did before is transfer the audio file in my phone so that even when I'm at school, I can continue with my transcription work. 4. Foot Pedal (I don't have this). You need this especially when you want to get pro. This could help you rewind and fast forward the audio file without taking your hands away from the keyboard. This could also control the speed of the audio file. You can slow it down on the part that you cannot understand what the speaker is saying. Part of the success of transcription jobs is using the right tools so make sure you have those. Good luck to you.

How did you got that job. I would like to do transcriptioning too. I think its fun but it's hard. How much is the pay?Is there a fee to got a job or an audio file to transcribe?

Congratulations on getting the transcription job. I would love to have one. Do you do it from home? I would say a one hour transcription job should take about and hour, maybe a little more. As one has to play back the audio probably several times. I use jarte for when I am typing something up for myself. It is a free program, and is very useful. Transcribing can be very difficult especially is the person does not speak clearly. Are you able to contact the person you are transcribing for? If so if you have a question on something you don't understand, give them a call, they can clear it up and it can go faster for you. Good luck with you job.

Hi girl, it is better if you use steno notebook it is easier to transcribe when you use it. How I wish I can also got job like yours. I am a graduate of Secretarial Administration but I did not even applied my shorthand in my previous job because not inclined at my work in the bank. God bless

I'm cuious about your job ,can you describ that to me ??? Thank you . Now ,I want a job eighter .

Hi girl_thinking! Congrats! Odesk is one of the best site where you can start an online job.There are many transcription job in this site.But not just only transcription there are lots you can choose,it depends on the skills you have.I try a transcription job and I know that it's not easy.I am a member of odesk also for many years now and I have work with different employers already. For you to get hired,first thing is you must take the odesk readiness exam and after passing it there you go,you can get an online job.

It depends very much on the nature of the audio, the quality and the number of times which you need to listen to each passage in order to accurately transcribe it, how fast you type and whether you can type as you listen. In general, people speak at about 120 words per minute and, assuming that you type at 40 to 60 words per minute, it will take you at least twice or three times as long to type all the words in an audio file. You need to ADD to that the time taken to listen to the file (if you listen and then type), so even a straightforward and very clear transcription of a 1 hour audio tape may actually take 3 or 4 hours to transcribe under the best conditions. If the quality of the audio is poor, there is more than one speaker and the accents are sometimes unfamiliar or words are mumbled or unclear, you may need to listen to certain passages several times, and the time taken can increase dramatically. As you have pointed out, you are less than half way through and you have already taken two hours, so it suggests that the whole job may take you around 6 hours. A very competent and practised audio typist working with a voice with which he or she is familiar and using a foot-controlled dictation machine would be able to transcribe an hour of recording in less time, of course, because the speaker would usually be speaking a little slower and specifically for transcription but the kind of transcription given as tasks on ODesk and other places like it is generally much harder.

Hi, Girl_Thinking! Thanks for sharing this information. It's a very interesting job but I bet it's really hard. I earn part of my money with subtitling, so I make movies translations. But usually I have the scripts. Without this it's difficult for me because I can't hear very well the speaking, even in my own language. So I understand the problems you have and I'd like to give you courage! Good luck!

Transcription sucks. You have to keep playing back and playing back and you could take 2 or 3 days getting done, depending on how many hours. I worked on a 2 hour one and I gave up after about 2 hours .. it was ridiculous. I used a transcription software... it was free.. but still it was very difficult. On mine the person spoke so fast that I couldn't discern all the words... the software allowed me to slow it down, but by slowing it down it also changed how I heard it also making it even harder to understand. You can get a free trial of Express Scribe. I will expire if you don't buy it after so long.

A transcription job is quite hard and tasking especially if you are not used to it. If the speaker is talking 40-60 words per minute and you can type 30-40 words per minute, plus the rewind and forward you will do to get the exact words, then you can calculate how long will it take you to transcribe a one-hour voice file. It is fun to do transcription if it takes a lo of patience and a good transcription tool. You can try to download NCSWIFT tool for transcription, it will help you do the rewind and forward using your keyboard, if you have foot pedal it would be lot easier because you will be using your foot to do the rewind and forward. In my experience, transcribing a 3-5 minutes voice file will take me 2-3 hours transcribing. Its ok to use the notepad for your transcribed words. It would also be helpful if you use a loud speaker to listen to it or a headphone whichever is the most convenient for you. Good luck

transcription jobs are not that easy and i realized it just yesterday when i was going through a test. for 6 minutes tape i had my 100 minutes utilized.i was trying it for first time and i don't even know if i passed the test or not. i don't feel i can work on it comfortably.

Hello, Thanks for letting me know of this information. As suggested by other, if you know shorthand, thats the best way for transcribing. By the way, is it an online transcription service or something that you can download and do it offline?

Hi, I posted a response to this discussion yesterday but I dont see it now. Not sure where it has gone, perhaps got deleted? Have I said something wrong?

I am also with Odesk. But I am no longer active cause it seems that there are a lot of competition from there. I only have one assignment completed from there and it was a long time ago. However, they are really paying so maybe I will try to be active again. Good job there on getting a transcription job. Just be patient about it. You already have it. Go, go , go!:)

Hi Friend, I am also at Odesk but I have never applied for any job as yet because I have to take some tutorials first then start working for them. As you talk about transcription,I know it is not as easy at it appears. In starting you need to put extra time and when you get the flow, things will come out great. Best of Luck.

Hi. It really depends on the type of audio file you get. There are those that are easy to transcribe like instructional videos and stuff. Others are hard especially if the quality of the audio is poor or the one speaking slurs his words or speaks in an accent you're not accustomed to. But on average, I think an hour of audio can take 8 hours to complete. Some can do it faster, others longer. I sort of work in the transcription industry :)

Sorry, please ignore my previous post. I am new to Mylot and missed to see that my post did exist in the second page.

Wow, gud luck girl! I'm a member of odesk too but i cant start yet since i need to pass some tests and be verified and certified and all. hmp! Good luck to you!