Hopefully you’ve had a chance to read my post on working at home as a transcriptionist. As promised, I’m back to give you all some information on how you can get started working at home in the transcription industry!
So how do you get started? Explaining it all in one post is nearly impossible, but if you are interested in pursuing transcription as a career, here are the steps to get you headed in the right direction.
- Find a pair of quality headphones.
- Download Express Scribe and install Microsoft Word if it’s not already on your computer.
- Brush up on your grammar rules.
- Learn how to research words, names and terms online.
- Download audio from a variety of sources and begin practicing.
- Create or brush up your résumé and cover letter.
- Begin applying as an independent contractor.
- Look for projects on Guru, Elance and/or Craigslist.
- Continue developing your skills and looking for ways to increase productivity.
Posts on all of these aspects can be found interspersed on Transcription Talk. However, if you’re one of those people that need things laid out in an orderly and step-by-step fashion, I recommend purchasing General Transcription 101.
When my partners and I started Transcription Talk, our mission was to help other moms not only get started working at home as transcriptionists but also to give them the tools to improve their skills and speed so that they can earn more in less time giving them more availability for their family. We made a commitment to blog daily towards this goal; however, we quickly realized that a daily blog of this sort in addition to our other obligations was taking too much time away from our own families.
We made the difficult decision to discontinue posting on Transcription Talk but not before we published our first transcription ebook, General Transcription 101: Your Complete Guide to Getting Started. We worked very hard to make sure that General Transcription 101 walks the reader through each of the steps to getting started as a work-at-home transcriptionist. We had it reviewed by people just getting started, those considering the industry, experienced transcriptionists, and even professional editors. We did rewrites, design changes, and tweaked it more times than we can count.
All three of us are very proud of the end result, and we’ve received nothing but positive feedback from those who have purchased it. I’m hoping to hear that it’s helped some of you out as well!
Elizabeth M.
The biggest barrier for me on getting a job outside the home is the expense of a new work wardrobe. I just don’t have more than a few items that are appropriate. All of my old work clothes have been donated and I’ve been wearing sweatshirts and jeans ever since while raising kids.
Elizabeth M.
The biggest barrier for me on getting a job outside the home is the expense of a new work wardrobe. I just don’t have more than a few items that are appropriate. All of my old work clothes have been donated and I’ve been wearing sweatshirts and jeans ever since while raising kids.
Erika Arciniega
My biggest barrier is not having the time to research good at home working opportunities so I can make the move from my regualr job. I don’t want to give in to any scams, and that fear alos becomes a barrier.
Erika Arciniega
My biggest barrier is not having the time to research good at home working opportunities so I can make the move from my regualr job. I don’t want to give in to any scams, and that fear alos becomes a barrier.
Stephanie
I think the biggest barrier is finding something that is legit and worthwhile. I had a friend who thought she had found a great work-from-home deal where she put together little crafts for something ridiculous like a quarter each. It sounded fine on paper, but when the stuff came in the mail she realized that each one took over a half hour to do. I don’t want to invest money into something that isn’t likely to work out.
Stephanie´s last blog post..FREE (and even better) at CVS This Week (through 10/25)
Stephanie
I think the biggest barrier is finding something that is legit and worthwhile. I had a friend who thought she had found a great work-from-home deal where she put together little crafts for something ridiculous like a quarter each. It sounded fine on paper, but when the stuff came in the mail she realized that each one took over a half hour to do. I don’t want to invest money into something that isn’t likely to work out.
Stephanie´s last blog post..FREE (and even better) at CVS This Week (through 10/25)
Karen
The biggest problem I have run into is finding legit companies that do not want a start up fee.
Karen
The biggest problem I have run into is finding legit companies that do not want a start up fee.
Jessica
My biggest barrier, like many others’ is finding a great work from home job that is not a scam. I’ve been searching desperately and haven’t found a single thing yet besides medical transcription (and I didn’t realize there was such a thing as general transcription – even better!). I can’t afford to take the medical classes at this time (I was going to school for nursing, so I know some medical terminology…), so this may be what I need to do for now! I just don’t even know where to begin… I’ll have to ask my husband if I can buy the book – thanks!
Jessica
My biggest barrier, like many others’ is finding a great work from home job that is not a scam. I’ve been searching desperately and haven’t found a single thing yet besides medical transcription (and I didn’t realize there was such a thing as general transcription – even better!). I can’t afford to take the medical classes at this time (I was going to school for nursing, so I know some medical terminology…), so this may be what I need to do for now! I just don’t even know where to begin… I’ll have to ask my husband if I can buy the book – thanks!
Laurie
My biggest barrier is my fear of starting something and then finding it takes too much time away from my kids. I tried selling Pampered Chef for a couple of years, but ended up missing too many of my kids’ activities because I scheduled a show before I would get their schedules. And it took up way more time than I thought it would during the day as well. I may as well have had a regular job outside the home. I’d love to win the book to hopefully help me get started in a job from home that I can manage around the kids’ schedules.
Laurie´s last blog post..The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ 10/20/08
Laurie
My biggest barrier is my fear of starting something and then finding it takes too much time away from my kids. I tried selling Pampered Chef for a couple of years, but ended up missing too many of my kids’ activities because I scheduled a show before I would get their schedules. And it took up way more time than I thought it would during the day as well. I may as well have had a regular job outside the home. I’d love to win the book to hopefully help me get started in a job from home that I can manage around the kids’ schedules.
Laurie´s last blog post..The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ 10/20/08
Melissa
I have 3 boys, 2 who are in school and one still home.
My husband is away half the year and me being home is a need as well as a want.
I have no luck in a job that allows me to be home with my kids and help my husband out financially.
I must stay home with my kids so they have a stable life.
Having a great job at home would be a blessing and a relief for my husband.
Melissa´s last blog post..Borders Halloween Spooktacular October 25
Melissa
I have 3 boys, 2 who are in school and one still home.
My husband is away half the year and me being home is a need as well as a want.
I have no luck in a job that allows me to be home with my kids and help my husband out financially.
I must stay home with my kids so they have a stable life.
Having a great job at home would be a blessing and a relief for my husband.
Melissa´s last blog post..Borders Halloween Spooktacular October 25
Alana Jo
Staying at home with my kids is so hard. Id love this!!!! I just can not leave my kids with someone besides family. At this point family cant do babysit, so I stay home.
Alana Jo´s last blog post..Dont Forget!!!
Alana Jo
Staying at home with my kids is so hard. Id love this!!!! I just can not leave my kids with someone besides family. At this point family cant do babysit, so I stay home.
Alana Jo´s last blog post..Dont Forget!!!
Melissa
I am a professional freelance editor, but I work very part-time as I have a preschooler at home and an adopted child on the way. I’ve thought about doing transcription as a fill-in between editing jobs. Freelance editing is feast-or-famine, so I think transcription would be a nice supplement. And I already have some of the equipment!
Melissa
I am a professional freelance editor, but I work very part-time as I have a preschooler at home and an adopted child on the way. I’ve thought about doing transcription as a fill-in between editing jobs. Freelance editing is feast-or-famine, so I think transcription would be a nice supplement. And I already have some of the equipment!
Sarah
I used to be a Legal Transcriptionist. I quit to be a stay at home mother when I had my first child over 2 years ago. Money is extremely tight right now so I have been doing a few surveys here and there, but don’t really make but a few dollars a month. I would really like to start working on something like this in order to help with our financial struggles.
Sarah
I used to be a Legal Transcriptionist. I quit to be a stay at home mother when I had my first child over 2 years ago. Money is extremely tight right now so I have been doing a few surveys here and there, but don’t really make but a few dollars a month. I would really like to start working on something like this in order to help with our financial struggles.
JenC
My biggest barrier to working at home is finding my niche. Unfortunately I’m the “breadwinner” in my family. My husband is a musician, so his income is extremely variable.
I’ve often thought of looking into transcription, so if I don’t win, I’ll most likely be purchasing. Thanks for making this available to us.
JenC
My biggest barrier to working at home is finding my niche. Unfortunately I’m the “breadwinner” in my family. My husband is a musician, so his income is extremely variable.
I’ve often thought of looking into transcription, so if I don’t win, I’ll most likely be purchasing. Thanks for making this available to us.
Jen
It seems that we all share the same common barriers; time and fear of getting burned by a scam. Since seeing your guest post at moneysavingmom on working at home, I’ve been considering the transcriptionist idea as the best one I’ve come across so far. It seems like a great opportunity. I homeschool my kids, so finding the time to prepare myself would be my first challenge. Then comes the challenge of finding work for a beginning transcriptionist. Then, I’m back to the challenge of having time to actually get the job done. And, to be honest, there’s also a fear of failure there too for me. I suppose it is probably better to try and fail than to never try at all!
Jen
It seems that we all share the same common barriers; time and fear of getting burned by a scam. Since seeing your guest post at moneysavingmom on working at home, I’ve been considering the transcriptionist idea as the best one I’ve come across so far. It seems like a great opportunity. I homeschool my kids, so finding the time to prepare myself would be my first challenge. Then comes the challenge of finding work for a beginning transcriptionist. Then, I’m back to the challenge of having time to actually get the job done. And, to be honest, there’s also a fear of failure there too for me. I suppose it is probably better to try and fail than to never try at all!
Heather
Like everyone else I am scared of the scams. I want so much to work from home as I am a night person so working in the evening after the kids are in bed is not a problem. I just would love to find out how and where to do it so I don’t get caught in a scam.
It is my dream to work from home and help with the finances.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Heather
Like everyone else I am scared of the scams. I want so much to work from home as I am a night person so working in the evening after the kids are in bed is not a problem. I just would love to find out how and where to do it so I don’t get caught in a scam.
It is my dream to work from home and help with the finances.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Amanda
My biggest barrier to working at home has been making enough money to make it seem worthwhile! I’ve tried a couple things here and there but rarely made enough money to stick to it long term.
Amanda´s last blog post..October One
Amanda
My biggest barrier to working at home has been making enough money to make it seem worthwhile! I’ve tried a couple things here and there but rarely made enough money to stick to it long term.
Amanda´s last blog post..October One
Gretchen
I’m interested – – sign me up!!
Gretchen´s last blog post..Surprised by God
Gretchen
I’m interested – – sign me up!!
Gretchen´s last blog post..Surprised by God