Basic Transcription Skills: Guide to Getting Started

Are you considering transcription work opportunities? Curious if it might suit you?

Alongside the rise of remote work, there is a continuous demand for transcription. Fortunately, not all transcription roles require previous experience to get started.

Being a transcriptionist offers several advantages like predictable workflows and flexible working hours. You can also control your income as it depends on the volume of files you opt to work on.

It’s a common misconception though that being a transcriber, all that you’d be doing is listening and typing.

Here at Scribie, our transcribers provide the highest quality with their work making a leading transcription service provider in the market.

Now, what skills are required to pass as a certified Scribie transcriber?

If you’re a new or an aspiring transcriber, we’re going to elaborate on the skills you need to consider working on once you join our Scribie community.

Interested in Working with Scribie?

To be a certified Scribie transcriber, you need to pass the certification process wherein you will need to submit and pass the test file.

The core skill we are looking for is the ability to correct manual and automated transcripts. Scribie will not be a good fit if you are looking for typing-only jobs.

Once you become a Scribie transcriber, you would be able to select any available files.

You might be wondering about the type of audio files you will be transcribing in Scribie.

For context, Scribie transcriptionists work on different audio files such as business transcription, legal transcription, interviews. We don’t provide medical transcription as we are not currently HIPAA compliant.

Key Transcription Skills

Considering that your equipment is ready, you should possess the following skills to be effective in delivering accurate transcripts, which Scribie transcribers are known for.

Excellent Language Comprehension

The ability to interpret and understand the difference between similar-sounding sounds and use it based on the right context is a uniquely human ability.

During transcription, transcribers will encounter a lot of words that may sound similar but will need to use it in the right context for it to make sense, e.g., right vs. write, eight vs. ate.

This is what makes Scribie’s manual transcription services better than any Artificial Intelligence (AI) transcription.

AI provides a rough text and nothing more to what a manual transcription service can offer.

While AI has its advantages, it’s more prone to error than manual transcription that actual humans can provide.

It helps if you’re comfortable with non-American accents including British, Australian, Indian, African, various European and Asian accents.

If you need an entertaining way to improve your comprehension skills, consider watching various English movies or series and try to understand what’s being said without looking at the subtitles.

Typing Speed

Ideally, having a good typing speed of around 40-50 wpm would be beneficial in this work. If you’re working on improving your typing speed, we still urge you to apply.

As a Scribie transcriber, you will be armed with tools and processes that will make your job easier. To add, these systems undergo continuous development.

You can try some of the Practice Files to give you an idea of how it works.

Accuracy

While it helps if you type fast, several other factors can help you be successful in your transcription career.

Accuracy, spelling, and grammar are critical in this work.

Several industries rely on accurate transcriptions as crucial information will be used for business or legal purposes.

When you’re still getting used to transcribing files, focus on producing quality content. This allows you to establish a reliable workflow and you can optimize for efficiency later.

Research

A transcriptionist’s work involves a lot of listening and typing, and there will be instances that you will encounter unfamiliar words or terms, names of people or products, street names, etc.

If you’re unsure, you can always use search engines. Handpicking the right information out of online search is a key skill.

As you work on more files, your comprehension and vocabulary will also improve.

Tips from Scribie Pros

Whether it’s your first time to engage a remote engagement or are transcribing your first file, you might feel a bit overwhelmed. That’s normal, but keep in mind that you will get better at transcribing as you go along.

You may explore several tips to help you write transcripts faster. You will also learn productivity tips from our long-time Scribie professionals who are also part of the Slack community.

Over to You

We champion accuracy.

Scribie’s unique four-step process ensures that our delivered transcripts are 99.9% accurate.

This is where AI’s fail to achieve while humans excel most.

Human transcribers can interpret conversations, apply context, and identify mistakes better than any AI software.

Being in business for over a decade, Scribie is a stable transcription service. This allows us to continuously provide services to businesses and jobs to people who are in need, especially these times.

If you’re looking to start a career in transcription, consider working on these skills when you apply.

Join us and be part of the Scribie community.