Looking for online transcription jobs for beginners? Then you’ve come to the right place, we’re going to show you where to apply for some audio transcription jobs online.
General transcription jobs don’t require any experience or education to get started but it will take lots of practice to become fast and efficient enough to make money from it.
In the beginning, the work may not be steady and you may need to work for more than one company to make ends meet. Pay is usually low for most of these companies since they are willing to hire inexperienced people. (If you are a teen and inexperienced you may find more job opportunities here.)
You will need to take a skills test to get hired by the following companies.
Keep in mind that online transcription jobs pay per “audio hour/minute,” this is distinctly different from the regular working hour. The audio hour is the total number of minutes of video or audio given to you.
On average, it takes a good transcriber three to four hours to transcribe an hour of audio. You’re going to playback the file many times to get the exact words; you might be dealing with strong or different accents.
The data could also be technical and require intense concentration to get the perfect transcription.
Rate Of Pay For Online Transcription Jobs
Keep in mind that the average median annual income for an experienced general transcriptionist is currently $45,000 and $60,000 for a legal transcriptionist. Once your skills improve you may want to start your own business and hire subcontractors while working as a project manager, your income can grow well beyond these figures.
How To Improve Your Transcription Skills
If you feel you have all of the above requirements in your arsenal then congratulations you’re ready for one of these online transcription jobs for beginners and can now start applying. If however, you need a little practice before you get started, you can visit various free websites to improve your skills. Small Business Ideas
These sites will give you a good feel for what is required, and help improve your speed and efficiency to be ready to find an online transcription job.
- The Chicago Manual of Style Workouts: With over twenty exercises ranging in topics from the problematic comma to numbers and hyphens, these worksheets are hidden gems. Make sure you take advantage of the free practice!
- Purdue University Online Writing Lab: Purdue offers a great resource for extra grammar practice. You will find worksheets on a variety of topics that you can print out and practice as much as you want to.
- Transcribe Anywhere: Offers a FREE Mini-Course with expert tips and advice for transcription newbies. Enroll in their Free 7-lesson mini-course to learn more about transcription, the demand for transcriptionists, the skill involved, and whether or not it’s a good career choice for you.
Equipment For Transcriptionists
Here is the equipment recommended to start a freelance transcription business. If you’re just starting out I would suggest buying what you can afford now and you can always upgrade later.
- Computer With A High-Speed Internet Connection: The most important equipment necessary for transcribing is a high-speed internet connection, dial-up will not work.
- Transcription Software: Express Scribe is preferred by most transcriptionists, but there are others available. Most of the software available is free or costs a small fee.
- Headphones: Most transcriptionists prefer stethoscope-style headphones and they are usually pretty cheap.
- Microsoft Word: Microsoft Word is the preferred software, it’s used in the guides and courses for transcriptionists.
Online Transcription Jobs For Beginners
1. Accutran Global
Accutran Global offers transcription jobs for beginners. The work at Accutran is fast-paced and requires you to pass a skills test to get started.
They pay around $0.005 per word for basic audio and $0.0066 per word for more difficult audio, and payment is made on the 15th of each month. Work is available to citizens of the US and Canada.
2. Appenscribe
Appenscribe does hire newbies, but you need to obtain some form of training to be successful on this platform. The number of projects you receive will be directly related to your quality of work.
You can earn around $10 per audio hour according to the forums on the Appenscribe website. You can sign up here.
3. Tigerfish
One of the older resources for transcribers, having been around since 1989, tigerfish offers online transcription jobs for beginners.
You have to complete around three, five-minute tests (that take an average of twenty minutes to complete) before being hired. They typically pay 3 to 4 cents for every line transcribed.
4. Daily Transcription
As the name implies, this resource submits transcriptions on the same day. So work here tends to be done at a faster rate. There is no fixed amount of work to be had, and you can’t rely on just this site to stay busy.
They offer different transcription services including legal, entertainment, financial and they always need transcribers. You will need to submit a resume and pass a test before you can transcribe for them.
5. Transcribe Me
Transcribe Me offers online transcription jobs for beginners as they do not require much to get started. To get in you take a short, easy test that is graded automatically and if you pass, you working right away.
Don’t worry about failing as you can always retake the test after 24 hours. They pay 20 dollars per audio hour.
Click Here To Enroll In The FREE Online Transcription Mini-Course For Beginners!
6. Scribie
This site is perfect for freelancers as it offers the most flexibility. Although at $10 dollars per audio hour, the pay is relatively low, Scribie also offers a $10 dollar bonus for doing more than three audio hours every month.
7. Rev
Rev is an established company and they offer online transcription jobs for beginners, although their skills test can be difficult to pass. According to the site, some of their remote transcription jobs pay over $200 monthly.
8. Quicktate
Quicktate is one of the most respected companies that offer transcription jobs for beginners. The pay ranges from 1/4 to 1/2 cent per word transcribed. Quicktate requires a background check prior to hiring you, the cost for this is $15.
9. Bam
Bam offers entertainment transcription services, legal, corporate, finance, research, and general transcription services.
You are considered a contractor when you pass the skills test. To apply send an email to bam@bamtranscription.com.
10. GMR Transcription
In my opinion, GMR is one of the preferred sites to work for because they scored high among the review sites that I looked at. The pay is $7.00 to $10.00 per hour. The rate of pay will depend on turnaround time, the number of speakers per file, and the quality of the audio.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there is A probation period, where you must transcribe at least two hours of audio before you get paid. You also must do at least four hours of audio per month to keep working with GMR.
11. Crowd Surf
CrowdSurf is a community of freelance transcriptionists that create captions for deaf, and second language viewers. You will find short transcription tasks here and they pay instantly.
Want to improve your chances of getting a good-paying job as a general transcriptionist? This FREE Mini-Course offers expert tips and advice for transcription newbies.
Enroll in there Free 7-lesson mini-course to learn more about transcription, the demand for transcriptionists, the skill involved, and whether or not it’s a good career choice for you.
Want to work from home but an online transcription job isn’t for you? Here’s a list of work from home jobs that don’t require any money to get started.