7 Real Transcription Jobs You Can Apply for Right Now

Transcription jobs are everywhere. If you’ve been wanting to work from home, transcribing is a good place to start. There’s a lot of work. You can make pretty good money. And, in most cases, you get to set your own hours. Sounds great, right? It can be! But there’s a catch.

Because there are so many transcription jobs out there, it can be difficult to know where exactly to begin. If you are brand new to transcribing, you’ll definitely want to get some experience under your belt. This will help you hone your skills and give you the confidence needed to start a full on transcribing career.

Once you get started in the industry, you might be surprised to learn how many opportunities there really are to work as a transcriptionist.

Ready to get started? First things first, if you’re not exactly sure what transcription is, read up on what it takes to be a transcriptionist. If it sounds like an amazing opportunity to work from home (it totally is!) then read on for 7 Real Transcription Jobs You Can Apply for Right Now.

1. Appenscribe

Appenscribe (part of Appen Butler Hill) is an Australian-based company that regularly has transcription projects available. It’s super simple to get started. All you have to do is register as a candidate and then take your first qualification test.

If you register as an English-speaking U.S. resident you can take two tests right off the bat — US Name Proficiency Test and US Spelling Test. These quick tests are designed to make sure you’re fluent in English.Once you’ve passed at least one of the qualification tests, you can see (and claim) available work.

I’ve been registered as an Appenscribe English transcriber for a number of years. And while I don’t currently type for them, I get emails on occasion for projects that are going on outside of their transcription jobs.

I just received an email inviting me to participate in a US English Data Collection task. All I’d have to do is speak a number of English words and phrases into my smartphone. The short gig pays $18.

So, know that there are definitely transcription jobs available but also opportunities to work on other tasks once you get in the Appen system. Most of the time the odd jobs they offer are really easy to do and pay pretty well for the kind of work requested.

2. TranscribeMe!

I know some people are hesitant to apply for transcription jobs because they think they might have to transcribe a file that is hours long. If this is something holding you back, then TranscribeMe! is the place for you. They break down all of their audio files into bite-sized little snippets. On average, one file is only 8-10 seconds in length.

To get started, register as an applicant in their system. From there, you’ll have to complete their Transcriber Training program. After you pass, they’ll send you an email letting you know your account is fully activated.

As a typist for TranscribeMe! you can mostly expect to encounter general transcription jobs. These pay $20 per audio hour. Keep in mind, an audio hour and an actual hour of time are two very different things. An audio hour refers to how long a recording is. In the world of transcription, it’s reasonable to think you’d be able to transcribe an hour of audio in three to four hours.

If you perform well as a transcriptionist, you may be invited to become a Quality Assurance (QA) agent for TranscribeMe!. As a QA agent you’d review completed transcripts for accuracy and earn a little extra money.

As with the other transcription jobs on this list, you don’t need any experience to apply. You do, however, need a strong command of English and must be able to recognize different American accents. While not required, TranscribeMe! (and many other companies) recommend using a USB foot pedal to control audio playback. This makes you faster, boosts productivity and increases your earning potential.

3. Birch Creek Communications

Birch Creek Communications mostly offers transcription jobs in the legal and corporate fields. Typically, you’d need experience to break into legal transcription work but at Birch Creek Communications, it’s not a requirement. Keep in mind, they prefer candidates with verifiable transcription experience. However, with a strong secretarial, administrative, and/or legal background, you can apply and may be invited to test for their transcription jobs on those credentials alone.

The tests are free to take, of course, but you won’t be paid for them. These tests will determine whether or not you have what it takes to work from home as a transcriptionist. If you pass, you’ll be assigned jobs at their minimum pay rate while Birch Creek Communications assesses the quality of your work.

If you don’t have any transcription experience, you will likely be given an opportunity to work on corporate transcription jobs first. If you do well, you may work your way up to the higher-paying legal transcription files.

4. Daily Transcription

Daily Transcription offers their clients around-the-clock transcription services. If you sign on with them as a transcriptionist, you might be able to find work any time, day or night.

There are a number of different transcription jobs available at Daily Transcription: Corporate, Academic, Market Research, Entertainment, and Legal (to name a few). However, the majority of their clients are in the entertainment industry. So you can expect a lot of post-production transcription jobs here.

At Daily Transcription, you don’t need any experience to get started but you should be dedicated and reliable. Work is assigned on an on-call/as-needed basis, so you can’t count on steady work each month.

If you think you’d like to take on transcription jobs in the entertainment industry, head on over to their sign up page. Once you register, you’ll be directed to their Testing Site which will officially start your application.

5. GMR Transcription

GMR Transcription has transcribed nearly 3 million minutes of audio to date. They offer full-service transcription services including translation, editing and proofreading.

For the most part, you can expect to find transcription jobs here that fall within the “general transcription” realm. This can include market research, focus groups, business, and conference calls. If you have a medical background, you might prefer to work on their General Transcription with Medical Background projects. This offers consistent, daily work.

If you’d like to stick with just the general transcription, you can sign up and work as much or little as you’d like. As long as you complete a minimum of 4 hours of audio each month, you can stay on board as a transcriptionist.

Of course, no experience required, but you must be a U.S. resident to apply. You’ll also have to complete and pass a transcription test to start receiving paid work. As long as you follow the instructions in the email sent to you after you register, you should pass with flying colors.

6. Neal R. Gross

Neal R. Gross is made up of a team of dedicated transcriptionists and court reporters. As you may have guessed, the bulk of their work is within the legal industry. As far as transcription jobs go, this is a great opportunity to get entry-level work in the lucrative legal transcription arena.

Neal R. Gross hires candidates with a variety of backgrounds. If you can type at least 6o WPM and have a desire to work from home, you might be a good fit. According to their website:

No transcription experience necessary, but you must be willing and able to work on overnight delivery. Timeliness is a must, as are excellent English language skills. Please apply only if you can transcribe at least 5 hours of audio per week.

This is an independent contractor position. However, you should only apply if you are willing to commit to working about 30 hours a week. Before taking their transcription test, you’ll have to email a cover letter and resume over for consideration.

7. Ubiqus

Ubiqus offers a number of transcription and audio services. As far as transcription jobs, they have legal, medical, and corporate opportunities available.

To apply, you need to be a U.S. resident and a native English speaker. Fill out their online application to get the process started. If they’re interested, they’ll contact you with details on the next step.

You don’t need experience, but they do highly recommend having a foot pedal prior to starting work. You should also be able to play a variety of audio files on your computer without any problems.

When just starting out at Ubiqus, you’ll be paid their lowest rate. As you gain experience and improve, you can work on higher paying projects. Payments are made every two weeks.

General Transcription Jobs: Learn More

If all of this sounds promising but you’re still not sold, you should head over to Transcribe Anywhere. They’ve got a lot of helpful information about starting a general transcription career without any experience. You can even sign up for the Transcription Foundations free mini course — this will give you a good idea of what it takes to be a successful typist and how you can launch your own lucrative transcription career.

Do you think you have what it takes to work as a general transcriptionist? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments below. Or, you can always email me at Ashlee@workfromhomehappiness(dot)com and I’ll do my best to help.

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