Having studied to become a medical transcriptionist myself, and having worked as a general transcriptionist for several months, I can tell you right now that this field isn’t for just anyone.
First off, it helps if you’re a bit of a recluse. LOL! I’m not kidding though! If you are someone who is the life of the party, or who feels lost if left by themselves, do yourself a favor and find yourself a different profession. Transcriptionists make money when they chain themselves to their computer for hours on end, transcribing–talking to other people, even over the phone, is nowhere in the job description. Many people end up having a hard time with the loneliness that they feel after several months of being a transcriptionist, and I am no different. You need to be someone who can concentrate for long periods of time on difficult work on a computer–if you tend to be someone who can’t sit still for long periods of time, who always has to be up and doing different things around the house, transcription work isn’t going to be for you.
Secondly, you must have excellent English skills! If you do not know the difference between its and it’s, and have no desire to learn the difference, then the transcription field is not the place for you to be. If you don’t know the difference, but you’re willing to learn, then I applaud you, but do know that you’ve got a long road ahead of you. I studied grammar every day while going to Career Step, and I still had a hard time with it. Since grammar is such a difficult subject, almost everyone has room for improvement in it. Don’t be discouraged if it takes you a while to grasp everything. Do be careful though: There are companies that only allow you to test once with them, so if you take a test before you’re ready, you are locking yourself out of that possibility forever.
Last but not least, you must be comfortable with computers, or be willing to learn. Everything you do is via the computer, and either you should already know or be willing to learn things like macros, how to use FTP file sites, downloading files, manipulating Instant Text, and many other computer applications. I consider myself fairly intelligent when it comes to computers, and I still had a lot that I had to learn.
Make sure to check out my next blog where I talk about three things all transcription fields have in common.