Thousands of people earn a solid income from freelancing online. But unfortunately, for every legitimate freelance job, there are a handful of scams to match it.
This is no different with transcriptionist online jobs.
If you’re looking for legit, entry-level transcription jobs here’s what you should know and where to apply.
What Does a Transcriptionist Do?
A transcriptionist takes an audio or video file and converts it to text by typing out what is heard. It sounds easy enough and you don’t need a degree to find work, but the job itself requires a meticulous level of skill. In order to be successful as a transcriptionist, you’ll need to:
- Know how to type quickly and accurately
- Be good with grammar and spelling as most companies expect you to submit work with little to no errors
- Know how to research specific words and phrases to make sure you are using them correctly
- Be able to listen closely to audio that may have poor quality and interpret unclear dialog from time to time
These days, most people have a computer or laptop in their home and audio and text files can be sent over in seconds making this a very flexible work-from-home job.
What Do You Need to Become a Transcriptionist?
Companies who hire transcriptionists usually require that you have a foot pedal to control the speed of the audio and allow it to play back as you type. You can purchase standard foot pedal to use at home on Amazon.
On the low end, transcriptionists make about $10-15 per hour and on the high end, they can make $25 per hour or more. This really depends on the company or client and the length of the audio file.
The more experience you have the better.
Medical and legal transcriptionists tend to make more than transcriptionists who work In other fields. However, those types of positions require at least a few years of experience.
5 Companies that Hire for Entry-Level Transcription Jobs
Alice Darling Secretarial Services, Inc.
This company is headquartered in the Boston area but they hire transcriptionists who wish to work either in their office or at home.
They prefer a candidate who has excellent English language and grammar skills, can type at a speed of at least 75 wpm and has some related experience or can pass a transcription entry test with flying colors.
You can access their employment page here.
Rev
Rev requires applicants to pass a skills test before securing assignments.
With this company, you can choose your own projects and work as much or as little as you want. Projects mostly include 10-second audio files and the company pays about $0.40 – $0.65 per audio minute or $24 – $39 per audio hour.
**Please note that audio minute and hour does not equal your actual wage. Instead audio minute is how much you’ll earn for each minute of audio transcribed.
You can find sign up information for Rev.com here.
Capital Typing
This is a South Carolina-based outsource company. They hire independent contractors for home-based jobs like market research, data entry, translation and transcription jobs.
For aspiring transcriptionists, this company is perfect for landing consistent medical, legal and general transcription work.
You can find available positions here.
Quicktate
Quicktate requires that you pass a skills test in order to get hired. Most audio files that you will be asked to transcribe for this company are only a few minutes long but there are a few longer files occasionally.
Quicktate pays approximately one cent for every four words transcribed. As an independent contractor with the company, you can work as much or as little as you want.
They pay via Paypal twice per month. While the starting rate might not sound like much, it can quickly add up.
You can find sign up information for QuickTate here.
Tigerfish
Tigerfish is another transcription company that is more than willing to hire people to transcribe audio without much experience. The company has been around since 1989. They look for candidates who can type quickly and have a good ear for language and as strong sense of written English.
The entire application process is done online. If you pass the basic skills test, you’ll need a Windows computer, their free transcription software and a foot pedal to work.
Tigerfish does not release information about pay rates and job frequency until after you apply. However, since they are known to hire people who are new to the industry, this could be a good opportunity to get your foot in the door.
You can access the Tigerfish application page here.
Creating Your Own Job Opportunities
If you are serious about becoming a work-from-home transcriptionist and you want to control your own rates, finding clients to work with is the best option.
You can start off working under a transcription company if you need experience to build your resume. However, you can make a lot more money if you eliminate the middle-man and deal directly with the client yourself.
Pitch local businesses, bloggers, podcasters, YouTube personalities, public speakers and experts who create webinars. You’ll gain more work this way and deal with longer bits of audio, allowing you to raise your rates.
If you do branch out on your own, you will still have to prove to your skills to potential clients. Taking an online free transcription test and sending your results to prospects to back up your resume would be a great idea.
Have you ever tried working as a transcriptionist? What would you enjoy most about working from home?
This post came at the perfect time. I know someone who is looking to work from home more and this would be perfect for them. Thanks!
That’s great! I’m glad you found this helpful.
I found a site saying that they hire for doing links and I could make up to six grand or more a month. So I started to investigate, come to find out they wanted me to pay them to get me started. Since this is all new to me I started to dig deeper into how all of this works, I came across your article explaining how all of this actually works. I just wanted to say thank you for actually being helpful and not charging for your information! I am a mom with a six year old son who is in great need of a job. I have a bachelor’s degree in communications and can not find a job that pays more then minimum wage. With all of the help from your articles I really feel like I am off to a much better shot at actually making this work, while making some decent money in which I could actually take care of my son and myself. If you have any more advice for someone like me im all ears and would truly appreciate it! I have other friends who are single moms going through my same struggles, if I can make this work for me then I know I can help them out as well. Thank you for helping out us little guys!
I have never tried such a job, but it does make A LOT of sense and it would help bring in even more money. I’ll surely look into these opportunities and see where I can take it from here.
Hi Ramona, that’s good to hear 🙂 Let us know what you come up with .
it is a great post with lovely tips and suggestions thanks for sharing!!!
Glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks Giulia!
Thanks for sharing these! After your last post in which you mentioned transcription jobs I started doing some research and found that my library actually offers a 6 week course on medical transcription, complete with practice tests, a certificate, and how to find jobs in the field. I signed up and my first class is today, so we’ll see what happens! 🙂
That’s great to hear! Let us know how it all turns out!
Hi. I am a transcriptionist that works from home. You are right that it is a good opportunity for those looking to do something simple on the side at home. I just wanted to clarify that the amount you make is based on how quickly and acurately you can transcribe.
The numbers that are used for Rev are a bit misleading. I would have to assume that they pay .40-.65 per AUDIO minute. That means that for each minute of a recording you will get up to $0.65. In most cases it takes significantly longer to transcribe one audio minute. If it is a speaker that is clear and takes their time then that can be done in two or three times longer. If it is a speaker that is garbled, uses words you aren’t familiar with, has a unique accent, or speaks very quickly, then the transcription will take five to six times longer for someone with experience. Plus you need to go back and edit the work. That means for each audio hour it could take anywhere from two to six hours to transcribe and edit well. So seeing that it is $24-39 per hour looks amazing, but in reality that’s per audio hour. All that being said it’s still a great gig!
I’m sure there is better talent than me out there than me, but if I can get transcription work for $1.25-1.75/audio minute then I average out to about $20/hour in actual income. Experience and finding quality clients definitely makes it an even better gig.
Which transcribing company would you recommend for a beginner or just a good company to work for in general?
As hiring a virtual transcriptionist is beneficial for business owners, that is why demand is high for these jobs. Many freelancers are making their living off online transcription jobs.
I,m retired and like to work on line, Is your site for single moms only?
Hi Wilson, this website is geared toward single moms, but there is information and opportunities shared here that everyone can benefit from. A lot of the side jobs and work-from-home job ideas are something that anyone can do if it interests them.
I would like to work typing online
characters in the picture
website registration page
I would like to work typing online
characters in the picture
website registration page
simple typing specific characters on the image . thanks!
It’s an amazing and helpful post. Really helped me a lot.
I am looking for an online Job. I already completed some transcription and edition projects. But, its not an ongoing project. I want to Join some website for regular work. I tried some websites, but, they were not operating or hiring from my region. My typing speed is 65 WPM. What will you suggest in this case.
Hi Muhammad, that’s great that you want to get involved with transcription work. If you don’t mind letting us know, where do you live?
I am from Pakistan.
Hi Muhammad. Here is a legitimate website you can sign up with to apply for freelance gigs in a variety of fields. I’ve used it before personally, and there is always tons of work available: https://www.upwork.com/ Good luck!
hahahaha
Thanks a lot for but I already tried upwork.com
applied to a lot of jobs, but no response. They prefer experienced freelancers.
I’ve got almost a year of transcription under my belt and was looking at finding private clients. I think it’s a great idea to go after podcasts and YouTubers, never thought of that until you mentioned it! The thing I’m debating is how to set my rates. I would like to go no lower than $60 per audio hour/$1 a minute since that would give me a livable wage. Is it ever okay to make the rate somewhat negotiable?
Great post! Fiverr.com is also a great site where you can offer your transcription services. i have been working there for 2 years now.
Awesome to hear. Thanks!
Keep up the good work Chonce, it’s encouraging not only to single moms but to us all. Thumbs up!
Thanks for the information
This website is very helpful. I want to do this job to earn money to support my two disable sons.
Thank you very much for the opportunity.
Alice Darling isn’t currently hiring…I wish they were because the pay is better than most. Drats !