Home Based Transcription Jobs

Working as an audio and video transcriptionist at home can be an interesting career path for Filipinos with impressive typing speed and great attention to detail. As a transcriptionist, you are working as a professional typist who carefully listens to video and audio sources and converts the contents into text. You can offer transcription services to a number of industries, including medical, legal, and broadcasting.

What is a Transcriptionist?

As mentioned above, a transcriptionist transcribes audio and video contents and then changes them into formally-written documents. You may specialize in a specific field, for instance, medical or paralegal, which may allow you to become more valuable on the job market.

An example of a specialized transcription service is medical transcription. As a medical transcriptionist, you will transcribe recorded videos and audio sources of healthcare professionals and adapt the contents into text format. Sources can be patient interviews, self-made recordings, medical lectures, and public healthcare advisories.

Medical transcriptionists acquire the knowledge of medical and scientific terms to create these documents, which are intended for reports, record keeping, and information dissemination. Also, they might be assigned to produce documents for insurance claims, medical referrals, and government healthcare assistance.

Transcriptionists are often hired by hospitals, private clinics, insurance companies, law offices, academic institutions, broadcasting networks, and advertising firms. However, the increasing use of speech recognition apps by many industries may slightly impact the need for transcriptionists in the coming years.

What Does a Transcriptionist Usually Do?

The job responsibilities of every transcriptionist will vary based on the actual need of a particular industry. Some journalists, for instance, want to transcribe audio and video sources so that they can publish the contents as news articles. Business owners, in many instances, want audio and video recordings to be transcribed for research and evaluation purposes.

Transcriptionists may perform different tasks in order to fulfill the duties of this in-demand occupation, according to the sector. Find out below.

1. Medical Transcription

  • Transcribing the voice recordings of physicians from medical notes, diagnostic summary reports, patient histories, and doctor’s notes
  • Creating medical records based on patient’s notes for insurance claims
  • Typing various medical documents, including health benefits claims, patient referrals and endorsement letters for new patients
  • Editing medical reports which often involve checking of medical terms and spelling

2. Legal Transcription

  • Transcribing the voice recordings of lawyers, court officials and clients from recorded or live court proceedings, client meetings, and official public statements
  • Creating legal documents for case filing, insurance claims, social benefit claims, police investigation, and bank loan applications
  • Producing legal documents, including motions, correspondence, pleadings, service agreements, and legal memorandums
  • Performing administrative tasks, such as filing and organizing legal documents
  • Editing the information for clarity and ensuring that the transcribed legal document is free from typographical and spelling errors

3. Business Transcription

  • Transcribing various audio and video sources, such as business conferences, lectures, job interviews, product presentations, financial reports, business calls, customer inquiries, focus group discussion, stakeholder communications, marketing videos, and random consumer interviews
  • Creating different business documents for transparency, concept sharing, and advertising
  • Performing administrative tasks, such as organizing internal communications and correspondence

4. Academic Transcription

  • Transcribing audio and video contents, such as classroom lectures, focus group discussions, academic conferences, recorded speaking engagement, research notes, and one-on-one interviews
  • Producing informative written contents like instructional materials, learning modules or course outline

5. Multimedia Transcription

  • Transcribing audio and video sources, such as promotional videos, celebrity interviews, voicemails, podcasts, YouTube, documentaries, commercials, and music tracks
  • Creating a broad range of documents intended for web content, marketing, news broadcast, business operations, and blogging

What Skills are Needed to be a Transcriptionist?

One effective way to gather valuable information from audio sources, whether they are audio clips or videos, is through transcription. Transcription involves strong work ethics, excellent listening skills, and of course, a reliable transcribing software. Learn the educational requirements, relevant work experiences, and training to enhance your career in the transcription below:

  • Excellent listening and comprehension skills
  • Basic computer skills, especially the use of transcribing software
  • Training certificate where applicable or as required by employers
  • Good memory retention
  • Proficiency in spelling, punctuation and grammar corrections
  • Keen attention to source details
  • Fast typing speed with accuracy
  • Excellent research skills (for unfamiliar words, terms, names, and process)
  • Great mental concentration
  • Quick learner, motivated and goal-oriented
  • High level of confidentiality
  • Strong time management skills

With regard to working tools, anyone interested to become a transcriptionist should have the following:

  • Good-working computer with sufficient hardware components
  • MS office Suites for document creation
  • Foot pedals
  • Line counters
  • High-performance stereo headset
  • Popular transcribing tools, such as OTranscribe, Express Scribe, Transcribe, Inqscribe, and The FTW Transcriber

Educational Requirement for Transcriptionists

While most employers do not require applicants to hold a Bachelor’s degree, they may look for a program certificate in transcription offered in technical institutions and online schools. The course outline typically includes the proper use of transcribing software and work equipment as well as industry terms and abbreviations.

Where to Apply as a Transcriptionist Online?

If you wish to pursue a career in transcription, you can find a lot of online service providers that accept qualified transcriptionists or job portals where you can apply. Some may require candidates to sign up for an account before they can join or accept transcription projects. You may check out the following transcription companies and freelancer sites that offer transcription services to global clients:

Salary Information

The average pay for a Transcriptionist is Php 27,550 per month in the Philippines. Salary may range between Php 13,964 and Php 58,494 per month based on Indeed.com salary estimates.

According to PayScale, the average hourly rate for a transcriptionist in the Philippines falls between Php 252.10 and Php 912.00. Transcriptionists are paid by the hourly rate, per audio minute rate, per audio hour rate, and bundled work packages.

If you are looking for career progress in transcription, experienced transcriptionists may become project supervisors, executive assistants, office managers, or senior administrative assistants. Meanwhile, medical transcriptionists can elevate to become senior medical transcriptionists, registered nurses (if they pursue higher studies), and medical secretaries.

Work-at-home transcription can help you earn a decent income without going through lots of career programs only to become qualified, but this home based job still requires constant practice to be more productive. Career opportunities in transcription may seem borderless if you seriously put in the focus and determination whether you pursue corporate or medical transcription.