4 Types of Transcription Work

Transcription comes in all shapes and sizes and particularly, there are four different types of transcriptions that the transcriptionist can choose to specialize on. When it comes to becoming a transcriptionist, instead of specializing, a transcriptionist can opt to transcribe everything under the sun. However, doing this has its pros and cons.

The difference between specialization and becoming a well-rounded transcriptionist is quite vast. Before knowing what the four different specializations are, it is important to know the pros and cons that could come out of specializing in a particular sector of transcription.

Pros of specialized transcription

The pros of specialization include being able to transcribe a particular type of transcription. The more transcriptionists focus on one thing, the better they become. The better a transcriptionist becomes, the higher the price they can demand to transcribe certain work. Highly skilled specialized transcriptionists, although in demand, require quite the skill and in order for transcriptionists to qualify.

Transcription is quite broad and for those that choose to specialize, they will be going down a straighter path with a clearer direction. This will also give them more security as transcription specialists are usually kept as regular employees or with more stable careers. Specialization usually means that the transcriptionist would have to work closely with the client and due to this, they are able to secure a safer spot in their careers.

Cons of specialized transcription

Although the benefits may be the security, the cons of specialization is that the transcriptionists stuck in that specific path would have a hard time either going higher in their career or even exploring other options. When it comes to specialized transcription, due to the transcriptionist closely tied up with the particular client, when the client goes down, so does the transcriptionist.

Picking up after losing a client, especially when being a specialized transcriptionist, might take time. Usually, the transcriptionist would then have to sacrifice the progress made in order to hop onto another big client. Although the specialized transcriptionist might be able to have more than one client, specialized transcription can be quite demanding. In order to transcribe on a specialized transcription path, the transcriptionist needs to devote an enormous amount of their hours to focus on a client alone.

Types of transcription

There are four most common transcription career paths:

1. Legal transcription

Legal transcription focuses on anything that could be essential to the law. These can range from interviews, interrogations, calls, and many other pieces of evidence. Legal transcription can even require the transcriptionist to be present in the courtroom. This would mean that there may be a need for real-time transcription.

Real-time transcription, commonly known as court reporting, is a very important skill and some transcriptionists would even need to get certification in order to formally be allowed to work within the courtroom. Legal transcriptionists, due to the sensitivity of the material, can be paid quite a fair price for a transcriptionist.

2. Medical transcription

Due to the critical nature of medical transcription, these types of transcriptionists are usually in demand. It is also very important that the transcriptionist be familiar with different medical terminology. Getting a particular medical term wrong could cost severe damage and due to the importance of their work, medical transcriptionists can demand fair pay.

Medical transcriptionists can be quite rare and due to this, becoming a medical transcriptionist can help you secure clients with the right contacts and exposure. Skilled medical transcriptionists are usually a gem and the perks are that they can usually find jobs faster than other specialized transcription fields.

3. Business transcription

When it comes to business, reputation is everything and this is why business transcription is highly regarded. When an employee can prove to be an asset to the company, they are usually kept close. This is true, especially in business.

When it comes to business transcription, the transcriptionist can actually progress within this career and learn other skills along the way to become a bigger asset not just to the company but also to the industry itself. Business transcription, in itself, can be a gate to more than just transcription but a full-blown corporate career.

4. News transcription

News transcription, or journalistic transcription, can be quite fast-paced but this usually pays off especially for those that like working in these environments. Journalistic transcription usually gets juicy scoops and can pay well for those who enjoy working at a fast pace. Usually, this is an on and off the job, however, this specialized transcription offers a little more regularization in comparison to other specialized transcription paths.

The transcriptionist can choose to become a journalistic transcriptionist or news transcriptionist before taking up corporate or business transcription, medical transcription, or even legal transcription. This particular specialization path can see the transcriptionist either branch out, get more clients, or other options.

With any specialized transcription path, there is a trick for the transcriptionist to come up with high-quality transcriptions. This is the use of a simple transcription tool. One thing that all these specialized transcription paths have in common is that they are all very time-sensitive.

Specialization requires an immense amount of focus and commitment to their respected paths. Due to these requirements, transcriptionists need to be accurate and also very efficient with their workload. Using an audio-to-text transcription tool is important to get timely but accurate results.

There are certain features that must be included in the transcription tool in order to make it useful to the transcriptionist in that specific specialization. Certain things like timestamps are very useful and if the transcription tool does not have this, the transcriptionist would have to manually put in the time every now and then while they transcribe the particular transcription. There are a number of transcription tools out there but there are only a few of them that include certain features that could be useful to the transcriptionist.

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