5 Things To Consider When Looking For Work At Home Transcription

5 Things To Consider When Looking For Work At Home Transcription

It’s nice to work at home. In today’s economy, it can work as a second, extra income or even a primary that can save you money on gas, childcare, work clothes and the like. But, before you run out to get a transcription certification or job, you might want to want to think about these 5 things to consider when looking for work at home transcription jobs.

1. Can You Devote The Time Necessary?

Yes, it sounds great working at home, but you also run into a myriad of issues that you don’t run into when you work outside of the home. Many at home transcription jobs have strict turn-around times (TAT) that must be adhered to. If you can’t devote the time necessary to meet these timelines, you may want to consider not working for clients that have that.
A lot of the jobs that are freelance and not for companies will have a longer turn-around time, so it may be easier for you to complete your work. Often they will have anywhere from 6-24 hours to return the complete work. The biggest issue with these types of jobs is that they are often paid at a lower rate than working for a company, so you may have to take more work to make the same kind of money as you would for a company.

2. Do You Have The Ability To Work With Little To No Supervision?

When you are working at home, whether it’s freelance or as a remote worker for a transcription company, you have to be able to work with little to no supervision. Yes, the client will keep in contact with you, but it’s not like a traditional work environment where you have someone pushing you along or giving you assistance when needed. You are responsible for making sure that everything is done on time, correctly and delivered back ready for the client.

If you can’t do this, working at home is probably not the best choice for you. Remember, when you are a freelance transcriptionist, you are the boss, and your success or failure is totally dependent on you.

3. Do You Have Everything You Need?

There are a lot of freelance jobs that only require things like Microsoft Word and a media player. In these jobs you will get an mp3, mp4 audio file or sometimes a YouTube video. You will also need high-speed internet because when it comes to YouTube videos, nothing is more frustrating than to be typing along, doing great and you get stalled because the video has to filter.

For some of the remote worker companies, you will need a DSS player and most likely the headset and foot pedal transcription equipment to be able to perform their particular type of work. Before you accept a position, make sure that you have the equipment or the ability to get the equipment so that you can properly perform your duties.

4. Do You Have An Appropriate Place To Work?

The idea of the home office has been around for decades. Once used for those men (yes, it was primarily men) who brought their work home, such as a doctor, lawyer and even an insurance salesman. Sometimes called a den or study, it was a place that was quiet and was set up to do what work they have to do while they were at home. When it comes to doing transcription at home, you really want an environment that is conducive to listening and typing accurately. While some like a little background noise, which can help to focus the mind on what you’re listening to, having the kids arguing, the spouse/significant other constantly interrupting, the dogs constantly barking is not helpful at all and can cause you to miss deadlines or worse, get the transcription wrong.

If you can, try to set aside a quite place that has minimal distractions and an appropriate amount of time to be able to do your work. Some people will do their work later at night, if that is available, when everyone has gone to bed. However, some remote companies have certain times that you have to work, so be sure to check that as well.

5. Do You Have The Patience To Do Work At Home?

This may sound like a redundant question, but most people don’t realize how much patience it truly takes to be your own boss and work at home. You have to have the patience to deal with new clients, to look for work when you have none, to bill people if you aren’t using a freelance site, figuring out taxes (most of the time, all state and federal payroll taxes are your responsibility as you are considered an independent contractor) as well as having to deal with possible disputes with clients on work or pay (even if you are using a free lance site).

You will also have to have the patience to be able to deal with any disruptions. Just like working in a traditional office setting, disruptions will happen. This is more true for the work at home person. You have people who will knock on the door, phones that ring, interruptions that may arise from kids at school, school conferences and a whole host of things that happen every day at home.

If you don’t have great time management skills or very much patience, this may not be the line of work for you.

Being your own boss and working at home sounds so great. Your time is your own, you can work how you want, where you want. But, in reality, it can be tedious, although profitable. You need to have time management skills, the right equipment and place to work. These 5 things to consider when looking for work at home transcription jobs shows you some of the uglier, but important points of working for yourself.