- flexibility
- lack of schedules
- you get to choose which transcription jobs to complete
- pays well for beginner's work
- there's an advantage to fast typists
- audio quality is often low
- trouble deciphering the thick accents
Online Transcription Jobs With GoTranscript Review
If you’re looking for a career change or need a bit of transition work in between jobs, regulars on this site will know that there are quite a few options out there. Today I’m reviewing a gig that anyone with experience in office-style work can quickly master.
If you have a laptop, an internet connection, and good typing and English language skills, freelance online transcription services like GoTranscript may be a good option for you.
Here Is My GoTranscript Review For Freelancers
Things To Consider Before Using A Website To Find Remote Transcription Jobs
Online transcription companies are looking for anyone willing and able to do the jobs listed. Transcriptionists make up a diverse set of people with different career backgrounds, including stay-at-home mothers and fathers, students, writers, part-time teachers, travelers, and digital nomads.
You’ll excel at this gig if you pay great attention to detail — perfectionists welcome!
How much Demand Is There For Online Transcription Services?
The US transcription market clocked out at $19.8 billion in 2019. The industry should blossom at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1% between 2020 and 2027. All over the world, thousands of organizations rely on human-based transcription services to maintain their ever-growing mountains of data accurately and usefully.
When You’re Just Starting Out
When you’re an absolute beginner, it may take some time before you can quit your job in favor of online transcription. Most newbies register with multiple transcription companies to overcome this initial hurdle. After a while, you’ll get a feel for which company culture and workload best fits you.
As for the pay rate, it can be all over the board. What companies pay for transcription work is mostly determined by your typing speed, accuracy, and previous experience. Some people get frustrated in their first month of freelancing and give up. Others (especially those with a tad more freelance writing experience) manage to travel the world on their freelance transcription paycheck alone.
Some professional transcription software along with a foot pedal will drastically up your game. Full-time transcriptionists wouldn’t be caught dead without those upgrades, as it improves efficiency and, ultimately, your pay rate.
Boost Your Transcription Game With Courses And Practice Tests
All of the companies listed here, including GoTranscript, offer practice tests on their respective platforms. You’ll need to take a test to qualify either way, but it never hurts to get some practice in.
If you’re going pro, there are affordable transcription courses available online. Standing out from the crowd requires more than excellent typing and grammar skills.
Can you track more than two speakers simultaneously, work with low audio quality, and make use of timestamps? Employers expect their highest performers to get technical.
Amanda Fichter and Chelsea Flint host some of the highest-rated training courses on Udemy for brand new transcriptionists.
What Is GoTranscript?
GoTranscript, formerly known as SpeechtoText, is a web-based transcription and translation company founded in 2005. They’re a large and reputable company working with famous brands such as Netflix, BBC, and Bose.
GoTranscript has more than 2,000 employees and contractors and is continually adding freelancers to their database. With 20,000 customers and growing, there is plenty of work to go around.
With plenty of ways to make money from home and work remotely, what makes online transcription jobs a smart choice?
In a nutshell, there’s plenty of work in the freelance transcription space. Whether you’re looking for a full-time job or just hoping to save some beer money, you can quickly fill a workweek with jobs from GoTranscript alone.
Who Is A Good Fit For Freelancing At GoTranscript?
The bare minimum requirements for doing transcription jobs from home are a steady internet connection, fundamental typing skills, and a computer. In theory, you could do this work from a tablet or phone connected to a Bluetooth keyboard, but I wouldn’t go with that option unless you’re in a pinch.
The faster you can type and the better your listening skills, the more work you’ll be able to tackle. Just as important, however, is your ability to accept and integrate feedback. The editors are there to help out, as long as you put in the work.
If you enjoy variety in your work, GoTranscript claims you may “Transcribe a police investigation one day and book research the next.”
Big disclaimer: All of the files GoTranscript gives its freelancers access to are confidential and cannot be shared. For people trying to build a portfolio, this can be a complication.
Things To Consider Before Freelancing With GoTranscript
You can get started with GoTranscript within a couple of days. To make your life easier, here are some tips and details to help you along the way to becoming a transcriptionist ninja.
How To Get The Job
The pre-employment test comes in two parts: A grammar quiz and an audio test.
For the audio test (accessible once you register an account), you’ll need to transcribe a low-quality audio file according to these guidelines.
Once you pass the test and register, GoTranscript will send you an email with some instructions to help you get started. The whole onboarding process can take anywhere between a few hours to 30 days.
If you fail the test, you’re welcome to try again after a few days. The company provides a series of practice tests if you’re feeling rusty.
Unpacking The GoTranscript Freelance Opportunity
GoTranscript accepts applicants worldwide, with or without experience, and pays freelancers up to $0.6 per audio minute. On average, freelancers earn $150 per month, with the top brass pulling in close to $1215 per month. You’ll need to prove your identity via an SMS code and a real-time photo with the verification code written on paper to get started.
Once you’re in the system, there is no quota, and you’re free to accept as many jobs as you want. Payment runs on Friday of every week through PayPal or Payoneer.
The turnaround time at GoTranscript is six hours per 10-minutes of media, so even if you’re not the fastest typer (under 60 WPM), the company’s deadlines are achievable. If you need more time to finish the job, click the “Extend Time” button.
Many of GoTranscript’s client audio files are low quality, making this gig difficult if you have hearing difficulties, a noisy working environment, or low-budget earphones.
A Day On The Job
From GoTranscript’s list of job posts, you’ll have the option of listening to each job before deciding whether you want to take it. To do that, click on the video icon at the end of each job post.
When you find a job you’re willing to tackle, click on the “Make My Job” tab.
The company allows you to download the media to work offline using a transcription tool like Express Scribe and Inqscribe. GoTranscript also offers a web-based transcription software, which saves your work every 30 seconds and automatically handles the most basic formatting.
When GoTranscript clears new jobs, agents receive an email.
You can only receive payment for transcripts completed by an editor. To request payment for completed jobs, navigate to the “STATS” page.
One skill hack I like about GoTranscript is that you can access final edits of transcripts. You can learn a great deal about the company’s expectations by comparing your final draft with the editor’s work. Final edits are under the “Finished Jobs” tab.
How To Lose The Job
If you submit too many low-quality transcripts, the company will close your account. GoTranscript will not pay agents for three jobs back-to-back that receive a rating of 3.4 or less.
To avoid that penalty, please follow all of the advice I laid out in this post!
Other Freelance Jobs At GoTranscript
Transcribing is this company’s bread and butter, but they also need editors and transcriptions in languages other than English.
Editing
If you develop a reputation for high-quality transcriptions, GoTranscript will invite you to apply to become an editor. Editors work as much or as little as they want, just like transcriptionists.
To be an editor, you need to complete at least 15 transcriptions with an average rating of at least 4.5. Editors can expect to earn between $12 and $50 per job.
Transcribing In Other Languages
Check GoTranscript’s list of languages available for transcription, choose your language, and follow the same pre-employment process. Hiring for other languages may not be as abundant as for English language transcriptionists. Still, they will keep you on their list for when something becomes available.
Bonuses
As of March 2017, GoTranscript has a bonus system for top-performing editors and transcriptionists. It’s an exclusive group, but if you make it into the Top 10 list, transcribers get $1-10 extra per job, and editors can earn $2-20.
What Do Freelancers Say About Working At GoTranscript?
GoTranscript’s reviews are generally positive, and they have a Glassdoor rating of about 3.9. Freelancers have a positive outlook for future growth and work opportunities in the company.
People love the flexibility and lack of schedules, and you get to choose which transcription jobs to complete. Current and previous freelancers say GoTranscript pays well for beginner’s work, and there’s an advantage to fast typists.
A few freelancers have mentioned that audio quality is often low. Some freelancers have trouble deciphering the thick accents. For those reasons, a common request is for GoTranscript to improve their job rating system to pay more challenging work fairly.
Alternatives
You’ll find loads of freelance marketplaces out there. To avoid overwhelming you, we’ll list three competitors that are similar to GoTranscript.
Fiverr
Fiverr is a freelance work platform that matches freelancers with potential clients. As a freelancer, Fiverr lets you create service offerings from which buyers can choose. In the platform’s early days, all services began at $5. Now, freelancers have the option to earn much more via more extensive, complex, and long-term services.
When you’re just starting as a freelancer, Fiverr is a great place to build a portfolio from smaller projects. Competition is high on Fiverr, so you’ll have to hustle for a couple of months to build an appealing profile and good reputation for your work.
As a transcriptionist, you’ll be up against hundreds of others with varying degrees of skill and reputation on the platform. Fiverr’s prerequisites are arguably lower than GoTranscript, and the potential to earn is much higher. Still, the latter will likely provide a better flow of work when you’re first getting started.
Check out my review of Fiverr here.
Pros
- Secure payments
- Fixed-price model
- Encourages tips
- Easy bidding
- Mobile app for monitoring your projects on-the-go
Cons
- The company takes a 20% cut.
- Clients have the option to decline completed work.
- Strict rules.
Fiverr allows freelancers to build multiple service offerings with different package levels. Once you clearly state your offerings, Fiverr will put your profile in front of people searching for your kind of skills and services. Over time, your seller level will improve, and it will become easier for buyers to find you. Check out Fiverr to see if it’s a good fit.
Jobspresso
Out of all the work-from-home opportunities out there, Jobspresso consistently gains positive reviews from both freelancers and clients. Jobspresso carefully vets employers before allowing them to post jobs to the platform, and job postings aren’t cheap. The flip side is that employers seek highly qualified employees, so this may not be the best bet if you’re only starting.
Click through to check out my review of Jobspresso.
Pros
- No scams here! The company screens employers before they can shop for freelancers.
- Best for people searching for long-term work
Cons
- Fewer opportunities than other platforms listed here
- Best for finding employment rather than freelance work
- Difficult to find low-skill jobs, such as entry-level transcription work.
- Not the place to look for short-term opportunities.
If you’re a top-notch transcriptionist with a list of other applicable skills, go over to Jobspresso and see what’s available.
Upwork
Upwork flips the script when compared to Fiverr, requiring freelancers to submit proposals on projects listed by potential clients. New freelancers may find it difficult to break into the Upwork market due to their lack of experience and thin portfolio. For entry-level work like transcribing, you’ll be up against people with more than a decade of experience.
Once you have some experience in what you do, Upwork is a great place to offer high-level services and score long-term clients.
Pros
- Efficient search and review systems
- An intuitive native work environment
- Opportunity for highly-paid work
- Accurate billing and safe payments
Cons
- Stiff competition
- A more complicated approval process for new freelancers
Are you undeterred by Upwork’s buyer-centric bidding model? Explore Upwork today and see if it’s right for you.
GoTranscript Final Verdict
GoTranscript is an excellent work-from-home option, especially for beginners. Onboarding is easy. You can test as many times as you need. There are also opportunities to become an editor or transcribe in languages other than English.
The transcription work is abundant and diverse, so you’ll stay as busy as you want without feeling bored.
You’ll have an edge if you’re a fast typer and have previous editing or transcription experience. Having a talented ear for accents and a high-quality set of noise-canceling headphones will go a long way as well.
The pay rate is on par with beginner work in the space, and customer service is friendly, helpful, and highly responsive.
Overall, I’d call this an easy winner for people looking to transition to remote work or secure a bit of supplemental income.
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