Tips And Hacks For A Transcriptionist Test
The profession of the transcriptionist requires some hard skills and the urge to learn and improve your performance. It’s not only about listening and typing – there are a lot of other important skills you have to show to get hired. Nevertheless, it won’t be hard for you to pass a test and become a transcriptionist if you are passionate and diligent enough.
How to Prepare for the Transcription Test
As usual, it’s not necessary to have a degree to become a transcriptionist because companies in that field pay attention mostly to the skills and abilities of the employee. Perfect spelling, flawless grammar, and fast typing skills – here are the necessary qualities of the perfect candidate. To prove your professionalism, you will be asked to pass a transcription test. The result of it will be more valuable for the employer than your experience or education. Therefore you have to try your best while passing it. Here are some tips and steps for you to pass the transcription test perfectly
Make Sure to Have a Proper Equipment
Before you start your test, check your computer for working properly – you don’t want it to freeze or discharge suddenly, right? Also, check your internet connection; you will have no time to search for free wi-fi during your test. The next essential thing for the transcriptionist is good headphones. The quality of the sound should be irreproachable because it’s highly important for you to hear every word perfectly. Don’t spare money on the good headphones, it’s one of the main instruments of the transcriptionist. Make sure you have proper transcription software on your computer as well.
Practice Your Typing
Obviously, it’s an essential step in preparing for the transcription test. The typing speed is an important criterion of a good specialist. There are many free websites where you can improve your typing skills. Remember, it’s all about practice. If you are not confident in your typing speed now, you can get much faster in two weeks of dedicated work. If you are typing more than 60 words per minute, you are highly likely to pass the transcription test successfully. But if your word count is less than this, don’t worry; some employers prefer accuracy and grammar over speed.
Do a Lot of Transcribing Before the Test
Experience – it’s the best way to learn something. Therefore, you have to practice not only your typing but the whole transcription process as well. Pay attention to the mistakes you make and take your time to fix your weak spots. Only with real practice can you learn the most comfortable way for you to work. During the process, you will find the most effective position for your hands on the keyboard and the optimal speed of typing with no mistakes. Remember that proofreading and checking out questionable things in your transcription is as important as listening carefully and typing fast. And finally, do not worry about mistakes you will make at first. The more mistakes you make, the more lessons you learn.
Submit for the Test and Do You Best
As usual, the transcription test is taken online. You will have a limited time for it, so make sure nothing will distract you. Turn off the notification on your phone, avoid all the extraneous sounds around you. A silent room with a good internet connection and no distractions will be perfect for that task.
After you are done with typing, don’t rush to submit your transcription. Take your time to check the spelling and grammar. Pay attention to the names or titles in your writing; google them to be sure you got them right. It’s okay if you don’t know how to spell some historical terms of foreign words, for example. Don’t be ashamed to search for the right spelling of it – it’s better to spend a minute checking something than having a mistake in your transcription. Also, feel free to use some websites to check your spelling; there are tons of them online.
Another important thing – don’t neglect the formatting rules they gave you. Follow the style you were required to, pay attention to every instruction.
More Tips How to Nail a Transcription Test
When all the steps of the tests are done, you can only wait and hope for the best. It feels good when you are sure you have nailed it, right? Therefore, here are some more useful tips for future transcriptionists.
- Listen carefully and think logically.
There are many words that sound similar but spell differently. As long as you can think critically, you can differentiate the words “hear” and “here,” “war” and “wore,” “live,” and “leave.” Always pay attention to the context.
- Make typing your habit
Consistency is the key to success. Make the practice your everyday routine. Work for 30 minutes every morning or whenever you have free time, and you will notice results soon.
- Extend your vocabulary
It’s way easier to pass the transcriptionist test when you know a lot of words from every field. Reading will help you to get more literate, even if you prefer fiction books. Also, it’s useful to read articles about current events to stay aware of modern world processes and learn new terms.
- Prepare to meet deadlines
As usual, the work of the transcriptionist requires strict deadlines. Therefore, you have to practice your time-management skills to work successfully. If you work from home, get a notebook to track all the deadlines and tasks you have.
- Be ready to do some research
As have been mentioned, you will have to search for information sometimes during your transcription work. New terms, names, or places – you will learn lots of them. Don’t you think it’s more a benefit than a challenge? Not every work offers an opportunity to learn new things every day.
Conclusion
As we have learned, there is nothing difficult about passing the transcription test. It’s all about the effort you put into this. If you know English perfectly and have great typing skills, you will definitely get a job. All you have to do is take your time and practice as much as you can. Don’t get discouraged if it gets hard at first, and you have to work on your skill before it becomes perfect. Remember some essential qualities of a good transcriptionist: diligence, literacy, attentiveness, and many hours of practice. Use the tips from this article, improve your performance, and good luck with your transcription test!
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