GoTranscript Review: How I Started Working as a Transcriber
By DAN FORTEZA
I mentioned in my quitting job story that GoTranscript is where I earned my very first dollar online. It’s true. More precisely, it’s 2.33 dollars as the company pays its transcriber 2.33 USD per audio minute transcribed.
To entice you a little, the screenshot below shows the available jobs as seen from my own account. The good thing is–you will never run out of jobs on this site!
In this GoTranscript review blog, I’m going to share with you everything you need to know about GoTranscript!
Read also: my blog on how I started working at home with Remotasks.
Hi there! First of all, I am Daniel – a solo backpacker from the Philippines. If you don’t know my story yet, feel free to read this article where I talked about how I quit my job in order to travel. This article was also featured on TripZilla Philippines.
LET'S START THIS GOTRANSCRIPT REVIEW!
WHAT IS GOTRANSCRIPT
GoTranscript is a transcription company that offers transcribing services to clients and pays people to transcribe those services. Transcribe is the term for converting audio and video files into written text.
GoTranscript was founded in 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland and is one of the largest online transcription and translation agencies in the world.
As of 2019, the GoTranscript team consists of nearly 2,000 global colleagues. They also have a transcriber’s group on Facebook but I guess you can only join in if you’re already a transcriber in their platform.
IS GOTRANSCRIPT.COM LEGIT?
GoTranscript is a legit opportunity to make money online. GoTranscript is a professional transcription company that was launched in 2006. The company has been around for more than a decade and its longevity is a good sign that the company is not just a scam that will disappear anytime soon.
HOW TO GET STARTED (with TIPS)
To start working for this online company, you need first to make an application.
1 – Click HERE to go to their website.
2 – On the middle bottom part of the page, click on the ‘Apply Now’ button.
3 – You will be redirected to the signup page, whereby there are two choices: To sign up using Facebook or Google.
4 – After selecting the email address you would like to use for GoTranscript, you will be redirected to a new page.
5 – Here you have a quiz wherein you need to achieve a 100% passing rate of all the 14 questions being asked.
If you fail the test you will be allowed to retake it again.
6 – After passing the quiz, you then next to complete a transcription audio test (in the English language) before being assigned to work.
The transcription test job usually has a non-native English speaker to test whether in the future once you have passed the tests that you will be able to handle the task. Most of the jobs that Gotranscript clients may want to be transcribed may also be of low video quality and speakers who have strong accents. It is therefore essential to make sure that the person to be hired can handle this type of work.
TIP: To help you hasten your transcription test job, download the audio file first and use Otter app. Otter both works on computers as well as mobile phones. It turns voice conversations into text. It’s not 100% accurate but believe me, it really does help especially in speeding up the whole process.
7 – Once you submitted your test job, an email will be sent to you telling you to wait for the results–whether you pass or not. The result can take up to 30 days but normally within a week.
8 – When you pass the test job, another email will be sent to you welcoming you to GoTranscript. Further instructions on work will be emailed to you. At this stage, let me congratulate you!
TRANSCRIPTION BASIC GUIDELINES
Every transcription company has its own guidelines on how to properly transcribe audios. But they basically have the same approach when it comes to Full Verbatim and Clean Verbatim transcription guidelines.
Full Verbatim transcription is where the text is transcribed exactly as it sounds and includes all the utterances of the speakers.
Those are:
1. Speech errors. “I went to the bank on Tu-Thursday.”
2. False starts. “I, um, wanted- I wanted to be a musician.”
A Clean Verbatim transcript, however, does not include speech errors, false starts (unless they add information) or filler words like ums, and hmms.
I guess you got the idea!
GoTranscript has the full and detailed instructions about this so make sure you read them thoroughly before even starting the test job.
Here are some of their transcription samples.
WHY WORK FOR GOTRANSCRIPT
1 – This is one of the online transcription sites that pays the highest. Take for instance an average earner can make up to 150 USD per month.
2- Payment is always an issue for anyone who has ever worked online. However, if working for GoTranscript, you don’t have to worry as payment is made weekly.
3 – It’s a flexible working site, and you can work at any time (and any where basically.)
4 – On the aspect of growth, the team of editors (who checks your work) will regularly send you feedback.
5 – GoTranscript allows its freelance workers to choose the kind of projects to work in from a variety that might be available.
6 – All you need to start working for Gotranscript is proper English, no prior experience whatsoever is required.
Note that there also jobs available in other languages. I’ve seen Spanish, French, and even Bahasa Indonesian.
7 – GoTranscript gives 4 to 6 hours to transcribe a 10-minute audio or video. It means even if you are a slow transcriber, and there is no way you will fail to meet the deadline.
8 – GoTranscript has a good support team and as I mentioned somewhere above, they have a Facebook community wherein one can ask for advice, tips, etc.
OTHER FAQS
Q – Can’t understand the word said in transcription?
A – Don’t ever guess the word! Use [unintelligible 00:00:01] with correct timestamp.
Q – What will happen if I refuse the job?
A – If you are holding files for a long time and after that refusing them, you can get penalized for that. But if you are taking a job just for several minutes just to check if you like it, it is perfectly fine.
Q – Do you get fired for not working for a long time?
A – No, we do not fire for that.
Q – What will happen if my job’s time runs out?
A – Your job will be automatically taken from you. And somebody else will be able to work on it.
Q – Can GoTranscript provide me a Certificate of Employment in case I needed it?
A – Yes, GoTranscript can. The first time I was rated for my transcription work (with passing rate of course). I was immediately notified that my Employment Certificate is readily available on my profile page. I provided its snapshot below.
HOW DO THEY PAY?
Payments are generated every Friday, you’ll see the request payment tab on Friday on your stats page.
Money is added on stats page only when a transcription job is rated by an editor.
Currently, GoTanscript can make payments in PayPal and Payoneer.
MY FINAL SAY
With the high rate of unemployment somewhere in the world today, it pays to get creative when looking for jobs. Therefore, it is essential to take note of sites like GoTranscript where one can log in and work from anywhere around the world. All you need is a good internet connection, a working laptop, and some patience.
Therefore, trying out online sites to work like GoTranscript, is paramount, to somehow lift us up from poverty within our circles.
LEAVE A COMMENT
All in all, let me know what you think about this GoTranscript Review blog. Have you tried other transcription companies before GoTranscript? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Thank you for this great review, I think it is a good start for me seeking online jobs. in order to work as a transcriber you have to be good at grammar and punctuation, what do you suggest for study resources?
Well, Grammarly has helped improved my English writing since I started my blogging and transcribing works. Grammarly automatically detects potential grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice, and style mistakes in writing. Try it, too.
a great review! thanks! does the transcription need to be 100% accurate?
No, it doesn’t. You just need to maintain an average rating of 4.0 (max is 5.0).
Very Helpful!!! Looking for a job kasi while lockdown and for students like me its hard to find one since some companies prefer experienced applicants.
Hi Jocel, I am glad you feel that way. Hugs from Thailand! =)
Hi Dan! Is there any internet and system requirements for this type of job?
Hi Melody, not that I can think of. As long as you have a working laptop and internet, it’s totally fine. Working with transcription doesn’t really require too much or heavy memory.