How To Become A Transcriber: What It Is and Career Path

What is a transcriber and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Transcribers produce written copies of audio or video files, meetings, and interviews. This work includes listening to and interpreting audio into long-form text, editing published copy drafts, and liaising with consumers.

Generally, a transcriptionist's salary is about $15, while an advanced transcriptionist receives around $25 to $30 per hour. For this charge, if they work 2.5 hours a day for 24 days, they can comfortably receive $1,500 per month.

Transcriptionists are good typists with fair hearing or listening abilities and are comfortable using a machine for stuff like reading and uploading data.

To be a transcriptionist, candidates require a transcription license alongside a bachelor's degree. No one can pass a transcription exam without preparation or practice, so there's no use in perpetuating the misconception that "anyone can be a transcriptionist."

ScoreTranscriberUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,541

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

3.6

Growth Rate -7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 14.46%

Black or African American 6.75%

Hispanic or Latino 8.94%

Unknown 4.67%

White 65.02%

Gender

female 71.74%

male 28.26%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress Level

3.6

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.1

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.3

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a transcriber

Explore transcriber education requirements

Most common transcriber degrees

Bachelor's

61.1 %

Associate

15.7 %

High School Diploma

9.9 %

Start to develop specific transcriber skills

Skills	Percentages
Transcription	34.55%
WPM	16.34%
Proofreading	14.34%
Transcription Software	6.80%
Transcription Services	5.94%

Complete relevant transcriber training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New transcribers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a transcriber based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real transcriber resumes.

Research transcriber duties and responsibilities

Lead staff training for proofreading and editing medical reports.
Transcribe and proofread internet-based electronic medical records (EMR) for acute care hospitals.
Transcribe medical dictation for office visits, consultations and emergency room visits.
Proofread transcribed documents and reports from physicians receive from online transcribing service.

Prepare your transcriber resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your transcriber resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a transcriber resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Transcriber Resume templates

Build a professional Transcriber resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Transcriber resume.

Apply for transcriber jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a transcriber job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do transcribers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Transcriber reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2021

Pros

For me it's just been able to deliver up on a project and getting satisfied clients and feedbacks are great.

Cons

What I do not like will be audio files that are not clear making it hard to make out what the speaker is saying.