How a Medical Transcriptionist Can Switch to a General Transcription Career
Employment opportunities in medical transcription have been projected to decline by 3 percent between 2016 to 2026, according to a survey conducted by the BLS. While the volume of healthcare services is expected to grow, which in turn will fuel demand for transcription services, employment opportunities are projected to decline due to increased productivity as a result of outsourcing and technological advances.
On the flipside, there are numerous job opportunities available for general transcriptionists, since this genre covers a wide variety of businesses and industries. You can transcribe meeting notes, interviews, insurance claims, and many diverse projects that vary in length and detail. The growth in general transcription jobs is expected to be robust, chiefly because this form of transcription involves multiple speakers and hence won't be impacted by the speech recognition technology.
Even as speech recognition technology looks set to change the transcription industry, it's not likely to have an impact on job opportunities in general transcription, as the latter is not restricted to a specific industry. If you possess the right skills and experience, you can find employment with a top transcription company that caters to global clients looking for general transcriptionists. This translates into more opportunities and also more job security.
Making Transition To General Transcription Career
If you have been through the rigors of medical transcription training and have worked in it, making the transition to a general transcription career would be much easier due to the following reasons:
1. Less Expensive, Faster and Easier to Start
It is relatively inexpensive to get started in general transcription and needs lesser experience as compared to medical or legal transcription.
2. Less Offshoring of Work
While a lot of medical transcription work gets outsourced to foreign countries, general transcriptionists face lesser competition from their foreign counterparts, because the latter typically have limited English vocabulary; also general transcription covers a wide variety of topics and therefore, doesn't have a defined vocabulary, which would make the task even more complex for a foreign transcriber. Idioms can be equally difficult to learn for non-native speakers.
3. Less Stringent Speed Requirements
Medical transcription jobs generally require a minimum speed of 80 WPM, while the requirement for the same is lesser at around 50-60 WPM for general transcription.
4. More Flexibility In Turnaround Time
As a general transcriptionist, you will enjoy a more flexible work schedule than in medical or legal transcription jobs as they generally have tighter deadlines.
5. Work from Home Is Much Easier to Find
While adherence to confidentiality is much more rigid in medical and legal transcription, most of the information that you will encounter in general transcription is less confidential. Therefore clients, while giving home-based work, are less concerned about confidentiality breaches.
6. Variety In Work
General transcriptionists find their work more interesting than their medical and legal counterparts as this work covers a very wide range of topics, unlike medical reports or a courtroom discussion.
Why Taking a Refresher Course Is Required
Once you decide on making a switch from medical to general transcription, you will be well-advised to undertake a refresher course in general transcription. This would help in polishing your transcription skills, and get a head start over others in the competition for transcription jobs. For example, the Transcription Certification Institute or TCI offers an online course in general transcription that prepares you for a great transcription career ahead. Upon successful completion of the course and achieving a minimum grade, you will be provided an internship which will give you a hands-on experience on live projects.
Places to Look for Work From Home Transcription Jobs
The TCI website also has a job board where you can search for scores of work from home transcription jobs offered by global transcription companies/employers. Apart from the online job boards, you can also check out reputed freelancing websites like Upwork for transcription jobs.