Work 2 March at 6:09PM in Employment, jobseeking & training 4 replies 351 views

JLMartin

Hello I’m new.  In my younger days I used to be a good qualified typist/audio typist until technology took over.  Have been out of work for years but now doing part time catering job.  I’m happy to keep doing that but don’t really earn enough.  Since pandemic there has been more working from home and I was wondering if I could find something with typing/transcribing these days from home as well but I’m wary of so many scam sites.  I don’t take minutes though, happy to type them.  Does anyone know if there is still a market for this as I thought whole job became redundant.  If so anything recommended or where to look that are trusted/reputable? Thank you for any thoughts.

MalMonroe

Hi, I'm also a qualified audio (and shorthand, if requested) typist. Working from home. 

You can google freelance typing jobs - there are quite a few agencies that take people on to do things like subtitles (for TV, Netflix, etc.) and you could even become a virtual assistant. 

For example - Outsec - https://outsec.co.uk/typist-application/

Also read this from Joanne Munro - she is a virtual assistant now - 

https://www.thevahandbook.com/joanne-munros-va-story/

Technology is coming to get us, yes - but it really hasn't taken over yet. Nor is the job redundant by any means. I wouldn't pay to get work, though, some sites do ask you to place bids. I won't.

You could contact/visit universities and ask to put notices on student noticeboards advertising your (typing only) services. I've been a student and I've been a secretary at a university and some students' use of the English language is very poor! But I'd never correct it, as that would affect their grades.

One of my friends works for a private medical consultant. You could ask to put notices up in hospitals too. And also in private medical facilities.

I've managed to get some contacts via relatives who work in journalism. If you do a good job, they want you to work for them again. That's mostly been transcribing interviews, though. You can charge more for interviews and more again for meetings. 

Good luck with it all. I won't say that it's easy to start up but it's definitely doable.

JLMartin

Thank you for replying.  Helpful thank you.

SensibleSarah

As well as students at uni, another avenue for you could potentially be professors/lecturers and their own research projects. I only say this because I'm a freelance copywriter/marketer and have been offered some work transcribing audio and video interviews for a research project by a uni prof seeking to get their research project published. 
There is definitely still a need for transcriptions etc in the digital age - it's best practice for any video content on a website to have a text transcription etc for accessibility reasons as well as for search engine marketing purposes. 

While I don't use them personally, I know that some people make a decent amount part time getting this kind of work through People per Hour and Fiverr - but you do have to be careful with platforms like that and due a bit of due diligence on whoever if offering you work to make sure they are likely to pay up etc. 

JLMartin

Thank you SensibleSarah!  Your reply/help is appreciated