Transcription - How to Find the Right Job?

My last post was about the basics of "Transcription" - which can be considered the easiest and the simplest kind of job for a writer. For this post, I rummaged through Upwork to find recent job posts for Transcriptions to create examples. 

I'll talk about each of these job posts in this post (they are all different from one another).

Job Post#1: 

This is one of the simplest job posts you can find on Upwork, perfect for beginners. Transcribing a 6-minute YouTube video won’t take more than 30 minutes in total, and you get paid $7. The payment is low but if you are good in your transcription, you might get a 5* review. 

Another bonus point: it is a YouTube video with a link. You can listen to the video in advance and see if you can understand the accent and the words.

Job Post#2: 

This job post is similar to the first one, but a larger project. This is a 1-hour long audio/video and has two speakers. Before accepting the job, it would be a good idea to ask for a sample of the voices, to see if you understand the people properly. An hourly project is great for your Upwork profile so it is okay to apply at a low rate. 

Time is important in this project, so you should apply only if you can start immediately. Having similar samples ready would also help. 

Job Post#3: 

See how high the rate is for a quick 1-minute job? This is because this requires knowing another language. If you know an exotic language, you can apply for high-paying jobs. 

Job Post#4: 

The budget is quite high for this job, so don’t apply directly without knowing the length of the videos. It has YouTube links so you can check easily. 

Don’t apply for a job just by seeing the budget. Each video could be 100 minutes long, and they would take you days to finish them! Whenever you see a YouTube link with the job application, always check out the quality of the audio and the voice of the speakers. 

Job Post#5: 

The client is writing a book and he recorded it in his/her voice rather than typing the whole thing. Looks like a good enough job, but before applying, be sure to check out a sample. The client’s voice might be hard to understand or the topic of the book might be difficult for you. 

Job Post#6: 

It will be a great opportunity if you get hired for this kind of job. It’s an hourly job so it might be long-term work which is desirable, of course. This project requires a slight knowledge of grammar and a medium-level writing skill as the client wants the freelancer to turn his voice into “well-organized grammatically correct” written version.

Job Post#7: 

Another client who is in a hurry. The budget is low but can get you a 5* review. Only apply and accept if you can start immediately. If you can't start instantly and plan to deliver the work after a long time, the client will be in problem, and that can result in a bad review for you. 

Job Post#8: 

This client isn’t just looking for a transcriber, but someone who is also a writer. The budget is good, and the work should be good as well. As the client says, s/he will provide more work if your work is good. So, that should be your goal: quality work.

You'll find many other different kind of transcription jobs on the online marketplaces; if you know to assess these projects properly, you can find the one that is right for you and land your first transcription job.