Deborah Anderson lives in the Amish area of the United States in Lykens, Pennsylvania.  Her career began as a solo transcriptionist, and she now owns her own transcription company, Anderson Transcription Solutions LLC .

She also holds a national certification from AAERT (American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers) as a CET (certified electronic transcriber).

Let’s find out more about Deborah now.

Can you tell us how your transcription career began?

Sure.  I have an education degree and was in the teaching field publicly and privately for 8 years in different schools and states.

My then husband moved around a lot.  As you can imagine, moving doesn’t equate well with a teaching degree.

Once my children came along, I needed something to do while at home with them.  My thought was that I would be a mommy by day and a transcriptionist at night.

I laugh now at that thought!

There is no way to be an effective transcriptionist at night if you are so tired from running after three little ones by day! Nor is there any way to be a good mommy if mommy is transcribing all night and not sleeping!

When my kids were school-age, the transcribing worked better, as I worked while they were at school.

So I started transcribing in 2007. I worked part-time with a local transcribing company with many different contracts and did that essentially until 2012.

Why did you choose transcribing as your work-from-home career?

It was a flexible schedule depending upon how much work I took.

I needed some extra money without going outside my home or taking up family time at night after school.

What happened next?

I had a life change in 2012 and knew that I needed something else, so I got a job with the Social Security Administration.  My position was what they called a “hearing reporter” for the ODAR (Office of Disability Adjudication and Review).  I recorded the hearings and made sure the recordings were clear.  In addition,  I made great log notes for the typists.

I remained there until a surgery in 2016.

So did you then return to transcription work?

Yes. I needed something to do in recovery time, and so I sought out to transcribe again. I started as a general transcriptionist, finding jobs online. They paid horribly.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to move in a different direction and decided that if I was going to make this my livelihood that I wanted to do it the right way.

I found AAERT, studied for my credentials, and passed the test to become a certified AAERT transcriber.

Did you say you now own your own company?

Yes. In January 2017, I opened my transcription business and worked solo in the beginning. I now have several transcriptionists on the “A-team,” as I call them.  I hire transcribers from the USA only.   Our specialty is legal transcription, mostly civil and criminal hearings as well as depositions.

I am also a transcriptionist in my company and enjoy the creation side more than the proofreading side.

RELATED:  Legal Transcription Course.

What types of transcription are your favorites and least favorites?

Trials are my favorite, but I have done many disability hearings for the BVA, SSA, and Immigration hearings over the years as well as Federal House of Representative Committee Meetings. 

General transcription interviews are my least favorite.

As to working for a company, what are some of the pros and cons, in your opinion?

Less stress of having to find your own work, a comfort level of knowing that you will eventually get paid, and can basically set your own schedule.

The cons are lower page rates, a requirement to do a certain amount of work, and no employee benefits.

What are some common mistakes you see from transcriptionists?

Usually, it’s repeated mistakes, or they haven’t relistened to or proofed their work.  Another issue is when they take too many shortcuts.

Do you believe that any training is necessary for transcription work?

Absolutely! I can’t imagine — well, yes, I can — let me rephrase that.

I have seen the transcripts of people who just dive in and don’t study what things are supposed to look like.

Also, I have seen the transcripts of people who think they listen “good enough” and don’t audio-proof their work.  It is (as nicely as I can put it) indescribably horrible.

Training is imperative.

RELATED:  Transcription training.

If you had a word of advice for someone considering this profession, what would you tell them?

Really think about whether it’s a good fit for you.  My suggestion is find someone who does this job and travel to them and shadow them for a day or two…so you can really see what that looks like.

Conclusion …

A big thank you to Deborah for sharing with us!  Catch up with her on LinkedIn or at her website to speak with her further.