Scribie- General Transcription: No Experience Necessary

Updated on: by Amy Kennedy

ScribieWritten By Long-Time Follower: Erica Martin

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Aside from my regular job with Apptical, I also work a few other jobs to bring in a little extra money.  One thing I do is Duplicate checking with Demand Mediaโ€ฆ but as those of you who do duplicate checking know, the work became rather scarce for a while earlier this month.  Luckily, I was able to test with and get approved to do general transcription work with Scribie.com.

What is Scribie?

Scribie is a website where people  submit interviews that they want transcribed. Those interviews are then broken up into smaller files which are usually about 6 minutes each, though some are shorter if there is less than six minutes left at the end of an interview.

Do you have to have transcription experience to work for Scribie?

No, that is one of the nice things about Scribie.  The only skills you need are fast typing speed and good listening skills.

How much does Scribie pay?

Scribie pays about $1 per each 6 minute file, or a little less if the file is less than six minutes.  This adds up to about $10 per audio hour.

How much can I make per hour?

The amount you can make per hour varies depending on your typing speed.  If you’re able to type quickly and transcribe the audio without having to stop and back up a lot, then you could easily make about $10 per hour.  I’ve been making a little less, because I tend to stop a lot while I’m transcribing, and I also like to listen to the file all the way through after I’ve transcribed it, to see if I can catch anything I might have missed.

How does Scribie pay?

Scribie pays via PayPal.  You can cash out whenever you want. However, Scribie does charge a 2% fee for amounts under $30.

What kind of software and/or equipment will I need?

You’ll want to download Expresscribe, and I highly recommend a foot pedal and a USB headset for listening to the audio. You can set up keys on your keyboard to play and pause audio, as well as back up, but I find that using a foot pedal is faster.

How much will all this equipment and software cost me?

Expresscribe is free,  however a good foot pedal will cost anywhere from $30 on up.  Headsets usually cost anywhere from $25 on up.  Keep in mind that the headset you use doesn’t have to necessarily be a headset made specifically for transcription – I use the USB headset that I used to use for one of my phone jobs and it works just fine.  Also remember that since Scribie doesn’t take any taxes out, anything you have to purchase to work for Scribie is tax-deductible, so be sure to save your receipts!

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Are the files at Scribie easy to understand?

File sound quality varies.  Also, Scribie  transcribes a lot of interviews with people who speak with foreign accents, which can often be hard to understand. The nice thing about Scribie is that you aren’t assigned certain files – you can go listen to a one-minute sample of a file before you select it.  If you find that you’re able to understand  it easily, you can select it and transcribe  it.  If after you select it you find that the rest of the file isn’t as easy to understand as you thought it would be, you can return it and look for another file to transcribe.

Does Scribie have any other opportunities?

Yes, if your transcriptions are consistently rated “good” or “excellent,”  you’ll be promoted to reviewer, where you’ll be able to review transcriptions  that others have done, insert time-stamps where needed, and make any changes you feel are necessary. Having Expresscribe is even more important with reviewing, because you’ll be given instructions on how to set up one of the keys on your keyboard as a hotkey for inserting the timestamps in the transcript.  I’ve recently been promoted to reviewer, and though I’m getting better at reviewing, I still enjoy transcribing more.

Some Pros and Cons of Scribie

Working as a transcriber on Scribie can be an opportunity to earn money from home and offers flexibility in terms of when and where you work. However, like all jobs, it has its pros and cons.

Pros:

  1. Flexibility: Since it’s an online platform, you can work from anywhere, and the job offers a lot of flexibility. You can choose when you want to work, depending on your schedule.
  2. Skill Development: Transcribing can help improve your listening skills and typing speed. If you’re transcribing audio files on a variety of topics, you can also learn new things.
  3. Variety of Work: You might get to work on a variety of audio files, which can range from interviews, podcasts, conference calls, and more.

Cons:

  1. Low Pay: Transcription work can be time-consuming, and the pay is often quite low, especially when you’re starting out. The pay-per-minute of audio transcribed might seem decent at first glance, but when you account for the time taken to transcribe, review, and correct the transcription, it may not be substantial.
  2. Difficult Audio Files: You may encounter poor quality audio or speakers with heavy accents, which can make the job very challenging and time-consuming.
  3. Repetitive Work: The work can be monotonous and repetitive, which may not be appealing to everyone.
  4. No Benefits: As a freelance transcriber, you don’t get benefits like health insurance or a retirement plan that full-time employees typically receive.

How do I sign up to transcribe for Scribie?

Go to Scribie’s Website, click on “Work for us”,  and read the information provided. After you’ve decided that this is something you want to do, click on the “Apply” tab.  Good luck!

Editors Note: Scribie recently went by the name of CallGraph. Therefore, if you do any online research before applying you should keep this in mind as to not get confused.

Erica Martin has been working at home for different companies since 2003. You can find more about her experience by viewing her online articles at Yahoo!

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Comments

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Anna

August 2, 2011 at 8:40 am

I think Scribie sounds a lot better than Quicktate personally. It’s good that Scribie gives you the opportunity to be promoted and that you can cash out when you want. Even if you didn’t do the work full-time, that would make it a good egg to have just in case you’re in a pinch and need to work up some money quickly.

TraceyJoy

August 2, 2011 at 10:25 am

This sounds like a nice non-phone egg to have in the basket, thanks for sharing I was not familiar with them before Erica. Great to have a place that takes the inexperienced ones as well.

Carla E.

August 2, 2011 at 5:06 pm

This sound like something that I wouldn’t mind trying. I also agree with Anna, it does seem a lot better than Quicktate.

Lisa

August 2, 2011 at 7:51 pm

This sounds like a great way to get your feet wet and see if transcription is for you. I’ve been a general transcriptionist for five years, and it’s harder than most people think.

Rebecca

August 4, 2011 at 10:39 pm

Thank you for sharing, Erica! This sounds like something I have been looking for. I currently work a job that pays great, but only pays once a month, and I would like something that I can cash out on when I want, if needed.

Traci Bell

August 17, 2011 at 3:14 am

Great lead. This will help a lot of people looking to get some experience with transcribing.

Cyntha

November 15, 2011 at 4:08 pm

This was the first company I ever started with and while isn’t good to leave this as your only source of income, it is a great start.

Jean

January 13, 2012 at 12:12 am

The only issue that I have with this company is the fact that some of the Reviewers do not know proper punctuation or spelling.

I do currently work for Scribie. I transcribe all the time and I cannot tell you how many times that I get a low rating on a transcribed file because a review is stating that the punctuation or spelling is wrong.

I was an English major in college and I have written many articles that have been published. I know how to spell and punctuate. Still, I get a low rating.

In addition, when I read the “reviewed copy”, I cannot tell you how many mistakes that I find – mostly commas in wrong places or words changed from a correct spelling to an incorrect one. It almost makes me sick.

They state that someone else will look over the final copy before it goes back to the client; however, it’s not right for the Reviewers to not know proper punctuation and spelling, change my review to nonsense, and then give me a low rating.

I really hope Scribie gives their Reviewers grammar tests.

Zoe

February 2, 2012 at 9:44 am

I agree with Jean – another big problem is the subjective reviewing over grey areas in the Transcription Guidelines (i.e. things like “you know”, “I mean”, and “sort of”). They also don’t like my Oxford commas…I’ve been a freelance legal transcriptionist for something like a decade, and can rattle through a six minute recording in approximately 12-15 minutes. I thought it would be a useful $30-40 no-effort income a month, but it’s rapidly looking like far too much hassle.

Calvin Williams

February 20, 2012 at 8:19 pm

Hello,
This is great information that I know I lot a people would find useful. In these times everyone needs a little extra money. Liked and Tweeted! Thanks!

Dave

April 13, 2012 at 12:27 am

Thank-you for your detailed synopsis of Scribie. I must admit I had never heard of it! I think REAL things like this that people can do at home without fear of being scammed are fantastic. We need more opportunities like this for people to make money and work at home, especially in this day and age of job losses!

Michael

May 14, 2012 at 1:34 am

I have to agree with Jean and Zoe.

I do like Scribie a lot. The website used has a really great interface, and it is very helpful being able to listen to audio samples. It is also nice being able to cash out whenever you need to.

I also have a degree in English, as well as degrees in Journalism and Communication. Some of the “mistakes” the reviewers find can be frustrating. Even when I am the reviewer, my revised submission gets torn apart even worse.

Transcription seems to be the easier of the two tasks. If you can do a reasonable job typing up what is said and separate the speakers into different paragraphs, you’ll do pretty well. Reviewing though…that is different. Some of the transcriptions that get through are quite awful, and you spend a lot of time coding it and correcting. Finally, when all is said and done, the “final submission” reviewer grades your reviewed copy, and they nearly always grade you low. I once received a grade of B on a 30 second audio clip and the only change made was in switching the speaker numbers. (This is something that is not supposed to be graded on.)

All I can say is, if you do reviewing more, you better get used to using that “dispute” button. I probably dispute four out of every five reviews I complete. The thing is, I don’t want to lose my reviewer status due to a low rating, because you can make more money once you’re able to transcribe AND review the same file. I have no idea whether the grade affects anything in this way, but I don’t want to lose this advantage.

I still think it is well worth the time, at least as something to keep in the basket. It is good experience, and the money can get better as you get quicker and get the ability to review your own work. Just know that there are some frustrating elements that Jean and Zoe alluded to.

Amy

May 28, 2012 at 9:50 pm

I’m at the testing phase for Scribie, and wow is this difficult to understand! The files I have to choose from are terrible! Either there are thousands of kids screaming and yelling while this interview is going on, or the interview is in a loud restaurant with cheering while they’re having a serious conversation. The accents are difficult. The interviewer is usually American but the interviewee is from another country and their English is choppy and marbled. I just transcribed 6 minutes with about a dozen ___ for areas I couldn’t understand a thing no matter how slow I slowed down the audio, or how many times I rewound it! I’m so upset that my submission was rejected. I tried! I thought I did pretty good for what that audio was! AWFUL!! I might try in the morning to see if I can get a better, easier set of people having a conversation. The only thing is, if the majority of files are this bad meaning quality and accents, I don’t know if it’s worth it for a dollar! I’m a fast typer too 80 words a minute. I’m a second year college student with a 3.88 GPA. If this were a conversation with two proficient English speakers, this would be a piece of cake! I don’t know how some of you who passed were able to do it with such noisy audio and thick marbled accents.

Gigi

May 30, 2013 at 2:16 pm

Same here. English major and fast typist. The very poor quality audio and the super thick accents slow me way down. I’m not certain if I’m going to make any money with Scribie. I’ll keep trying.

Leisa Good

June 16, 2012 at 9:12 am

I knew that I would find this review somewhere.

Janet

July 7, 2012 at 1:35 pm

I feel sorry for anyone that works for Scribie. If you want a real job paying 50 cents or more per audio minute, email me. I will put you to work today.

Debbie B.

July 17, 2012 at 5:07 am

I am replying to your comment on your post about Scribie. I was thinking of applying to Scribie. If you know of another company hiring from home. I may be interested. Thank you!

Destinii K.

July 18, 2012 at 1:24 pm

I am interested as well; however, I see no email to reach you at.

Miranda Grimm

July 18, 2012 at 1:35 pm

That is because we are not Scribie…we reviewed Scribie for you. Please check out the article for direction to apply. There you will find a link to Scribie

Destinii K.

July 18, 2012 at 1:51 pm

Oh no! I was replying to the comment that said “I feel sorry for anyone that works for Scribie. If you want a real job paying 50 cents or more per audio minute, email me. I will put you to work today.” I have already applied to Scribie and am on the wait list for an invitation.

Miranda Grimm

July 19, 2012 at 10:44 am

lol I see! ๐Ÿ™‚ Sorry for the mix up!

Lydia C

July 29, 2012 at 11:18 pm

I am interested too.. Hook me up ๐Ÿ™‚

sara

September 13, 2012 at 2:26 am

Janet~
Not sure if your offer still stands, but I am interested in your offer too! ๐Ÿ™‚
Thanks!!

Susan Wells

September 15, 2012 at 1:43 pm

Hi. I was interested in the offer you made about another company to work for. Is there still work available? Thanks so much. Susan

Nadine

September 30, 2012 at 1:37 pm

Hi Janet – please send me information about the transcription job you mentioned. I am very interested. Thank you.

Melissa

October 10, 2012 at 6:44 pm

I am looking for a way to work from home. I would like this oppertunity please!

cristine

November 17, 2012 at 4:56 am

Janet, I, too, would be interested in the company you mentioned may be a bit better than Scribie pay-wise. Thank you.

RyAnn

February 19, 2013 at 12:00 pm

I’d be interested in more money. I work for Scribie once in a while, but it is NOT worth the time at all.

Kim

May 8, 2013 at 4:12 pm

Hi ……I was just reading through all the comments on Scribe and am not sure I am willing to try them out. I am looking for a part time job from home evenings and weekends and can type 75 WPM with no mistakes. I would love to hear what you have to offer… Thank You ๐Ÿ™‚

Ana

June 12, 2013 at 4:36 pm

Hi Janet, Just found this site. I’d be interested in learning more about the transcription opportunity you posted about in July 2012.

Jullia

September 11, 2012 at 6:07 pm

I am interested to. I was checking out scribie but the wait on the thing will be almost next year. I am looking and hoping to find something that I can do from home now!! Any suggestions are welcome. I have been checking out alot today. I am glad that I came across Work at Home Adventures. I have found some interesting sites that I may just have to try.

eazyjoe

November 9, 2012 at 3:33 am

Scribie is not a very good company to work for. The pay is low and the audio files are horrible. I prefer to use Speechink through Mturk.

Becky

November 12, 2012 at 11:20 am

Looking for work from home opportunities in transcription. Any suggestions or referrals would be appreciated. Thanks!

M.E.

January 15, 2013 at 2:48 pm

$10 per audio hour is VERY low. You will not make $10/hr if you are paid $10 per audio hour.

Kim

May 8, 2013 at 4:15 pm

Thank you everyone for your comments. I read every one of them and found them all very helpful in my search. ๐Ÿ™‚