I Luv My Dumbo Hubby asked:
I want to become a legal secretary and the role involves an element of audio typing, I was just wondering how hard it is to learn to audio type without having to go to classes and sitting and paying for assessments?
I want to become a legal secretary and the role involves an element of audio typing, I was just wondering how hard it is to learn to audio type without having to go to classes and sitting and paying for assessments?
I have been doing audio typing at work for 5 months now. It is actually surprisingly easy and I never had any training/lessons. I don’t think it is required for most people. If you are familiar with a keyboard and have a decent typing speed you have no worries. Only one thing I am not sure about is the content of your audio recordings. My subject matter isn’t to difficult to pick up, I imagine it could be trickier if it was audio typing for the legal profession or medical profession for example but even then you would soon get familiar with the jargon and subject matter.
If you really feel a course would be of benefit you could always do an administration/clerical course which covered many different skills including audio typing.
If you want to be a legal secretary go for it, it pays fairly well in the UK.
Comment by Shirt-n-Tie-Boy — January 16, 2009 @ 9:53 am
There’s not really much to learn. You just put your tape in the transcription machine (a dead giveaway if you can’t manage this - it’s a bit fiddly when you start so it’s worth practicing that bit) - then you clamp on the headphones (ask for new sponges before you start - makes you look experienced - and you also don’t want to catch anything from your predecessor’s ears) then start playing the tape and typing, keeping your foot lightly on the foot pedal. Stop the tape by tapping the left side of the foot pedal, rewind a bit by tapping the right and rewind a lot using the top bit.
My advice would be to register with a high street employment agency and tell them what you want to do. They will set you to do their tests. If they accept you on their books, then you can ask if they can help you brush up your audio - almost all agencies will let you use their teach-yourself programs / self assessments whilst they look for work on your behalf.
Comment by pearldaisy — January 16, 2009 @ 3:12 pm