Melanie from Rev emailed me this week and said:
At Rev.com, we are growing fast and looking for dozens of work-from-home transcriptionists. Rev’s mission is to build an excellent online place for freelancers to work. If you have strong English skills and want a fulfilling work-from-home job, learn more and apply here.
Here’s how it works:
- You transcribe English language audio and video from home
- You choose your projects and work as much or as little as you want
- You set your own schedule and can work flexible hours
Here’s what we do:
- We pay $0.40 – $0.65 USD per audio minute. Average earnings are currently $241/month, with some earning over $1,000/month.
- We pay you every Monday via PayPal. You have to have a working PayPal account to get paid (no exceptions).
- We provide a website to find, claim, and submit jobs. We continually add tools and features to help you earn more money.
For more work-at-home ideas, be sure to check out my series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash.
I understand wanting to get as much as possible for your work, but if you are needing to work from home and not making anything, I would think that something is better than nothing. Shoot, I have been doing surveys that only pay 3.00 and it usually takes me about an hour to do it. But that is 3.00 more than I had before. I now have 140.00 saved from my surveys that I am saving for a special vacation. All I’m saying is if your not working, then, anything is better than nothing, especially if you are not spending gas money to get there.
This looked interesting and relatively easy, however, just from doing their samples in the application, it seems like too much work for too little in return. I kept having to replay it over and over and it took way longer than I expected. I type very quickly, but listening and typing is harder than I thought, especially with their guidelines. I’m sure with time it would be easier/faster, but no thanks. If it works for you, more power to ya!
I agree Kelly. That was a lot of work for little pay. I am sure once we get use to it, it would be easier. But, pay would have to be better.
This doesn’t seem worth the work. I don’t think my husband would let me touch this with a 10 foot pole.
Hi guys I applied for this, made sure I followed all of their rules/formatting guidelines. I ensured I was accurate and precise. I gave legal transcribed before so am used doing it especially when people talk over one another. But within 2 minutes of submitting my application I received a decline email. Are they just no longer hiring???
Good question. Did anyone else get a decline email right away? Let us know.
I applied (few hours ago) and received an email which thanked me for applying, that they will review my application and will contact me as soon as possible regarding my candidacy.
Good to know… thanks for the update.
I just applied and received this back almost immediately:
“Hello,
Thank you for submitting your application to Rev. We will review your application and contact you as soon as possible regarding your candidacy.
Regards,
Rev Recruiting Team
“
I also got a decline email about an hour after I sent in the application
Sorry phone correction ‘I have legally transcribed’
Thanks for this information. I have been caregiving for family for awhile and could really use some part-time at-home work, but it does not pay for me to work for less than $15/hour, for a number of reasons I won’t go into. My last “outside” job involved transcribing as well as taking live calls, typing as the person talked, and proofreading. Does anyone currently in this line of work have tips for getting back into it, at a decent wage? I am familiar with using a transcription machine and foot pedal, but I don’t own my own. My typing speed was usually above 100wpm, but that was quite a few years ago now. Any more tips and thoughts from current workers is appreciated.
I also received it right after I hit sent. 🙁
I’ve been doing transcription for three years and there are companies out there that pay a lot more per minute. Rev might be a good place to get your start, but after you have some experience I would start researching other companies that pay at least starting at $0.80 per minute, or even $1.00 per minute and up. Remember that as a contractor you are responsible for your own taxes, equipment, and that you also will spend time on things like invoicing and checking audio that you won’t be directly compensated for.
With the company I’m with now I make between $15.00 to $25.00 per hour, depending on the file. So although Rev is legit, know that there are better paying companies. Also, Rev was started by former oDesk employees, and oDesk has a reputation of low pay for freelance jobs.
Would you be willing to share what companies pay $.80 or $1.00 per minute? I have a child with a disability and juggle things so much between work and home life, that to be able to work from home would be a blessing. I am thankful that my son will be with me for many years to come but finding work around his schedule (with decent pay) has been difficult.
Three companies that hire beginners are Accetance, Verbal Ink, and Tiger Fish. Some other companies that require experience may waive that requirement if you pass their audio test. You can join transcription forums to learn more about the industry. Most members of these forums recommend the lowest wage to work for is $40 an audio hour.
Two forums you can join are Transcription Essentials or Transcription Haven. Also, I wrote a guest post about how I got into transcription to give you more ideas. http://savingslifestyle.com/2013/05/earn-money-general-transcriptionist/
Although I’m glad that people can make money from home with places like Rev, I also think that providing a quality transcript takes work and it can be discouraging to start out and take six to eight hours to complete one hour of audio (which was about my turnaround my first month) and make $3-$4 an hour.
If one is too discouraged they may give up and not realize that transcription can be a good career once you have a good turnaround time (three to four hours per audio hour) and are working for companies that compensate their transcriptionists well.
Thank you for all of the great information! For those of you that have been working as a transcriptionist for a while, how many hours do you work each day? Is it easier to work for a few hours at a time, or is it better to work in smaller chunks of time?
I usually work in two chunks each day, once during nap time and once during bedtime. If needed, I’ll sneak in work in smaller chunks of time. My schedule also varies depending on what stage my children are in and what their current sleep schedule is. Usually I work three to four hours per day, although I have cut my hours back a bit.
Thank you! I used to be a transcriptionist many years ago and loved it! I will look into these companies! Thank you!
I started working for Rev last month; it’s been a great experience so far.
Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience; I really appreciate it!
I would love to hear how many hours you work a week and how much you are making a month? If you don’t mind sharing.
I am a transcription professional but I specialize in a segment. For general audio content if you have good discipline you are looking at a ratio of 3 to 1 as a newbie/intermediate. That means you are able to accurately transcribe 20 minutes of audio in one hour at their lowest rate this represents $8 per hour.
In my field you don’t get to pick your work volume or your time availability, basically I get an email with audio content and I have 24 hours to return it. Since this company allows you to pick your jobs and your volume I can see how it would be wonderful for busy moms in need for flexibility. You can also think about it as a way to make Christmas money without stressing a whole lot.
We are 115 days away from Christmas. Let’s say you work one hour each day for the next 100 days. That will give you $800 to spend for the holidays! Far more productive than Swagbucks and it gives you a sense of accomplishment.
One awesome thing about transcription work is that it makes you a better more careful listener. Listening is a skill that will enhance every aspect of your life specially parenting.
I actually am not doing a lot of work. I’m a graduate student and full-time homemaker. Transcription is something I do for fun and to earn some extra money to cover my school textbooks and some fun things.
I have done anywhere between two and a half to three hours of audio time in a week, which is only between nine to twelve hours of work time. For that, I’ve made between $80-$90. For me, it’s a relaxed working schedule. I don’t make a lot, but it is meeting my needs at the moment.
One thing I love about Rev is that I am not assigned projects. I can long in when I have time and pick a project that I have time to do. I am not in a season of life where I could guarantee a 24-hour turn around if I was assigned a project. Rev’s flexibility lets me work when I am able.
Plus, they hired me with essentially no transcription experience. I can use them to gain experience, and hopefully I will be able to work for some other companies in the future that will pay more.
How hard is the hiring process? I am a stay at homescholing mom. I am trying to bring in at least $500 a month. Any suggestions? I have a Culinary Degree. Cant do much with that from home except Cater and my children are 2 small.
The hiring process was really easy. I simply had to transcribe two short audio files and submit them. When I first heard back, I was told they weren’t hiring then but would keep my name on file and I would probably hear back from them within two weeks. It was even less time than that I heard back, and they were ready to hire me.
You should know that it typically takes about an hour to transcribe 15 minutes worth of audio. So you are only being paid about $6 per hour for your work, and this is actual real work. Even beginners can make more per hour than $6. I would do a lot of research before beginning any general transcription work!
If you are able to get closer to 65 cents, that is a price I would be willing to work for. But certainly not 40 cents. 🙂
Crystal or anyone else — can you vouch for this company? I’ve never heard of them… just want to make sure they’re reputable. Thanks 🙂
I had my assistant, Lisa, research it out before posting and she found very reputable info on them, so that’s why I felt comfortable posting it. However, if anyone has had bad experiences with them, please let us know.
You can see the Google reviews here: https://www.google.com/shopping/seller?q=rev.com&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FgAhUtHNGoWt4APjsYDgCQ&ved=0CDIQwQY
The CEO is quoted in Wall Street Journal and you can check out their other press from well-known sources here: http://www.rev.com/press
I can vouch for them. I began working for them last month. There is typically a wide variety of work to choose from, and they pay promptly (every Monday).
Do you need any experience to do this? I am interested in doing this, of course for extra money.
No experience needed