As a court reporter, finding the right scopists and proofreaders is essential for saving tons of time, increasing your reporter income, and ultimately keeping your sanity. However, creating the perfect job post to attract the right candidates can be tricky.

All too often, we see reporters write something generic like, “I’m looking to connect with [Case CAT, Eclipse, Digital CAT] scopists.  Please contact me.”  While this does start the process and can give you leads for help, it doesn’t get the best results or get you any immediate relief.

In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the process of writing the perfect job post – one that will clearly convey your requirements and expectations and ultimately help you quickly find ideal transcript teammates.

 

1. Start with One Specific Transcript

If you’re like most reporters, you have a transcript or two that could be delegated to a scopist or proofreader ASAP.  So instead of writing that vague looking-to-connect post, pick a specific transcript to use as your catalyst for making those connections.

It goes without saying that if you work well together, you’ll likely want to continue working together in the future.  So skip the small talk and dive straight into discussing a specific job opportunity.

(Of course, if you’re all caught up and want to start making connections before you’re buried again, congratulations!  You’re a unicorn, and you can skip to Step 3!)

 

2. Share The Details

This one is super simple, but it’s KEY!  Details like the number of pages, deadline, audio quality, translation quality, and any other specific requirements are important to determine interest and availability.  This will give potential candidates a clear understanding of what they’re getting into AND will help establish an appropriate rate from the outset (see number four)!

 

3. Create Clear Expectations

All court reporters have unique expectations when it comes to their transcripts.  We reporters are known for being rather picky people…oops!  #SorryNotSorry  It’s the reason we’re the guardians of the record and great at our jobs.  It’s also what makes finding “perfect teammates” so difficult because few people would do things exactly the way you do.  We get it.

That’s why it’s critical that you communicate your expectations.  Shocking as it may be, reporters do vary dramatically in their expectations.  (See the screenshot from our Ultimate Preference Sheet Quiz below.  We’re all so different!)

For example, if you expect repeated words because this transcript is videotaped and you’re requesting “strict verbatim” versus using appropriate discretion and going for readability, make sure to mention this in the job post.  This will give scopists an accurate idea of the amount of time required and will help avoid unsatisfactory results.

4. Compensate Appropriately

Experienced scopists and proofreaders put in a lot of time and effort to ensure quality work for their reporter clients.  From the example above, if you’re asking for repeated words or strict verbatim for video or something else like intensive research of dense medical jargon, be willing to pay for the extra effort.  Offering a fair wage not only attracts experienced candidates but also shows that you value their time and effort.

And let’s be honest.  Like with most things, you get what you pay for.  If you have consistently chosen scopists or proofreaders with the cheapest rates and have been regularly dissatisfied, it might be because you’re constantly scraping the bottom of the barrel.  (Yes!  We said it.)

Don’t know what’s fair?  This BeST Scoping Techniques Survey shares current scoping and proofing rates in detail, including the basics or all the bells and whistles.  It’s an excellent resource we recommend you check out, but here’s a good rule of thumb:

If you’re getting paid extra, so should your scopist and/or proofreader.

Naturally, there are exceptions.  For example, just because the reporter is getting extra copy orders doesn’t mean you need to compensate your scopist or proofreader because there is no extra work for purchasing of extra copies.  That is your hard-earned money for the diligence you took to get out of CR school and be an awesome professional with a unique skillset.

However, if a reporter is being paid extra for things that affect a scopist’s or proofreader’s time (technical jargon, video-verbatim, expedited turnaround), then they should be compensated accordingly.  It should be a portion of your pay bump.  For example, if you receive an extra 50 cents per page for technical jargon, offer your scopist and/or proofreader an extra 10 cents per page.  It’s a fraction of what you earn, and you both win.

Let scopists and proofreaders know you’re willing to bump up compensation on this transcript because it’s video, dense jargon, your fingers were a hot mess during fast colloquy, the audio is full of static, et cetera!

Simply be fair, and you’ll build strong, long-lasting business relationships.

 

5. Style & Punctuation Preferences

As a court reporter, you most likely follow a certain “Source of Truth” for punctuation rules, like Morson’s Guide to Court Reporting or Margie Wakeman-Wells’ Bad Grammar / Good Punctuation.  Clarify your preferred source within your job post so you can link up with like minds.

And while this isn’t related to a job post itself, of course, the very best way to clarify your preferences is to provide a detailed preference sheet for whomever you choose to work with.  Sending a preference sheet can dramatically reduce inconsistencies between what you expect and what is returned to you.

Don’t have a preference sheet?  We can fix that!  Take Stenovate’s free Ultimate Preference Quiz.  When you’re finished, we deliver your in-depth, customized preference sheet to share with any scopists or proofreaders you work with.  It comes to you as a Word document, so you can add to or edit your preferences anytime.  And, if you’re a Stenovate member, you can upload it to your Stenovate profile, so scopists and proofreaders with Stenovate always have immediate, easy access to your preferences.

Another example from the Ultimate Preference Quiz Results seen below.

The point is:  You’re unlikely to get the results you want unless you communicate what you want.

 

6. Use The Right Tool(s)

Where you post is just as important as what you post to get quick responses from the right candidates.

While there’s a variety of Facebook groups to seek help and a myriad of disjointed tools (email, Dropbox, Excel, Facebook, SendThisFile, etc.) for reporters, scopists, and proofreaders to collaborate, minimizing the runaround for finding help, communicating, transferring files, sharing spellings, and updating progress all in one place is efficient and…oh so satisfying.

We’ve been hearing more and more that scopists and proofreaders no longer want to work with reporters outside of the Stenovate platform because Stenovate is an organized one-stop shop for both connecting and collaborating.  In other words, some of the top-rated scopists and proofreaders are working exclusively with reporters in Stenovate.

They’re referring their reporter clients to Stenovate and no longer accepting new clients outside of Stenovate because Stenovate centralizes and streamlines workflow, optimizing communication and maximizing efficiency amongst transcript teammates, saving time and energy for everyone involved.  Win-win-win.

Plus, when a reporter posts within Stenovate’s scoping or proofing job board, an immediate notification is sent to the right candidates, resulting in faster coverage.

For example, when a reporter on Eclipse is seeking scoping help, only Eclipse scopists are notified.  This reduces noise for individuals not on Eclipse and gets quick visibility to those who may be interested and available.  The same goes for every CAT software.  And, yes, we have scopists and proofreaders on *all* CAT software in Stenovate!  💪

Once you have responses on your job post (or direct messages via the Stenovate chat), we make vetting easy with professional profiles and the community-vetted rating & review system.  See what other reporters say about the individuals you’re considering.  If they don’t have any ratings and reviews yet (or you’re looking outside of Stenovate), be sure to ask for references!  If you’re the first person to work with a professional in Stenovate, be the first person to leave a review for them!

Once you decide to work with a scopist or proofreader, simply invite them to the transcript workspace (where you’ve already uploaded your audio, CAT file, exhibits, added spellings, and shared any relevant details), so they can begin working!  You’re off to the races!

If you’re not a Stenovate member where the process is the same for everyone, begin to onboard them to your personal collaboration process and tools.

Want to try Stenovate?  Start a 30-day free trial right now, and go create a perfect job post to get yourself some relief.  You deserve it!

 

Wrapping It Up

In summary, no matter where you post, whether it’s in Stenovate, with its smart notifications and full collaboration tools at the ready, or into a Facebook group, writing the perfect job post can take several minutes to do it well, but it’s obviously worth it!

Starting with one transcript, sharing the job details, creating clear expectations, offering fair compensation, clarifying style preferences, AND using the right tool(s) creates the perfect combo for finding great help to suit your needs.

Following these tips will help you create a job post that attracts the right candidates and gives you a jumpstart for delegation.  It also helps avoid having leads but still ending up at square one.

If you have questions, please reach out to us at support@stenovate.com.  We’d love to help you build and collaborate with your transcript dream team.