Beth Worthy, President of GMR Transcription. Beth joined GMR in 2008, and through hard work, she rose through the ranks and became president of the company. GMR Transcription is one of the first transcription businesses to go digital. It’s also one of the few transcription businesses that hire 100% US-based transcriptionists.
Minnie : Hi, Beth, how are you?
Beth : Thanks for having me today.
Minnie : That's good. How are you doing?
Beth : I'm doing good. Hanging in there.
Minnie : All right, so let's get into it. So I will start by asking a few questions. So my first question would be you have been in, into this transcription industry for 12 years. So please tell us what is the best thing about this industry?
Beth : Well, I would say that the best thing about the transcription industry and specifically general transcription is that, the work that we get, we just come across so many interesting topics and projects. We're dealing with, you know, audios regarding groundbreaking research and super interesting legal proceedings. So, you know, many of our transcriptionists have told me that they've just really learned so much from the audios that they've transcribed. I think people, uh, that the typist have just feel like they've become more worldly and educated, themselves just from the different types of topics and, projects that GMR gets.
So, I think that's definitely the most interesting part. It's not boring. Every audio that you're transcribing is completely different and, um, you know, you just learn so much, we transcribe for all the top universities around the United States. So as you can imagine, all their interviews and everything are just really interesting. And with that being said, confidentiality is extremely important to us. So even though we're learning so much, our transcriptionists are learning so much from these audios legally, they or we can't share any of the information.
Minnie : Okay. That's good to know. Alright, so let me go down to my second question. What are the three main qualities that you look for while hiring a transcriptionist?
Beth : Well I can think of a lot more than just three, but, if I'm going to think of three, then I would say that, most important is going to be just having a good understanding of English language in grammar. You know, all of our transcriptionists are required to just produce the best transcript possible. So we need them to be able to know how to proofread and just really have a good understanding of grammar. So that's definitely important.
I would say another huge one is, the ability to work on your own without handholding. That includes being able to, be computer savvy. if you're having an issue, uploading a file, troubleshooting with yourself to get the file uploaded to us. We don't really have the resources to help transcriptionists. You know, we have so many of them that we just wouldn't be able to help them with everything. I mean, we definitely help them to an extent, but we just really look for people who can basically just work on their own, get their transcripts done with little help, and also be able to follow written instructions. A lot of our assignments have special formatting or special instructions that are required and it's important for the transcriptionist to be able to, follow those instructions without too much help.
The last thing that I was going to say was just being trust, trustworthy, uh, like I said, confidentiality is one of our top priorities for our clients and we take it very seriously.
So we want to be able to trust our transcriptionists that all the information that they are getting from the audios, they keep to themselves and keep confidential.
Minnie : Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. So let's go to the next question, which is how important is it to get training and certification before getting into transcription or anyone?
Beth : I personally think it's really important, especially if you're a brand new transcriptionist. I feel like it's a must to have some sort of training or introduction into transcription or, the most recent, grammar guidelines. I think it's really important. I think that there's just so many things that you need to know from being able to play or use the different audio softwares, to, you know, like I said, being a grammar expert, I feel like those are things that you're going to need to know.
And it kind of goes back to what I said about, GMR, our company, we just don't have the resources to train or train new transcriptionists. Like I said, you know, we can answer questions here and there, but you know, when somebody comes already with their training or a certification in hand, we don't have to worry about those people. Those are the people that we really know can assign them their first file and they're going to kind of run with it. So to me, I feel like if you're brand new to transcription, the training is essential. But also if you're a seasoned typist and you've been transcribing for 20 years, I feel like a refresher course could definitely be helpful. One of our, transcriptionist or one of our internal employees, she's one of our proofreaders.
She was a transcriptionist for 20 years. A long time back in when she came in, she was just, surprised at how much things have changed. So I think a refresher course is always good, even if you've been doing transcription for years.
Minnie : Okay. That's good. Alright, so my next question is, can you please tell us, tell our audience about the application process if someone wants to become a transcriptionist at GMR transcription?
Beth : Oh, sure. Yeah. So, basically what you would do is go to our website at gmrtranscription.com. There is a tab up at the top that says careers, you go to that tab and basically everything on that page is what you're going to need to know. You can see testimonials from other transcriptionists on how they liked working with us. There's an FAQ page, answers basically all the questions that you might have.
And then it's also the place where you can upload your resume and get started on our transcription test. So we do, send a transcription test to everybody that applies with us. Also, what you would do is you would fill out a form and include all your information and you would upload your resume. And you can also indicate whether you have had any transcription training also, which is definitely a plus. and then once you submit that form and upload your resume tests, our system will automatically send you an email. And in that email is all the information that you would need to know, for taking the test and what the test is, I want to say, cause we have a few different tests, so not everybody gets the same one. they're usually about like five to eight minutes long, an audio and, you are given that audio and you're to transcribe them or transcribe it into our template that you're also given.
And, following our guidelines, you're also given a little packet that goes over our guidelines and our style guide, um, which it goes over how we want it to look. Okay. So, basically, you just transcribe it, the audio and to the best of your ability proofread it before you submit it back to us. And, then once you are done, you would just go back to the careers page and follow the instructions to submit the test back to us. And then, we would go ahead and grade it, and then you would hear back from us whether you passed or failed, if you passed it, then you would get an email with the steps to move forward to, you know, start working with us.
Minnie : Okay. So this is for anybody, whoever wants to apply your GMR transcription, they have to pass a test before they can be a transcriptionist there, right?
Beth : Yes, definitely. And by the way, our test audio is difficult. We really like to weed out the people who are gonna be able to do a great job and the people who maybe can't deal with that difficult audio. So, yeah, we definitely test everybody. We only hire the best of the best. That's why GMR transcription is doing so.
Minnie : Okay. So, let's go to the next question, which is what is the standard turnaround time for GMR transcription?
Beth : We don't necessarily have a standard turnaround time. We like to offer our clients different options on what turnaround time they want. So, from our company, you will see a lot of different turnaround time assignments. Now the good thing is that, we pay more for faster turnaround time files. So the typist who are willing to take on assignments at a faster turnaround time, the rates, the pay rates are higher. So we kind of have turnaround times from the same day, two weeks later. So if you're a brand new typist, definitely, we're probably not going to give you a same day file to start out with. We like to ease people into it.
And, and if you're only comfortable with taking assignments that don't have a due date for a few weeks, then, you just can take those assignments.
Minnie : Okay. That sounds good. All right. And any, is there any pro tip that you have for someone who wants to get into transcription?
Beth : I would say that the best advice that I could give someone starting out is to really, take your time on the test. I'm pretty certain that probably 90% of online transcription companies will make, make people take a test. So what I would say is just don't rush through it, proofread it against the audio, proofread it a couple times before you submit the test back. We see so many tests come back that it, you know, people just aren't following simple instructions or, just really simple errors that people shouldn't be making.
And, it's really the only one opportunity that you can show the company that, you know, they should hire you. So I would say the best piece of advice would just be really take your time on the test, and really just do your best work and that way, you just have a better chance of getting hired.
Minnie : Okay. That's a very good. All right. So, my last question would be being a mom of two and working full time. How do you manage both? Can you please share your experience for our community of stay at home moms?
Beth : Well, although I have an office outside the home, I still bring a lot of my work home with me so I can get a sense of what work from home life is for moms. And I can surely tell you that it's not easy.
But I feel that once you create a good balance that works for you, it can definitely be a success. For me personally, that means, turning off work at a certain time and really only focusing on the family, you know, doing fun activities during the time, instead of just watching TV or, just really playing with them instead of being glued to my phone. I think it's just really important to say, okay, at this time, I'm going to be focused on the family and not with work. I think that when you're a full time stay at home mom and you decide to take on a work from home job. It’s really important to set hours for yourself. That’s one thing that, when I'm talking to our transcriptionists and just kind of getting their feedback on how they, they make their schedules. They will base their work time, maybe around naps or around their kids play time.
But I think that having that structure is definitely going to help, not only with meeting deadlines, but just, I guess, to stay sane in general with that. So, the one thing I know is that your quality of work is not going to be good if you're, if you plan to transcribe while there's distracting things going on in the, in your household. So like if the kids are running around and dogs are barking or there's just other disruptive things going on, um, there's no way that you can focus and really produce a top quality transcript. So, I think one really good piece of advice is, you know, once you get started with the company, really try your best to create a quiet space and create that time that you're going to be able to really focus on transcription that way you're, you're really producing the best, the best work you can.
Minnie : That makes so much sense. Okay, thanks again for taking some time out of your day to do our very first podcast. Of course, it was fun. It was super informative and fun chatting with you. I hope our listeners got some good tips out of this.
