Transcription for Beginners at TranscribeMe

Updated October 3, 2024.

One of my readers on Twitter alerted me to a transcription site last night called TranscribeMe. And better yet, it's transcription for beginners. You need no past transcription experience to apply.

I decided to sign up for this one myself even though transcription is not my thing so I could get a feel for how it works and write a more detailed review.

There isn't a ton of work to go around at the moment because they have many new workers. So if there's no work, don't give up. Just keep refreshing the page.

Still, I was able to create my account, watch their video, and take and pass the simple exam.

Here are more details on TranscribeMe:

TranscribeMe Pay

The current starting rate is $15 to $22 per audio hour. They claim it's possible to make $250 a month, which puts this in the “extra cash” category for sure.

You can also get accepted for “special teams” and earn more than that.

There is no information on when they pay, but it used to be weekly. The payout method available is Paypal.

If you're new to transcription, it's important to understand that an audio hour is not the same as an actual hour, so you won't be making $22 an hour technically.

The audio hour is just how much you'll earn for however long it takes you to transcribe an hour of audio, and naturally you'll be rewinding a lot through the file so it will take longer.

Who Can Sign Up

I emailed TranscribeMe, and they confirmed that they are open worldwide. However, you must be able to accept payment via Paypal.

They have transcription exams for people who are fluent in English and Spanish.

The Application Process at TranscribeMe

This could not be simpler. All you do is fill out a short form with some minimal information (name, email, country, etc.) Then, you watch a short video.

There's lots of important info in this video, so watch it all the way to the end.

After you watch the video, you can go to the next screen where you take a short exam. Note that if you list years of experience while registering, someone in recruiting may (depending on experience listed and their needs) reach out to you for a different test track.

For the shorter exam, you listen to about 10 or 15 seconds of audio (the speech is clear so it's easy to hear what is being said), and then you type it out.

You can fast-forward, rewind as much as you need and you have five full minutes to complete the test. After you hit submit, the test is graded automatically. If your accuracy is good enough, you are then in the system and may start working if there is any work to do.

And no worries if you fail the test. You have the option to take it over again after six months.

If you pass, you can then read over their style guide. Read it and definitely keep it open for a while as you work until you feel like you have it down.

Doing the Work

Transcribing for TranscribeMe seems really easy because the audio is fairly short. The company has been experimenting with the file length.

Initially the files were just 10 or so seconds long, but they tried it making them a few minutes in length. I just recently read an announcement from them that they will be going back to shorter files because this results in better quality from their workers.

My Experience

Everything is really straightforward here and even though I have never enjoyed transcription (what little I've tried it), I think I might actually kind of like doing it for this company, it seems so simple.

Feedback

People who have done work for them make it clear you cannot live on this pay. In most cases, it's going to work out to be below minimum wage.

But, because they accept workers as independent contractors, the company is under no obligation to abide by minimum wage laws.

If you are good and fast at transcription and find it easy, you may enjoy logging in from time to time and grabbing work to earn a little extra. But I would not recommend this if you are interested in trying to live off of it full-time.

Signing Up

You can go here to sign up for TranscribeMe.

Want to Know More About Work at Home Transcription and How to Get Started?

Despite the fact TranscribeMe doesn't pay well, it is possible to earn a good living as a transcriber!

If you don't know a lot about transcribing from home, I recommend Transcription Foundations – a free 7-lesson mini-course that teaches you all about general transcription, how much you can earn, where to find work, and more!

You can go at your own pace with this and do the lessons as you have time, all at home from your computer.

Go here to learn more about what the free course offers.

135 thoughts on “Transcription for Beginners at TranscribeMe”

  1. Thank you all for this VALUABLE information. I will definitely keep this in mind. I’m sorry about all the problems y’all have had with TM. I was looking forward to doing this but not do much now.

  2. Hi! I registered for TM just yesterday, studied the style guide, took the 10-item test and 3 audios, but I failed. I took it again (since you are given two chances) and failed again. I was just wondering maybe it’s a scam because i think i answered the questions correctly for the 10 item test, however, it took me more than five minutes to finish the audio transcription. it feels so disappointing.

    • Had the same issue. It was my fourth time taking the 10 item test (having gotten exactly one wrong each attempt). I made sure to record the questions and my answers so I could go back and see where I went wrong. I consulted the style guide to check my “wrong” answer and I for sure got that question correct. I call scam. What a waste of my time.

  3. When did TranscribeMe’s payment threshold change? I have worked for them and have always had to have at least $20 in my account before they would payout. I presently have less than $20 in my account and I can’t request a payout because their computer system tells me that they can’t pay until I have at least $20 in my account. I think that the stated $1 threshold for withdrawal is a mistake, or am I missing something.

    • Hi Stephanie, I’m not sure. This is an older blog post, so it could be that they have changed their cash out threshold since this was written, and it may now be $20.

      • Hello,
        Just an update. I just passed the tests this week and someone got in touch with me on a platform named yammer. She is a training manager. Her responses to my questions were prompt and polite. I have not started on an actual training job because I want to have time to go back over the guidelines and make sure I get the system. By the way, it says on my account that the payout threshold is $10.
        Ok, I will keep you informed as I complete a few jobs this week.

  4. I realize that the posts here have been made years ago. However, I had applied with the TM company. I too would appreciate actually feedback so I can use that feedback to figure out what I can do to improve my quality of work. I take pride in my quality of work and would appreciate knowing where I went wrong. At any rate, I did pass the initial exam. I got wait listed and now have a new updated exam that I need to pass. I’m not sure if the first exam was just preliminary or not. The new exam system however does offer grades but still lacks the where I went wrong factor.

    • I pride myself on my work too. I just passed on my 3rd attempt. I was having the same problem,but all the answers of where you went wrong are really in the style guide. Also, pay attention to sentence structure regarding commas. If it can end with a period do it. It’s okay to start the sentences with And. Good luck I hope this helps

      • Thanks, Lee. I’m currently in the middle of a retake, and your making this a little more clear-cut was really helpful. I have a serious run-on sentence happening, and wasn’t sure how to sensibly break it up.

    • Hey, I also attempted the exam twice. I pass the first that had ten questions. I didn’t pass the second part, the transcription part. I scored, 78%, 84% and 83% for the three audios. Now I am not getting an option to retry the exam. Can you guys tell me what % did you score in the second part of the exam? Did you have any prior experience or did you take some training/courses?

      Thanks for reading.

    • I really wish I could rate this company zero. There are a number of reviews or posts which reveal that this terrible Company often underpays/does not pay workers.

      Unfortunately, I did not look for the reviews before I joined. They may provide a service to people who need transcription done. However, they provide services by stealing and using their workers. they set a high threshold for payout ($10 at this time). The threshold is considered high because they pay extremely low. You may very well take up to a year or more in some cases to cash out. The work you do is often scrutinized or the value changed by a stringent and inaccurate review process. There is no checks and balances of the review process. They often make mistakes and deduct pay/refuse work in error and retaliate if you complain. Recently, I was let go in retaliation for complaining about the review practices and they claimed that I only had a little over $7 and refused to pay out and deleted my account. What happened when they closed the account? Simple they kept the earned wages claiming it was below 10 threshold so they did not have to pay, though I was not welcome back. This is their usual practice. Taking earned wages and deleting your account with no recourse is DEFINITELY STEALING. Also, what happened to me appears to be the norm. BEWARE before using this company. By the way, I recall my balance was above or at $20. Which means they had to steal some of my balance to begin with to claim it was under threshold. They delete the account and you have no access to view or dispute the pay when they do so. If you have been used by this company please complain to the BBB and any other applicable organization in your area.

      • It is interesting your review. I actually took the exam twice, passed the 10 questions the second time around and passed 2 out of the 3 audio files, but yet it still said I failed the exam. Not sure what their expectations are on the audio files, as the site does not say one must pass the all 3 of the audio files only that one must pass the 10 questions with a 100% accuracy. I think it’s a little strange that they do not offer any feedback or any “transcripts” to be used as a guideline. There is a company that I found that all you do is literally sign up, an account is created immediately, and you can download a demo audio file along with a sample transcription of the file to compare. I understand the companies having strict adherence to their guidelines, but many times the “style guide” is extremely vague and of very little help at all. While I was disappointed, I will attempt it again if it ever opens up again to me. But for the mean time I will focus on the companies I have been contracted with, although they do pay close to what Transcribe me pays. I will continue to seek out other companies once I have a little more experience under my belt.

          • I actually passed all 3 of the transcription audio clips with flying colors. However, they asked 10 questions about the Guide and I missed one. They failed me. Silly, silly.

            I passed the medical transcription exam but there’s no work available.

      • I’ve seen your review, Janee, on 3 sites now. I’ve read posts by a few other people saying they will reduce your pay leaving you unable to cash out. But the idea of it taking a year or more to reach a ten dollar threshhold? What am I misunderstanding? I ask because I don’t know of anyone who would work for a year or more to get ten dollars.

      • This message is for Janee (June 21, 2016): In response to your comment: ” This is their usual practice. Taking earned wages and deleting your account with no recourse is DEFINITELY STEALING. Also, what happened to me appears to be the norm.”

        I encourage everyone to take a screenshot of your accumulated earnings before you cash out. You might take a screenshot at the end of every work session. This will leave a paper trail you can use to legally request payment.

  5. Took the test for TranscribeMe, was accepted, however there is an up-to-4 week waiting period to activate my account. They must be inundated with new transcribers. I didn’t find the test especially difficult, but I also took a painstakingly long amount of time on the audios. There’s a couple (just barely) audible things in the examples that can be heard if you listen carefully. I bet omitting these will fail you.

    • The waiting period is now six weeks 🙁 It seems they have far too many applicants. But it’s still an awesome transcription company, especially for newbies.

  6. can someone please show the rest of us how to pass the final exam? it doesn’t make any sense no matter how many adjustments you do

  7. Sometimes there is no job, sometimes there is – that’s how I describe TranscribeMe. I passed all the accent exams which is US, UK, Aus, Scottish, Irish, even medical, but when I click the jobs tab, I always get, “All work is currently assigned. Please check back shortly for more work and thank you for working with TranscribeMe.” I can only earn max $20 a week for waiting 8 hours a day.

    TranscribeMe before had bigger rates before. After a while, they changed it to 0.33/audio minute. Well, still that’s okay for me. But the downfall on this site is that as an experienced transcriber for 20 years, this is the site that rejects my work. Feels like grumpy reviewers are a factor. On our Yammer page, lots have complained. They never listened. We even created a rejection topic, the admins deleted it having favored only the reviewers. They can even reject a clean transcript worth $60 that I transcribed for almost 24 hours.

    My conclusion is that, over the years, a lot has changed with the company. Factor maybe that their employee has drastically grown its number, and having had success, and getting many, many clients, which is not anymore balanced as there are almost no jobs available because of increasing number of employees. The changes were not very good for the employees, but were good overall for the clients. They changed their payment method, they now pay only once a week, and Friday 9 AM PST is the cut off, if you’re late, you have to wait for next week. There fore, this company was better maybe 7 years ago, now this is only for beginners who wants to earn $3 everyday.

    • That’s right. This is not a great place to work with. They are all grumpy reviewers. They run the company with bad intentions. I often get rejections on my work before which I did review a couple of times and made sure the quality was great, but still they reject it. I would not recommend this company. I think they just want you to transcribe and reject so they can save money. I’m a native speaker of English but I don’t understand why some reviewers reject my work. So, don’t even bother passing the test. They made it difficult when there were already plenty of workers hired. You might want to try rev.com. They have the answers all over the internet, you just got to edit them.

  8. The most important question is how much work is there to be done. Are the materials abundant or scarce? Do you have to wait all day to get a short audio, or you there are plenty of materials just waiting for someone to except it?

  9. I’ve tried exam twice, and apparently have not passed due to a high number of mistakes made. None of which came from the multiple choice questions as I’ve made a note sheet directly from the pre-exam lesson. The only guess I can make is either due to the circling portion, or I missed using these — when they do a false start.

    • The same thing happened to me! I just took the exam for the first time and I got the same fail message. Isn’t it frustrating? They didn’t give me a grade, let alone any idea of where I made mistakes. I’m very annoyed.

  10. I’ve tried twice to pass part two of the Training Exam. I understand maybe they made it hard for a reason, but I don’t see any percentage or any evaluation that would show me (or anybody) where I’m going wrong. It happens right after the Twitter transcription, although I’ve also some of the the “audio” text correction examples to be unintelligible. I don’t know what they are trying to say without hearing the inflection of the person’s voice, so correcting mistakes could go one way or another.

  11. I passed the 101 exam (it says I’m on a waiting list now) and am now taking the Final Exam, do you need to pass the final exam to begin taking jobs and if so, has anyone figured out the problem with the second part of the exam? I’m stuck there as well.

  12. Has anyone received better compensation and satisfaction with TM to date? These feeds began years ago. If not TM can anyone refer a better WAH company?! TIA

  13. I feel you guys. I really love working with TM but I can’t pass through the second part of the Final Exam. I hope somebody can help us out. I’ve been working with them for almost a year already. I do hope they’ll be considerate enough not to get rid of us just because we can’t pass the second part.

  14. Also stuck – I’m an experienced transcriber and I’m following the style guide. For me, it’s at the same point every time – right after the Twitter transcription – I’ve read on ANOTHER forum people are stuck there as well. I heard a few people have contacted the company and they are assured the system is fine…..I’m at a loss. It has become a total challenge to me to pass this. Anyone figure this out yet?

    • I didn’t get past that point either – I got a message that I did not pass due to a high number of mistakes made. I didn’t receive any sort of feedback though, which is super frustrating. No percentage correct or info on errors made. Did you ever figure this out?

  15. I’m also being told I’ve failed Part 2 of the training module. I’ve done it three times, also paying great attention to the style guide.

  16. I just took the test and the last portion of the test, the Accuracy portion, will score question #2 as failing it seems no matter what you enter. I used a nearly identical transcription that had scored a high passing in my first attempt, but which was scored as failing when it was that second portion of the test.

    Considering the test took a huge amount of time I’m not planning to re-do it.

  17. I’m also stuck on Part 2 of the training module exam. I’ve taken it two times and am thoroughly confused as to what I am doing wrong. Way too frustrated.

  18. Yes it’s part 2. mmm I’ve kinda given up. I have tried various adaptions of the two scripts but no success. Very frustrating as I have been referred to this site by a friend who is doing quite well from it

  19. I have passed the initial exam easily enough but am totally stuck on the training module. I have tried 3 times but I can’t pass it and can’t work out what I am doing wrong. Any suggestions?

    • Kazz, I can totally understand your situation. For some reason, I got stuck at the 2nd segment of the training module. Was that where you got stuck too? It’s frustrating because I’ve attempted it three times and still can’t pass although I take care to read the style guide and ensure I’m following the rules before starting the transcription test. Would appreciate suggestions for sites where I can get more practice.

  20. I tried TranscribeMe and I simply had to come back here to leave an updated review.

    Unlike the above poster, Ponyhome, I only type around 60WPM. However, my outcome was virtually identical. I worked for roughly five or six hours to the tune of approximately $12 USD. Unfortunately, once my work was reviewed by their QA team that amount plummeted, if it is possible for such an abysmally low wage to plummet, to $8.90.
    I can see the “typos” I made because they show you your work and the QA edit version. So, I have one missed comma in a minute worth of transcription here… A totally different word chosen to be my start of a horribly stuttered, three-times-restarted sentence there…
    Any miniscule error, or perceived error, leaves you with a complete loss of time and pay because you are responsible for “clean transcription”. Which, ladies and gentlemen, means you are not only a transcriptionist, but also an editor. $20 an audio hour for transcription + perfect audio editing = huge four-letter word of a bummer.

    To be fair, please let me cite all the Pros, and follow up with the Cons.

    PROS:
    – With basic language skills you ought to be able to land this job.
    – Even if they “aren’t hiring now!” you will still get the job. I was emailed a couple days after getting very high scores on most of the tests.
    – Yes, they pay and seem legitimate in all respects.
    – You may consider this “good practice” or a “foot in the door”.

    CONS:
    – Abysmally low wages. Seriously rock bottom, third-world country, less-redeeming-for-your-career-than-an-unpaid-internship wages. I cannot stress this enough, but I will stress it again in my final CON at the BOTTOM LINE, so keep reading please!
    – Poor-quality audio recordings. You will get clips with very bad sound quality, such as lots of static/popping/audio-artifacting, etc.
    – Poorly-annunciated recordings. These are, by and large, not professional recordings. People mumble, slur, stutter and talk over each other constantly. These are not speeches recited by the president, for example. These are recordings of some of the worst representations of public speaking and/or people recording their stray thoughts on their cell phones. There will be exceptions, where there are clearly-spoken thoughts, but this is more of a rarity.
    – Difficult accents. You may get recordings from regions which do not share your accent or common knowledge. I got TONS of UK recordings despite clearly only checking the box for US English knowledge, because I was trying to play it safe. I had to guess from a poorly/quickly pronounced word and then Google tons of British towns, schools, stores, etc. This ratcheted up my time spent per transcription immensely. AND I watch BBC shows and movies quite often, so British English isn’t as hard for me to understand as it can be for some people.
    – Infinitesimally small “errors” leave you with zero pay for any audio clip on which you have worked. Think: One missed comma in a minute of audio. One minute of audio may not sound like much, but when people speak quickly it can be a lot of information. Having to listen many times to make out the words and then edit them to “clean transcription” means even one minute of audio can equate to many minutes of work.
    – There are timers. They are not visible to you in the browser interface, but I can assure you that they exist. I was almost finished with one awful clip of audio – which had a combo of bad sound, heavy accent, unfamiliar proper nounds, multiple speakers and poorly conveyed thoughts – when the in-browser app told me I had taken too long for this piece of work. Someone else must have been given the work. I lost all that time and any compensation for it.
    – Audio clips are short and not sequential. So, you get 20-60 second clips of a full hour recording, for example, and the audio just cuts off at the end mid-word. Audio recordings start the same way. We, as transcribers, do not hear the full recording. We are dosed out clips to work upon as we go. I may get clip 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8. You would get 2, 4, 6, 9 and 10. What does this mean? It means I can do a whole clip beautifully but that if the word at the end of 1 is cut off to me and I don’t get clip 2, then I can lose credit for my work. QA gets the whole picture. They can make you lose credit for your work at the push of a button for one word that isn’t in your clip. It happened to me and I have to say of all the typos I had corrected (or “corrected”) in my work, this one made me the most angry. I know the word “HVAC” was not at the end of the clip I was docked from my payout list, and yes, yes it does make me angry.

    -BOTTOM LINE: TranscribeMe is not a scam, but they are ripping you off.

    TranscribeMe gets paid by the client to transcribe the audio recordings. You come along wanting a WAH job – wanting a foot in the door to transcription work – and do that job for them. You listen to the bad recordings. You type it all out on “paper”. You edit the 17 false starts. You edit the run-on sentences. You edit the poor grammar with adroitness, cleaning up errors while leaving the original style and feel of the recording intact. You are a transcriptionist, an editor and a language style artist. You are a Transcription Fairy Godmother for pennies on the dollar.

    So, you may want to try TranscribeMe to see if what I am saying is true. I can’t blame you, because I read the reviews, good and bad, and chose to try them out as well. Maybe you will get immensely lucky. Maybe you will have some innate transcription skill which will allow you to perfectly type and correct any recording in realtime, thus making a living wage from $20 an audio hour. However, I suspect this is highly unlikely and I suggest you do not put a great deal of time into this endeavor. Either way, good luck to you.

  21. I just wanted to update everyone on the new payment system at TranscribeMe. You are still paid $20 per audio hour but the payout is now only $1 and you can initiate the payout at any time. We are no longer paid every Monday, unless we decide to click “withdraw” on Monday. I find this is much easier for people who want to essentially test the company. I agree, the pay isn’t great but I also haven’t found a better company! They are absolutely amazing when it comes to helping.

    Don’t let the fear of rejection get to you. My first time every transcribing was at TranscribeMe and I haven’t had any rejections to date.

  22. I signed up for TranscribeMe with high hopes, but it’s looking very grim. So far the best speed I can manage with any accuracy, and taking time to check punctuation, spelling, paragraphs and capitalization (remember, they can pay you NOTHING if those aren’t all perfect) is about five minutes per transcribed minute of audio. I type 120WPM, but the audio segments have been horrible, and I have to listen to most of them at least 4-5 times to be able to understand them. At $20/audio hour, that means the pay rate is 1/5 that, or less than $4/hour. I could make more than double that much by standing on a street corner spinning a sign, and it wouldn’t give me carpal tunnel syndrome. If you spend more than 2:42 on any one-minute audio segment, you are working for less than US minimum wage. This might be a good deal in Singapore, but it’s not particularly good here in Texas. I just worked five hours for $11 (and my pieces have not been through review yet, so they might yet chop that down). I’m feeling very frustrated.

  23. Hello there!I am not a native speaker of English and I am new to this field,wanted to try my luck and start into it.I like to think i have my way around English,still i can’t seem to pass the exam and i don’t know why:( because I find it simple and think i did a good job but then at the final stage for punctualization part 2,3 0/0 and i don’t underestand why..

  24. I feel so stupid that I can’t get a passing score on the part of the exam where you are transcribing verbatim–I’m not too far from a passing grade–and I can’t be the only one who keeps stumbling on this. I’m pretty certain that problem is with punctuation. I don’t know how much of my issue relates to the guidelines, but they don’t address a couple of things I had tried to look up.

    • I have the same problem..i don’t really know how i am mistakening because at punctuation it tell me that part 2 is 0.00 and at Capitalization last part 0.00 when i thought i did great

  25. I just want to give everyone a heads up. I tried applying today 10/04/2013 and I was given a message that they currently are not accepting application and anyone who is interested can be put on a waiting list to be contacted.

    • I got the same message, too. Also, when I tried to fill out their form to be put on their waiting list, it asks for the name and email of the person who referred me. No one referred me, as I just found it online. Does anyone know what I need to type on those fields, so that it will accept my info? I tried putting in “N/A” and it won’t take.

      • Hello Anna,

        I started off now with this site. I can now see $9 in my account. I wish to know at what stage they do rejection process. Is it before showing up the $ in dashboard or at the time of payment?

  26. I just logged into my Transcribe Me account and so far my earnings was reduced down to zero. I haven’t worked for this site in over five months now. Back in December 2012, it showed my earnings and sometimes I did notice that they would reduce my payments. I used to think that it was because I didn’t transcribe some of the files as well as I should, but I don’t know what’s going on here. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

  27. I have worked for TranscribeMe for about 4 or 5 months now. They were always prompt in paying me until they updated their system about a month or so ago. I contacted them via email to let them know I hadn’t been paid. I got a reply within 48 hours, and the problem was corrected very shortly after. I have been paid regularly ever since. If you have difficulty being paid, I would recommend sending an email to [email protected] and CC this one also, [email protected]. All I included in the email was my name, email address (both the login email and my paypal email address.) I hope this is helpful.

  28. I have finally been paid. I waited patiently for just over a month for them to respond on their own, they certainly failed that test so I would advise anyone with payment problems to read the FAQ and email the address listed with the details of your non-payment issue.

    I was contacted both on Yammer and via email, but honestly I was being ignored until I mentioned posting about my issue on work at home job boards and then posted here. I honestly can’t say whether they sincerely wanted to resolve my non-payment issue, or if I was just the one screaming the loudest.

    Over on Yammer there were many others that were discussing non-payment along with lack of response to payment requests, I can’t speak for how their issues are being handled, but there is a post there that looks like they are making a great effort to straighten things out going forward.

    For myself, I think I may wait a while to transcribe for them for a period of time until they get their payment system under control. It just could be that they are overwhelmed because they have a large pool of typists to contend with, but again, this is just speculation on my part.

    Thanks you very much Anna for your efforts and for giving freelancers like myself a way to voice concerns to others. I thought long and hard before deciding to post here, but after careful consideration and with others complaining about the same issues, I think that in this instance it a word to the wise was warranted.

    • I am glad to hear you got paid, Connie, and that you share your experience here. Hopefully they will straighten things out going forward. I know that sometimes companies have little “bumps in the road” but overall still have good intentions. So I guess we will see how it all pans out for them in the future.

  29. I worked TranscribeMe long enough to get to the minimum payout and have not been paid. I decided to ‘test the waters’ so to speak and only worked until the minimum payment amount was reached. I haven’t had any rejections and there is no other reason that is apparent to me why I have not been paid.

    I first reached out to them over a month ago on their Yammer site and got no response. I patiently waited a month and then tried Yammer again along with a detailed email and attached a PDF of the payout page and have gotten no response whatsoever.

    Also, I am not the only one with this problem. I posted on their Yammer page and several people joined the conversation with the same problems, not getting paid and no responses to email attempts to reach them.

    I would avoid this company at the present time until they straighten out their payment problems.

    • I hate to hear that! They seemed like a promising company. I’m glad you reported here that you were not paid. I’ll put a notice at the top of my review to warn others that they are having some payment issues.

  30. Does anyone know where I can get more information about their style guide? The information they have onscreen on the transcription page has a lot of holes. For instance, how do they want you to transcribe numbers? Do they want you to use quotation marks at all, when someone is quoting someone else?

      • My apologies. I’m still new to this replying thing and I accidentally typed in Cindi’s name instead of mine. My name is Kelvin by the way.

  31. Hey there,

    I just wanted to let everyone know my experience with Transcribeme so far. I signed up last week and have already earned the minimum cash out of $10.00 and received it in my Paypal account today (completed and everything)- it does say on their FAQ that transcribers will earn $20 for every audio hour that they put in.

    Sometimes there isn’t work to be done, but I find that is during the day when everyone is awake and looking to earn money. I am a night hawk so I start at around 11pm and work right through until I get tired which is usually around 3-4am and there is always work to do at this time of day.

    Overall, I am incredibly happy with it so far. So keep at it if you have signed up!

    • Same here Chantelle! You need to do at least 30 minutes of audio every week in order to get paid. That’s a lot!

      Back when their pay rate was $30 per hour, you only had to do around 20 minutes just to meet the $10.

  32. I just signed up for this company. I have about 4 hours a day to put into this, 4 days a week. I hope it works out, and I can make a decent wage! Thanks for all the reviews and comments.

  33. I just did some work for TranscribeMe! And earned 26 cents for typing 48 seconds worth of audio… hehe 🙂

  34. Hi,
    I , applied for test at TranscribeMe but not succeeded. My net result is not more then 86%. Is anybody here who can help me to clear this test.

    Regards

    Pallavi

  35. Passed the exam days ago . . . no work available. And if there should be work, how much of it can I get? Don’t see this as a good opportunity.

    • Hi Susan, just keep refreshing the page every so often to check. I’ve been pretty busy with work all morning so I would think you would get some too.

  36. Thank you so much for this review. I signed up with transcribeme a couple of days ago and have had fairly consistant work whenever I log in. I do have a question for anyone that has been using them and is familiar with them. Do they pay out on Tuesday or Thursday for the previous week? Since I’ve already met the threshold for payment I am eagerly awaiting payday. 🙂 I’ve seen both both days mentioned on different areas on the FAQ section. Also my earnings are listed as “Earned as Transcriber” and another amount “Earned as QA”. Does that mean I will be paid both of these amounts?

  37. I signed up and was accepted but I never got the email to get to the yammer site for updates. Where do I get that from and access it so i can get updates? i can log in and of course no work avail but nothing on the site says how to get to yammer site(watercooler)

    • I think they had invite me in to the Yammer group, and it happened probably a week after I signed up. I just got an email from them inviting me into it.

  38. Hi Anna,
    I signed up for Transcribe Me last Friday and passed the test with flying colors. I’ve gotten some files here and there. Today, 99% of the audio files I received were clear and I were able to make out the words. So far, I’ve made about $1.78. I guess it’s because I’m a beginner.

  39. Hi! I just want to share that, I also signed up here. I did that yesterday and after I passed the exam I was already transcribing several files. It’s really nice! Thanks Anna for posting some tips and company names that hires people to work from home. I am 23 years old and mom of a 9 month old baby girl. These work at home really works great for me! I can work and at the same time, spending time with my family!

  40. Hi Anna! Thanks for this! I am excited. I tried to take the exam but the audio won’t play. The play button is color red instead of green as I saw on the video. Do you have any idea how to fix this?

  41. Just signed up and took the test today, and there are no jobs available. This is what it says “For a short period of time there are no jobs available. We are deploying new technology and upgrades. Please check back soon.”

    Hope it’s back up and running soon!

  42. They had an update on their Yammer site saying that they’re now going to be adding people onto a waiting list because a large number of people signed up. You might want to update the review. 😉

  43. Ladies, I’m glad to see some of you are only thinking of this as paid transcription practice.

    The minimum standard wage is $60 per audio hour, so they are offering you half of the industry’s norm. Think of it like this. Would you accept half of minimum wage at a local company? Companies like this are an insult to freelance transcribers. I think these companies are sitting back thinking about how low they can pay, and still have people rush to work for them. I’d use it for practice, while applying to companies who hire beginners and appreciate the skill and time it takes to transcribe audio accurately.

    • I understand where you’re coming from Alasia, and while this is a low rate when compared to the industry standard, I can see how someone might be able to earn at or slightly above minimum wage assuming the workload is steady, which is more than you can say for Scribie and maybe Quicktate.

      While it’s true that there are some other companies that hire beginners and pay more, these companies are not always hiring and are also not as easy to get on with when they are hiring. TranscribeMe is (at least for the time being) accepting most people who apply and pass their simple test. Plus, they pay weekly (with Paypal, which is super convenient) and some people really need that weekly payment. I’m also sure that not everyone who is using TranscribeMe is seriously interested in a transcription career (although I’m sure many may be). I’m a great example because I’m not looking to get into transcription as a career. I am just using the site because I can do the work and it’s extra money on top of what I already earn.

      I do agree with you however that if a person is interested in pursuing transcription seriously, he/she should definitely use this place and maybe others like it as a jumping off point — then perhaps that will provide the confidence and experience needed to apply with some of the more selective, better-paying companies. I would definitely not recommend this site as a long-term career plan for someone interested seriously in transcription because there are so many better paying opportunities out there.

      • I signed up for it just to see what transcribing was like. I am thinking about doing medical transcription and i want somewhere to start to see if I am any good at transcribing and if I like it before I invest time and training in the field. I can type really fast and I would like to do this. Of course the money is a nice extra even if it is not that much. I just hope they get new job listings soon, I also received the no new jobs available screen after passing the test. Are there any other web sites like this where I can jump in and try it out or does anyone know of anything that might help me get started in transcription without having to pay any money I am currently unemployed and living on set income.

        • Do you have an account at Amazon Mturk Suzie? They have a lot of mini-transcription jobs you can work in without actually having to sign up with a company. Create your account (sign up as a worker) and then do a search for “transcription.” You’ll see lots of things come up in the results for it most likely.

          • Yes i signed up for that one recently but have not got a chance to look at it yet.
            I will go and check it out and see if they have anything i can do on there. Thanks for the advice.

  44. I just want to say thanks for sharing this opportunity. I think a lot of these transcription sites have changed and are geared towards professional transcribers now. So, I couldn’t sign up for those. Now I have something to do. lol

  45. I just wanted to post that they paid me through Paypal today! I didn’t put a lot of time into it until I could see how good they were going to be about paying on time. I hope the work becomes more available so that I can invest more time into it now that I know that they are timely with the payments! I’m excited about this little egg!!

    • I’m so glad to hear it Deana! Thank you for letting everyone know. It always kind of makes you feel like breathing a sigh of relief when you get paid by a new company.

  46. I typed the minutes for many, many meetings (while they were occurring) in my corporate life, so I felt that I would have great luck at trying this site for transcription. The first file I got was very, very long…littered with names (of author’s, I’d guess) that I couldn’t understand & did not recognize. It was a very academically based conversation & was incredibly hard. It timed out on me & when I went back in, I got the same discussion. My 3rd attempt was a new audio clip, but was equally as challenging (big, elaborate words…some perhaps in latin?).

    Another bummer is that the text that I’m typing is often lagged…far behind what I’m typing, so I have to stop frequently for the text to catch up. I’m frustrated…but will hang with this in hopes they work the kinks out soon!

    • I have not had the problem with text lagging, but I did notice the conversation was very academic in nature. I also had a hard time with some of the words I did not recognize (names of books, authors, etc. as you said).

      Fortunately though the sound was very clear. My main gripe so far is the timing out I mentioned above. I think that for a site geared toward beginning transcribers, they don’t give enough time to complete the files. And it’s very frustrating to have something almost finished and then get the pop up message saying you took too long and not get paid 🙁 But from what I read on the forums at WAHM, this is something they are planning to improve — extending the time it takes before you time out — so that at the very least will help.

  47. Wow! Thanks for sharing this new transcription site. I’ve already sent a few people over that are interested in transcription work. I think this is a great gig to have for new people that are intimidated and want to “test the waters” of transcription, to get some experience and transcription work on their resume, for “filler work” when other contracts/jobs are slow, or when you need some quick money because of the weekly pay. I might even sign up myself to see what it’s all about. Yeah, the pay is low, but the files are short and sometimes its nice to have some quick and easy work that you know you’ll be paid for at the end of the week!

    • Agreed, Janis. I am really hoping this one turns out to be as good as it sounds. There are so many of these things that seem so promising but then turn out not to be quite so awesome. I really hope this one lives up to the hype!

      Also, thanks for your site, is an excellent resource for transcription 🙂

  48. Hi, I signed up and took the test, but when I clicked the submit button. I got a message that stated time was not valid. Did this happen to anyone else? I sent an email to them, but haven;t heard from them.

    • I am actually getting to do some files today and I have run out of time on two, which means I did not get paid for the work 🙁 Not a huge fan of that. I’m new to this so it takes me longer. Unless I get faster I’m going to be wasting a lot of time here.

      *Edited to Add* — I was reading the thread on this company at WAHM and the time-out thing is a problem a lot of people are having. The tech upgrades they are doing this week is supposed to dramatically increase the time-out period so it’s not as common an occurrence. I hope that fixes it!

  49. I am wondering what’s up. I did a three minute audio after passing (easy peasy) but at about 2:17 it cut me off saying I had exceed time allotted for the assignment. Now I have experience as a transcriber and while I was taking my time (as no one mentioned a time limit) I did not take an excessively long time. Also, why are people having to wait? The video says “The work never ends.” I hope it’s as good as it first seems.

    • Not sure about the time limit, but they explain on the workhub that they are doing some upgrades to their system and are not providing a full workload at the moment. As stated in the post above, they’re a new company so it’s not really surprising that they’re doing upgrades, etc. that might affect workflow. I’ll be checking back continuously (as I’m sure others will) to see if/when work picks up.

  50. I really want to try this website! I’ve looking forward to do some transcription work (I’m a beginer) and think that this website can be good for me. Thanks! 🙂

    • I’m technically a beginner too, having done nothing much more than dabbled in it on MTurk for requesters like SpeechInk, etc. Not sure it’s my cup of tea, but I think I can do it and the weekly pay combined with the simplicity of this site is very attractive.

  51. I wouldn’t wait a week to check back. I’ve been occasionally checking and they seem to randomly come back up. So you might want to just check in every once and a while and see if they have any work available. 🙂

  52. Hi Anna 🙂

    Thanks for sharing info about this site. I joined, so thanks. 🙂

    You’re right – the test was simple and straightforward. And yes, the transcripts aren’t as short as advertised. I understand longer transcripts is what the members requested which is cool as the company listened and implemented it. I personally would have preferred them shorter.

    I’ve only done one for now and it was 3 mins long. There was a next transcription for me to do but I decided not to do it as it was late. I’ve checked today and there are none for another week while they sort things out. I hope they do as transcribing is something I wouldn’t mind doing and I guess I’ll get faster as I go along. Money’s not that great , but it’s a good way to get one’s foot in the door.

    Take care…

  53. I’ll definitely look into this as I’ve been doing transcription for years. Unfortunately, I get an “unsupported browser” message when attempting to access the site via Opera, IE or Firefox. Apparently they only want Chrome. Has anyone else gotten this error message?

    • Yes, you will have to use Chrome to do the work. But it’s a free download and it’s actually a great browser. If you don’t want it to be your primary browser, you can just use it when you work for TranscribeMe and be sure not to set it as “default” when you install it.

    • workhub.transcribeme.com and transcribeme.com are different. if you signed up as transcriber then to go workhub. you cant log in as transcriber on transcribeme.com. it’s for the customers.

  54. Anna,

    Thanks for the information. Although the test was very easy, I guess I was not focused enough and had to make a second attempt. I did however pass, but what’s really weird is: I logged off and cannot log back in. I have used the same email and password over and over and its still unrecognized. Any thoughts?

    • I would try logging in at http://workhub.transcribeme.com/Job/Transcribe instead of logging in at the main website.

      • Thanks you so much Brittney. I must have tried a hundred times yesterday, and thought they had just banished me from the site. Yes, that link you provide worked. Glad you responded. Many thanks!

  55. Thanks for the review Anna. I recently signed up and passed the test(IT WAS SOOO EASY) now I’m waiting to begin!!!

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