Speechpad Transcriber Reviews

Pros

Ample and steady quantity and quality of work. I've been to and through a number of online, work from home gigs trying to be similar to what Speechpad pulls off, but all miss the mark. This includes Amazon's mturk gigs (there are a few decent gigs there, but very seldom and with no consistency,) Rev, Castingwords, and a few others. Speechpad allows you to preview a clip of the audio before ever accepting the job (nice...

Cons

I would say that the "Support Center" link not being implemented would be a con if my emails to the site administrators ever went unanswered or improperly handled, but that hasn't happened, so can find no downside to the site. There are times when the jobs available are either all too long for the timeframe I have to work at the time I'm sitting down to do it or are of quality too low to take on confidently (I don't...

Advice to Management

Keep up the phenomenal job you're doing!

Pros

You can work from home, and this actually helped me gain experience to find higher paying transcription jobs. The staff (with speechpad email addresses) are pretty helpful and friendly. I still like to complete jobs for them from time to time because they are usually more entertaining than other companies. For me, this is more of a hobby than anything.

Cons

First, I need to say that I have a master's degree in English and began working for the company in 2012. I have transcribed thousands and thousands of minutes and am actually a reviewer/editor for other companies. The problem is the inconsistent review team. They do not always leave constructive feedback. Instead, I have received some pretty rude feedback that is not necessarily helpful. I recently received a review that...

Advice to Management

Feedback to transcribers should be checked by management before being sent. While I have received some helpful feedback, most of it seems to be know-it-alls who try to belittle the lowly transcribers. I do not need feedback stating I misheard two whole words, when that is shown in the corrections.

Pros

The one and only good thing I can think of to say about them is that I never had any trouble getting paid what was owed to me; I guess that's in their favor, compared to things I've read about similar companies.

Cons

Where to begin? There were so many negative aspects to working for this company, it's difficult to decide. Most importantly, I should state that I am college educated, and my entire life I have excelled at any language related courses. I also type an average of 70 words per minute. One major flaw is this company, like many other online transcription rackets, pays per minute of audio. That seems all fine and dandy...

Advice to Management

I have no advice. If you guys haven't figured this out on your own, you never will.

Pros

I'm surprised by the negative reviews. After 4 years and nearly 1,000 jobs with them, I have had almost no bad experiences. Their customer service staff is friendly and helpful, their reviews are more than fair and consistent, and there is always more than enough work.

Cons

If you're transcribing through MTurk, you won't be able to see your reviews, which is a con for me. But customer service is always more than willing to answer my questions!

Pros

-Pays weekly. -Accepts complete beginners.

Cons

-Very low pay. -Nonsensical transctiption reviewers.

Pros

I've been with Speechpad for about a year. I love that I can work around my family's busy life simply by picking up jobs when I have time to do so. It's been a terrific way to earn an income. They have support staff readily available to answer any questions or assist you with any trouble you may encounter. They will also help with coaching and tips if you ask them. I recommend this for anyone who has attention to detail...

Cons

visual and audio aids would be a help, but that's more of a suggestion. There is a lot of information in the style guides.

Advice to Management

I would love to see some kind of one on one training or training workshops one day for people wanting to improve skills that prefer a little more audio or visual instruction.

Pros

I started working for Speechpad in February. I found the process of getting going very easy and smooth, compared to all the other transcription platforms, including Amazon and Casting Words. Years previously, I had tried online transcription, and all platforms had turned out to be scams. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is a real site, and I quickly began earning. The certificates were easy to obtain initially...

Cons

In the interests of good balance, I admit that it is sometimes hard to understand the consistency of the reviews, but I realize that different people do them, and that actually, there are often quite a few different ways to do a review correctly. The use of commas can actually be quite subjective, as can the decision about where to break a sentence. I tend to use fewer commas, but I always read the corrections and am...

Advice to Management

Maybe just have a look at what can be done to make review requirements a little bit more consistent.

Pros

I have been doing transcriptions for Speechpad for about three years now. I am able to work from home while taking care of my children which is awesome. Generally there are many different files you are able to choose from. If there is a file that you are having a hard time with for whatever reason you can return it and pick up a different one. There are specific style guides for the different types of transcriptions which...

Cons

I don't see a downside to working for Speechpad.