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GMR Transcription Review: The Highest Rated Option?

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GMR Transcription is one of the larger online transcription companies almost always hiring transcriptionists who want to work from home.

If you want to get paid to type and work on your own time, I wanted to talk a bit about it as I see the company pop up quite often.

As in all of my reviews, I’m always non-biased, I’m 100% honest and I would never promote something I wouldn’t use.

So, with that being said, if you want to earn money typing from home, let’s see what GMR Transcription is all about.

What is GMR Transcription?

GMR Transcription was founded in 2004, striving to provide great transcription and translation solutions. According to the company, they work with a myriad of industries, from government entities to non-profits, universities and more. Simply put, they offer transcription and translation services to more than 10,000 clients.

Right on the about us page, they state they only hire detail-oriented, US-based transcriptionists so that they can live up to their 99% accuracy guarantee. This is where you can come into the picture.

Is GMR Transcription legit?

There’s no doubt that GMR Transcription is a legitimate enterprise, but the true question is if it’s worth your time.



How to Apply

If you’re interested in becoming a transcriptionist, you will want to scroll to the footer and look for the “careers” link. You can click on this link as well. This will take you directly to the current openings.

Many times, you should see a job posting that will look something like this:

As you can see, you will either find a general transcriptionist job posting or a certified translator position. You will want to click on that transcription application link. This will take you directly to the hiring process.

Once on the application page, they will ask you to fill out the basics, such as your name, address as well as your transcribing skills. You will also be asked to upload a resume, so be sure to have that readily available.

After you submit your resume, you will receive an automatic email with attachments as well as instructions as to how you can take their short test to get approved. This short test is required to ensure you have the proper typing/editing skills needed to succeed on the platform. You will have to take this test to be considered.

The Test

In that email, the company will send you a zip file which contains instructions for taking the test. You are expected to read these instructions and follow the directions as specified. The company will not help you with any part. If you contact them, it appears they will immediately disqualify you.

According to people who took the test, you will review formatting guidelines, a sample transcript file as well as the guidelines expected of you. The company appears to be very strict, so it’s so important to read the rules before proceed. In many cases, the file may be poor in quality on purpose to help the company determine who may have experience, even though it’s not required.

The test must be submitted within three days, and it can take up to two weeks for the company to get back to you. If you don’t hear back, it means they aren’t interested in hiring you at the moment.

According to the FAQ, the company is always looking for well qualified typists for general transcription. However, they do not hire for medical or legal transcriptionists.

Experience

You do not need any experience to apply; however, since the company guarantees its clients 99% accuracy, they have a strict grading policy.

Since you have to pass the test, the company does mention that most who do often have years of experience and/or certifications.

While this doesn’t mean you should have experience, it doesn’t hurt to do so. Worst case, you can take the test and see if you pass. If not, you can move onto one of the many other transcription companies out there.

GMR Transcription Pay

The FAQ specifically notes that we do not disclose pay rates until you’re hired. Instead, they specify that it’s dependent upon your “turnaround time, the number of speakers and the quality of the audio” you’re transcribing.

While the company doesn’t come out and state how much you’re going to get paid, I was able to dig around online and find some answers.

On Glassdoor, for instance, the average pay seemed to be in the $15 to $18 per hour range.

Whereas on Reddit, this hourly rate seemed to be confirmed as it appeared they would pay $0.75 to $1 per audio minute. This is every minute transcribed, not worked. In the transcription world, it takes the average transcriptionist four hours to type one hour of audio, so doing the math, if the company paid you $60 per audio minute, that would be about $20 per hour ($60/4 hours). Slow it down a bit and you’re in that $15 to $18 per hour range.

Work Load

If you’re able to get hired, the company does ask that you work on at least four hours of audio a month. They have a lot of work to offer, so there shouldn’t be a problem meeting this restriction.

The company lets you know how much work is available as well as the details for each job, such as the due date, pay rate, etc. You will then let the company know if you want to work on it. Since you’re an independent contractor, you can work whenever you please.

All new hires, however, will need to complete two hours of audio before receiving paid work. This seems to be a huge negative online as the two hours of work can mean you need to invest six hours of your time before you start seeing work.

What Others Are Saying

On Glassdoor, GMR Transcription had a solid reputation with a 4.6 out of 5 rating. More than 95% of those who worked with them would recommend the CEO. That’s pretty good, seeing close to 50 people left a review. In fact, this is one of the better ratings I have seen for a transcription company online.

 

 

In reading the pros/cons and the site, here are a few things I could gather from it:

  • great company to work with
  • steady work
  • higher-than-average pay
  • great communication
  • choose your hours
  • choose the level of difficulty you want to transcribe
  • friendly staff

There were some negatives, however, which included:

  • some audio files are very hard to decipher
  • difficult jobs often don’t pay what it’s worth
  • some reports of firing
  • have to transcribe two hours of audio before getting paid

The reviews only were very positive with only a select few complaining.

Final Thoughts

8/10In my research, GMR Transcription seems to be one of the higher paying transcription companies. As long as you have the experience, I think you can average about $15~ per hour. Again, this will greatly depend on how fast and accurate you can type.

The only downfall, at least from what I could read, is that they put you through a two-hour probation period before you start to get paid. This can take you up to six hours to complete, all for nothing. I don’t like this at all and I find it to be highly unethical. The test should be enough. Then, when you start working, they should have someone look at your first few submissions before sending you out on your own. There are much better ways to do this.

That concludes my GMR Transcription review. As always, if you have anything to share, whether it’s a review of your own or a question, feel free to sound off below.

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Tom Nathaniel

Hi! My name is Tom Nathaniel, and I created LushDollar to help share my honest thoughts on everything money. You won't find gimmicks here. It's the Internet's most honest money site after all. I graduated from Arizona State University, and I have worked in the finance industry since 2006, consulting with multiple Fortune 5000 companies.

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