subject: The Rewards Of A Court Reporting Career [print this page] By choosing a court reporting career you have the opportunity to wear many hats. You can not only work in a court of law but write the closed captions that one sees on television broadcasts. Court reporters can also work in lawyer's offices, at business meetings or a number of other places where this type of reporting is required for legal records. It is their job to create word for word transcripts of all words spoken at these locations.
The pay for this job is quite high, running from $45,000 to $85,000 per year. There are not only jobs in the courts but also for companies that send their court-reporting employees out to various locations. In addition, many become freelance reporters and work on call which means having your name at various locations to be called when the need for your services arise. There are also jobs in Federal and State offices which mean you have health benefits and are enrolled in a pension plan as well as having paid vacations. Many of these jobs are listed on the Internet, giving requirements, salaries and locations.
It takes approximately three years to complete the formal training required for this position. All must be trained in machine shorthand. There are different requirements for each state, some requiring notary public certification as well. Some states also require a regular certified court reporters (CCR) credential. To enter the program to become a court reporter you must have a high school diploma or a GED.
It is possible to obtain an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Court Reporting. This is offered by many junior colleges and universities. You will also see different schools offering this degree on line, however you should be sure that they are accredited and meet all the standards necessary to become certified. This can easily be checked by going to Federal or State Websites on the Internet. There are also sites that offer training online but this is very hard to do and you are almost always required to purchase the steno machine. If the situation doesn't work out than a large sum of money has been spent for nothing.
There are different types of the machines used by the reporter for transcribing. The stenotype machine has a button keyboard with rows of consonants, a number bar and vowel keys. Entire words can be typed at one time by striking several keys simultaneously.
The majority of reporters machine is now hooked up to a computer which translates the keys being struck into words. A paper tape is used with the machine but it is the computer that translates it for the average person to read. The majority of reporters own their own steno machine which is quite costly.
Choosing a court reporting career for your life's work is a good move if you like to be in exciting situations and earn a good salary. Whether in a court room, attending an arbitration or disposition meeting, writing captions for television or somewhere else, there is something going on all the time. It can be said that if you work in this profession you will never have a boring day.
