Scoping: A Work-at-Home Opportunity

First of all, scoping is not scoping for men. If that were the case, I'd have started that job as a teenager!!

Scoping is editing court reporters' transcripts from raw stage to nearly finished stage and readying them for the proofreader. This is not transcribing notes or typing things out longhand.

If you are an educated, disciplined and detail-oriented individual, this may be the job for you. I started an on-line school for scoping and completed it within two months. And that was while I was working a part-time job. The total cost for my education and software program were under $5,000. That isn't too bad considering what most college degrees are costing these days. And, like I said, I was done with my schooling within two months.

We use a special software program called a CAT program. It is computer-assisted transcription. When you see how these programs work you won't ever want to do any editing on Microsoft Word. A court reporter hires you to edit their court transcripts or depositions. Everything is transferred via the Internet. You can work for either free-lance reporters or officials, who work within the court systems.

Court reporters write on a stenographic machine with an abbreviated alphabet. Scopists learn that alphabet because we have to be able to read it. That, to me, was the easy part.

The CAT program then takes 90% of that abbreviated language and formats it into readable, double-spaced text.

Once you've been hired to work with a court reporter, they will send you the files from the work that they have completed for attorneys. All of the work that I have been doing has been with audio. So I listen to the audio while reading and editing the text portion.
The software program I happen to use is Advantage's Total Eclipse, whatever the latest version is, is preferable.