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Same language transcription rate
Thread poster: Wooyoung Jang
Wooyoung Jang
Wooyoung Jang
South Korea
Local time: 18:45
English to Korean
Sep 14, 2019

I recently had an offer for a Same-language transcription job for the first time.

The problem is that I didn't know what would be the reasonable price for the job and how much time will take to complete them.

I searched and read an article about the transcription rate carelessly because I was in hurry to get that job.

And I offered $30 for the 1 audio hour since I read some sentences on the article that the rate per audio hour costs $30 generally.
... See more
I recently had an offer for a Same-language transcription job for the first time.

The problem is that I didn't know what would be the reasonable price for the job and how much time will take to complete them.

I searched and read an article about the transcription rate carelessly because I was in hurry to get that job.

And I offered $30 for the 1 audio hour since I read some sentences on the article that the rate per audio hour costs $30 generally.

At the moment I had done for the first 20 minutes work, I still didn't realize that how much will it take even though I took 4 hours to complete them and got paid 10 dollars with additional time for revising all of them with no charge, taking 3 hours more for that.

I thought that I had been taking that long enough time to get used to the transcription program and the tags and I said I can do 7 hours per week since I was eager for money with the situation that I was in.

Now I realized that my rate is too low and need to be changed.

How much will be proper for the Same-language transcription job that half of the audios with the pretty much of noise?

Will it be a problem for re-offering my rate while I'm still working on the job? or if that's okay, will it be a trouble to ask them to confirm for the job I've already done (not uploaded) at the newly increased rate? ▲ Collapse
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:45
French to English
. Sep 15, 2019

Underestimating the amount of work is a typical newbie error. It would be very unprofessional to try to raise your rate after it has been agreed upon and you've started working on it. You could always argue that it's turned out to be more time-consuming than you thought, but that would definitely give the impression that you don't know what the work involves.

I would say to use this as a tough learning experience that you'll never forget - like not saving your work regularly and th... See more
Underestimating the amount of work is a typical newbie error. It would be very unprofessional to try to raise your rate after it has been agreed upon and you've started working on it. You could always argue that it's turned out to be more time-consuming than you thought, but that would definitely give the impression that you don't know what the work involves.

I would say to use this as a tough learning experience that you'll never forget - like not saving your work regularly and then losing it in a freak power cut. It hurts, but you never forget the pain, so you do at least benefit long-term.

For future jobs, I would suggest you give an hourly rate. You could always do a quick test to see how long it takes to transcribe say five minutes' worth of recording. Say that takes 30 minutes, and the entire recording is 50 minutes. That means it'll probably take you 300 minutes to complete the whole transcription. Add on another hour in case of tricky bits (like someone has a coughing fit half way through and coughs over the person talking, or you get someone with a really weird accent) and tell your client you expect it'll take six hours in all.

If ever it takes less time, you can give them a nice surprise by billing less than you said you would.

If ever it takes a bit more time, well you only gave that figure as an estimation so they may readily accept a higher bill. Or you can let them know that it took you longer but since you said six hours you'd bill six hours, and the rest you won't charge for as a goodwill gesture. I have found that generosity always pays: the other person appreciates it and even if they don't, you can still feel virtuous about being generous even to the mean-spirited! ▲ Collapse


Christophe Delaunay
Morano El-Kholy
Zeineb Nalouti
Wooyoung Jang
 


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