Are You Looking for a Career That Makes Use of You Expert Keyboarding Skills?

Court reporting skills continue to be more and more important in our society. The fact that an increasing number of court cases are being across America points to the fact that court reporters will always be in great need. When the witnesses and experts cannot make it to the courtroom in person, however, the need for another essential court room specialist is also in great demand. Workers who are skilled in video deposition services help record and deliver the testimony of witnesses, experts, and police officers who are not able to make an appearance in court. Even the inclusion of materials recorded and prepared by video deposition services still need the work of court reporters to get the recorded testimonies and statements into the court records.
It would appear that court reporting firms and video deposition services will always be in high demand in a country where courtrooms and lawyers are an important part of determining the fairness and justice of our society.
What Are the Important Skills Needed to be a Court Reporter?
Obviously, court reporters must have very accurate and fast typing skills. In fact, the minimum speed needed to become certified by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) is 225 words per minute. In addition to achieving this speed, however, persons who are interested in entering this field need to get special training. Training that will help them understand legal terms, as well as training that will help them learn the shorthand needed for the fastest possible recording.
Court reporter training takes nearly three years to complete. In fact, The court reporting education program and certification process takes an average of 33 months and three weeks. During the class time, students should be prepared to practice their new skills as much as 15 hours a week. With this amount of dedicated practice, a court reporter student will become skilled in transcribing the spoken word into the necessary format for the courtroom.
so the two top skills that are needed are fast keyboarding skills and the ability and willingness to learn other necessary transcription skills. Mastering these skills, however, will pay off in the end. In fact, in the year 2012 there were 21,200 court reporters in America. And as impressive as though numbers are, the profession is supposed to increase another 10% in the ten years between 2012 and 2022.
Legal Experts Predict a Continued Need for Video Deposition Services
If you are not familiar with the the career of the deposition videographer, you may be surprised to know that as many as 70% of the nation?s 50,000 court reporters actually work outside, not inside, of the court. Part of this work is transcribing the videos into written transcripts that can be admitted and used in court.
As the courtrooms across the country continue to work their way through the backlog of cases that have sometimes sat for months, if not years, video testimonies can actually speed up this process of getting caught up. This progress, however, depends on the accurate and speedy transcription skills of trained court reporters.
In a time when some traditional jobs and careers in America are being outsourced to either computers or other countries, many people find themselves struggling to find a career that will be both productive now and for many years to come. Many legal experts expect that the court reporting profession is that career. If you are someone who already has accurate and speedy keyboarding skills, the court reporting profession may be of interest to you. After a little more than three years of classes, and practicing these skills 15 hours a week you might have your choice of jobs in a field that is expected to grow by as much as 10% by the year 2022. It would appear that this is a career that has a promising future as the number of court cases in America continues to grow. In fact, without a supply of the best skilled and most accurate court reporters the court system will become even more backlogged and inefficient.
Starting court reporting classes today is a decision to pursue a career that has a very promising future.