[Student Spotlight] Victoria H. says with PA she’s “got the Holy Grail”

Have you been teetering on the edge of whether or not you should “go for it” with this proofreading training thing

Do you wish you could just ask other people who’ve gone through Transcript Proofreading already how they fared, to see if it’s really worth it? Well, now you can!!

Victoria H. and Her Proofreading Training Experience

I asked Victoria H., from Greenville, South Carolina, a bunch o’ questions about her training experience with Proofread Anywhere. Here’s what she had to say…

When did you start proofreading transcripts, and what made you decide to learn how to proofread transcripts?

I started training with Caitlin in September of 2014 and got my first paid work in October.

As for WHY I wanted to do this, I had been looking for a way to work remotely for a long time. Caitlin and I stumbled across each other in a common-interest group and when I heard about what she did for work, I was immediately like, ‘Oh my gosh…this is it. I can do this.’ So I went through proofreading training with her and so far, it’s been everything I hoped it would be.
What was the most challenging part in getting started?

The most challenging thing for me was just finding the clients. Caitlin was really helpful, but I had to put myself out there and that wasn’t very comfortable for me. I’d made up my mind to do it, but it wasn’t pleasant. Also unpleasant was not getting any responses for the first few weeks.

What was/were the most valuable thing(s) you learned during proofreading training?

I always thought I had a good eye for grammar and syntax (I still think that, lol), but going through training really helped me see things as a reporter. Grammar and proper word-usage is important, but there are other things too, things like being consistent throughout the transcript and spacing issues. The spelling and correct word-usage is easy for me, it’s the other things that I have to be on a sharp lookout for, and that’s what proofreading training taught me. It also taught me HOW to be on the lookout. Once you do a trial transcript and then see how Caitlin marks it up after you, you get a really good view of how to be on the lookout and what to be looking for.

How long did it take you to find your first client? How many clients do you have now?

Like I said, it took me about a month to find my first clients. In that time I did a little advertising. I even talked with some friends who are paralegals and I tapped connections I have via my Guardian ad litem volunteer work. Nothing really happened so I took a chance and advertised again on [redacted] and literally got 25+ inquiries in one day. Since I’m still working a regular 40-hour-per-week job, my time is limited, but currently, I have 2 full-time reporters and 2 part-time reporters. Between all of them, I get probably 450 pages a week, which isn’t bad for part-time work.

What advice would you give anyone thinking about signing up for the training to proofread transcripts?

Do it. If you’re looking for a way to work remotely without a lot of start-up costs, this is it. I intend to make this my full-time job eventually and based on what I’m seeing right now, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be able to bring home at least what I’m making now. Add that to the fact that I’ll be able to work flexibly without going into an office every day and being able to set my own schedule and you’ve got the Holy Grail, at least for me.

UPDATE: February 2015. Victoria reports:

“I’ve gotten one or two reporters inquiring from [forum], but most of the rest have come from various and sundry […] groups. The first time I posted […], I didn’t get anything. I posted again about 3-4 weeks later and got 20+ inquiries within the day.  Since then, I’ve basically accepted referrals and I’ve garnered 3 reporters who regularly give me 2-300+ pages a week, 2-3 who give me 1-200 pages a week, and I’ve got about 2 others who use me regularly throughout the month for one-off jobs.”