Did you know that court reporters should always be detail-oriented, diligent, extremely accurate, and punctual? They are also expected to meet deadlines, multitask, have excellent listening, writing, typing skills, etc. Yeah, becoming a professional in court reporting is not an easy task. The good news is that with patience and hard work, you can become a court reporter and enjoy the many benefits of working in this growing field. However, learning shouldn’t stop there.
If you want to get to the top in your career you should never stop expanding your skills, knowledge and experience. So, let’s find out what steps you will need to take to become a better court reporter!
Do an Internship to Shape Your Career as a Court Reporter
Well, this one is for all newbie court reporters who are reading this! In the early stages of your career we highly recommend you to do an internship before applying for a job! The internship will help you put all you have learnt into practice! Besides, during an internship, you will work under the supervision of an experienced court reporter who will share tips on how to prepare for a deposition or how to write efficiently and accurately.
Also don’t forget to showcase your skills, talents and commitment as an intern. Who knows, maybe the experienced court reporter sitting next to you is thinking about hiring you right after the internship.
Long story short, an internship is more than crucial for your future career. So don’t waste your valuable time on social media. Instead, surf the internet and find a law firm or a courthouse you would like to work for!
Obtain Certification or Licensure for Career Advancement
Do you want to give yourself an edge over other court reporters? If so, consider obtaining licensure or certification to advance your career in court reporting!
Depending on the state, some court reporters are even required to be licensed. However, the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) offers the Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) certification in place of a state certification or licensing exam (currently, about half of states accept RPR). To obtain a RPR, you must pass the Written Knowledge Test, which is a 115*-question, multiple-choice test that focuses on three areas:
- technology (22%)
- reporting practices (62%)
- professional practices (16%)
To earn your RPR, you will also have to pass three sections of a skills test that evaluates you in three areas:
- Literary at 180 wpm
- Jury Charge at 200 wpm
- Testimony/Q&A at 225 wpm
Other certifications you can obtain through the NCRA include:
- Registered Merit Reporter,
- Certified Real-time Reporter,
- Registered Diplomat Reporter,
- Certified Broadcast Captioner,
- Certified Legal Video Specialist,
- Certified CART Provider.
Gaining higher levels of certification certainly means more recognition and respect from your clients and employers, more job opportunities and referrals from fellow reporters!
By the way, you will need to have a license if you are a freelancer who has just heard about an awesome web and mobile app(App Store or Google Play) that allows to find an unlimited number of jobs in court reporting and not only. Yeah, we are speaking about AppearMe!
The thing is once you sign up to AppearMe, you will need to fill out your license number and type. AppearMe will verify and check the license info submitted by you. Once verified you will become a user of AppearMe and will be able to accept as many jobs as you wish! So, think about it!
