As a portal that helps attorneys to find court reporters in ten different states (California, New York, Texas, Florida, Nevada, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona), AppearMe puts a high value on the work of court reporters. Some lawyers think that court reporting is the easiest among court jobs, but that is not true. It takes a lot of discipline, devotion to detail and precision and a great sense of responsibility to be a court reporter. In this article, we will discuss 5 keys to success for newbie court reporters.

1. Precision is Key to Court Reporting

As a newbie court reporter, you may think that you will do your job like 1, 2, 3. When you go actually to court and start doing your work, you notice that you lack some skills. Precision is one of the fundamental traits a court professional should have as the attorneys and other clients expect accuracy in reporting.

2. Develop Your Skills

Court reporting demands constant development of skills like typing speed, attention to detail and accuracy. While you can take typing classes to improve your typing skills, it is harder with accuracy and attention to detail. The best advice a newbie court reporter can get is to double check. You may think that you did a perfect job but going back into your notes and recordings you may notice you have missed something. So double check when you produce the transcript.

3. Study the Case Participants

Before you go to a court case or deposition, it takes a while to study the participants of the case, be that the attorneys, the judge, the expert witnesses or the doctors. Go online and see what information you can find about these people as it will ease your work during the actual court case or deposition.

4. Read the News

A court reporter is someone that needs to write about any industry and subject matter. When you read the news, you become familiar with the vocabulary and terms used in different industries and can accurately report while you are on assignment. It’s very easy to report the wrong word when you hear it for the first time in your life. Make sure you know the terms.

5. Ask When You Don’t Know

Some newbie court reporters are embarrassed to ask questions. This shouldn’t be the case especially when you are reporting acronyms, names, addresses, etc. You have the right to stop the process and ask a question for accuracy and failure to do that may result in an incorrect transcript. Better advice would be to check proper names before the actual proceedings.

6.   Use Mobile App to Find Jobs

Another issue you may face as a newbie court reporter is how to find a job. The traditional way is to send dozens of CVs to agencies but there is a solution better than that. There is a mobile application in the market that connects attorneys and court reporters. Attorneys post announcements on the platform and if you are a user, you will get the notification. Respond immediately and the job will be assigned to you!

7. Try AppearMe Now

If you are a court reporter, we encourage you to sign up to AppearMe to get job offers. We have thousands of attorneys registered in the portal who constantly post court reporting jobs. Don’t miss your chance to earn pretty good bucks! Contact AppearMe! Call us at (888) 900-3080 or send an email to [email protected]. We are always happy to help!