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GMR Transcription – Scam or Good Transcription Opportunity? [Review]

If you are looking to make money online as a transcriptionist then GMR Transcription is one of your options. But is it a good option? There are many different online transcription services out there that you could potentially work for, so in no way are you limited to just this one.

The question that needs to be answered is will GMR Transcription scam you or will they pay you handsomely for your time? In this review I’ll be answering exactly this as well as the requirements for the job, how it all works, what other people were saying about this place and more.

GMR Transcription Review

GMR Transcription has been around since 2004 and as a good reputation. They provide general transcription services as well as translation services for languages such as Spanish, and Spanish transcription. So as you can imagine they hire general transcriptionists as well as Spanish transcriptionists/translators. They also look for transcriptionists with a background in the medical or legal field, although they don’t specifically hire for medical transcription or legal transcription.

You are probably well aware of this already, but transcription is when you convert audio files into text. So what you will be doing as a transcriptionist is listening to audio and typing exactly what you hear.

Overall GMR Transcription it is definitely one of the better transcription companies that I have come across, and I have reviewed quite a few of them, including Quicktate, Ubiqus, Scribendi, and others. I say this for several different reasons, two of which include decent pay and fair treatment of transcriptionists.

Requirements For The Job

To work for GMR you do not need any experience. However, they do state that they have a strict grading process because they insure very high accuracy for their clients. Because of this, if you have experience you will fair much more well here.

Other than that you will just need the equipment to actually be able to perform the job. If you are serious about this you are going to want a good headset as well as a foot pedal, both of which will make the job much easier and allow you to do a more accurate job.

How It Works

The nice thing about online transcription jobs, such as the ones that GMR offers, is that you can work as much or as little as you want to. There is no set schedule. All they ask is that you transcribe at least four hours of audio per month, but I don’t know how strict they are on this. Just get your work done on time and you will be fine.

When it comes to transcribing the audio, you will be sent in email that has an attached zipped folder. This includes instructions and templates that you will need. What you have to do is save the file to your computer and open the files from there.

It would be nice if you do this all online without downloading anything, but unfortunately you cannot. However this isn’t too big of a deal.

There is a probationary period when you first join the team. You have to complete two hours of audio before you start getting paid for anything. I guess this is just to make sure you are serious and so GMR can make sure they don’t waste money on transcribers that are absolutely horrible.

The Pay

I have read reviews of people saying that you will make $10-$20 per hour here, but what I have found is that this largely depends on your ability to transcribe. If you are a slow typer then this is really going to diminish the amount you can earn per hour because it will be taking you much longer to to transcribe audio that has a fixed payout.

The amount you will get paid for each audio recording also varies depending on a number of different things, including the number of speakers in the audio, the quality of the audio, and the amount of time given to complete the transcription.

I would say that $10-$20 per hour is a pretty good estimate of what you can make, but if you consider yourself a slow type or than you could very well earn less than $10 per hour. But anyway you look at it, this place does pay pretty well.

What Other People Are Saying

I was able to find a lot of reviews from transcriptionists who work at GMR on sites like Glassdoor. A common theme that I noticed is that people really like this place. There are a lot of people who have worked here for years, and this is a very good sign. I saw many reviews talking about how supportive the GMR team is and this is something I normally don’t expect for online jobs such as this. Usually it is the other way around where the company treats employees like disposable pieces of junk.

The overall feel that I get from the user reviews is that this is a place that people actually like to work for. However, there are a few complaints, most of which just come with the territory of transcribing.

Complaints

Some Difficult to Hear

At times you will have audio that is difficult to hear. This just comes with the territory and you will find complaints about this no matter what company you transcribe for. The upside is that for lower quality audio the pay rate will be higher, and it is nice that GMR does this.

So if you are up for a challenge and want to make a little extra money then you can go for the more difficult audio, but if not this might be in annoying pain in your backside.

Low Pay 

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, the amount you will make per hour is largely dependent on your abilities as a transcriber, but this is definitely not something you’re going to get rich with.

There are a few complaints about being paid low for the time you put in, which is why I am mentioning this, but I would actually argue and say that GMR pays pretty well. There are people that have been with GMR making a steady income stream for years and I think $10-$20 per hour transcribing from your home isn’t all that bad.

Not Enough Work 

One the thing that you should know is that you can’t just go about transcribing audio for an unlimited time each day. It is all about supply versus demand and at times there may not be any audio to transcribe, which is one reason this is probably best looked at as a side job.

However, the amount of work you have available will be dependent on your position as a transcriptionist. If you are a general transcriptionist with a medical background then you will likely have more work available to you than a regular old general transcriptionist.

Final Thoughts – Worth Your Time?

GMR Transcription is definitely not a scam, far from it. They are a legitimate transcription company and are one of the places out there that I recommend. Not only do they not require any experience, which makes them a good place to on-board into the world of transcription, but they also pay pretty well. That said, you have to do a good job if you want to work here.

Working as a transcriptionist here is best looked at as an extra income opportunity, or a side job. However, this does not mean you can’t turn it into a full time job. I know there are people that do work your full time as their main job. If you are someone who is looking to turn this into a full time income I would not count on it right away. What I would do is join and test out the waters… See how good you are transcribing and see how much work is available to you.

One recommendation I have if you are new to transcription is the free mini-course below. This course will give you a good taste of what transcription is like and set you on the right path to potentially making a full time income if that is what you want…

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