Careers and opportunities in the court reporting profession continue to grow! Job openings continue to outnumber job seekers in most areas, which reflects the fact that fewer people are entering this profession. If you graduate with an AA degree or complete a program in court reporting, there are a few different job options for you. Check out these five different career options for Court Reporters:
- Freelance Reporter: This is the most common career path for those with a degree or license in court reporting. As a freelance reporter, you will get to enjoy a flexible schedule, diverse assignments, high potential earnings, and the opportunity to work for one or multiple agencies. Freelance reporters can work anywhere a verbatim transcript is needed and are usually hired by attorneys to report arbitrations, depositions, trials and municipal hearings.
- Official Reporter: As an official reporter, you will serve an important and exciting role as the keeper of court room records! When lawyers look to appeal a decision, they turn to the transcript and document created by the official reporter. Unlike freelancing, you are an employee of the state and paid by the government with full benefits. You may be assigned to one judge or court room and receive additional compensation on attorney transcript copy orders.
- Broadcast Captioning: A career in broadcast captioning enables you to bring the news and other on-air programs to an estimated 28 million deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals across the United States. You’ll translate what is heard during a television program into captions displayed at the bottom of a TV screen, known as closed captioning. In addition to assisting the hearing impaired, captions are also used in environments where audio is limited, such as airports, bars, restaurants, and fitness facilities.
- CART Provider: CART is an acronym for Communication Access Realtime Translation and is designed to bridge the communication gap between the deaf and hearing communities in places such as lecture halls, classrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms and church. CART providers eliminate the need for the deaf or hard of hearing to rely on lip reading or sign language. They also provide a hard copy of the proceeding for future reference.
- Scopist: Scopists assist court reporters by reading and editing stenotype, applying proper punctuation, and assisting in the production of a professionally formatted transcript. They are skilled editors and ensure transcripts are accurate and delivered on time to clients. Reporters benefit from using a scopist by having more time to take additional assignments.
There are several different options and career choices with a degree or certificate in court reporting. The industry will be experiencing even more growth in job opportunities in the near and has the potential for high earnings. With flexible hours and no 4-year degree required, see if any of these careers are right for you!