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How To Make Money With Rev as Part-time Transcriptionist – A Full Guide

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Last Updated on 2 years by Go Review Rite

Rev.com is a freelance platform for transcribers, captioners and translators. It is a platform where you get to earn by helping transcribe, translate or caption audio or video files.

Table Of Contents

What Do I Do on Rev?

As a freelancer on Rev, there are 4 available positions which you can offer your services and get paid and they are: 

  • A transcriptionist
  • A captioner
  • A Subtitler
  • A Translator
What Do I Do on Rev?

Just so that you don’t go checking the dictionary about these terms, here is exactly what each of them means.

A transcriptionist simply converts spoken English audio files into a written document.

So you are given a recorded message and you are to produce it in a text format as accurate as possible.

While there may be a lot of tools out there that utilizes artificial intelligence to transcribe audio, the accuracy cannot be compared to that done by a transcriptionist.

A captioner transcribes spoken English and adds captions to the video.

A subtitler translates spoken words on a screen and adds them as subtitles to the video.

The main work here is the timing of the transcribed words to fit the video.

The translator as the name implies simply means translating a particular text to another language.

The process for all of this is very easy.

The client uploads a video or audio file to the rev platform and then the algorithm assigns the file to you for either transcription or translation.

So you typically sit on your computer (preferably in a calm and distraction-free environment so that you can concentrate) listening to the audio and typing it out.

Seems easy right? But here is the downside.

Most of the time, you will be dealing with poor audio quality or probably audios where the speaker has difficulty hearing the accent and sometimes, multiple voices talking over one another and you are asked to transcribe a particular voice.

Now you see.

However, it gets really interesting when you get used to the ropes.

However, if you are not a calm and patient person, rev is definitely not for you.

Rev.com How Apply & Get In?

If you speak English fluently, you have a computer and you have a sound knowledge of basic Grammar, you are definitely qualified to apply.

Some other skills that may be of advantage to you are

  • The ability to pay attention to detail
  • The ability to hear spoken words clearly and accurately.

The process of becoming a freelancer on Rev.com can be grouped into 3 stages which are

The Application

To get started, you can visit rev.com and locate the freelancer’s registration form where you will need to fill out your basic information.

rev freelancer's registration form

It really doesn’t matter what country you are from as you are not restricted, all you need is your name and email address.

The Tests

After inputting your basic info in the form and form, you will be required to go through a series of test 

 In your general information and choose “transcriptionist” or “captioner,” the site will take you to a series of three tests to qualify you.

Test 1

The first test is a verb form test. This tests your ability to differentiate between present, past and future tenses.

rev application test

Well, this is going to be a stroll in the park if you pass high school English.

The Second Test

This is a word choice test with the aim of making sure you know words that sound alike but have different spelling and different meanings.

For instance, the difference between die and dye, sit and seat e.t.c.

Here you go through a couple of fill in the blank sentences where you are required to make use of the right words that fit into the contest of the sentence.

The Third and Final Test

The last test is a sentence structure test and deals with that part of English that involves punctuation and capitalization rules.

Once you pass all the tests, you can then move on to step 3.

The Style Guide

After the test, you are presented with this guide which is basically a set of instructions that will aim you in your freelance journey on rev.com

It is a resource file that you can always refer to in the future.

The Sample Assignment

This is part 2 of the style guide where you will be tested on your ability to implement what you were taught.

Here you will be asked to transcribe a recording or caption a video depending on what you chose earlier.

Luckily for you, this test isn’t timed, so you got as long as you want to transcribe it.

Once you’ve gone through all the steps and hit submit, you should hear from the company with acceptance or denial in 1-2 days.

If you don’t get accepted, you can reapply after 45 Days.

Rev Review – Is Rev a Scam?

How To Make Money With Rev

It’s quite easy these days to tag a company as a scam with the use of social media.

However, rev is not a scam.

Although most of their employees are freelance independent contractors, Rev has a landed base office in both San Francisco and Austin.

Also, rev won the best place to work, according to their “In the News” page and the Editor’s Choice Award from PCMAG in the year 2018.

With a lot of big brands collaborating with them and a well developed social media following, it will be false to refer to them as a scam.

So do not get scared.

Pros of Murf.ai
  • It is not a full time job or a job that requires your attention 24/7 so you still get the opportunity to check out other freelance opportunities available on the web.
  • It pays really well if you are fluent in multiple major languages
  • Its difficulty level is quite reduced because the algorithm does not just assign a job to you, instead,
  • it allows you to choose from a collection of available jobs.
Cons of Using Rev
  • According to user reviews, their support is not that great, so you may not get attended to on time if you have any complaint.
  • Your qualifications don’t count when it comes to rev as your pay is strictly determined by your speed and accuracy.
  • In built test speed level to make decent money.
  • You can’t take rev as your full time job due to inconsistency in the flow of jobs.

Rev Captioning vs Transcribing Which One Pays Better? 

Rev Captioning vs Transcribing Which One Pays Better? 

Well, it clearly depends on your skills, while captioning go a little more advanced compared to transcribing.

Captioners are actually paid more on rev to transcribers.

How Much Money Can You Make In 1 Hour On Rev.com?

As you may come to discover later on in this article, your pay clearly depends on your level and your speed to accuracy ratio.

The higher your rank, the higher paid jobs that are assigned to you. Also, you are not being paid per time spent on a project but the length of the project.

So if Mr A spends 15 minutes transcribing 2 minutes of audio and you spend 3 minutes on the same work, you get paid equally while you get a higher rank boost for doing it faster.

However, we shall be looking at the average rates so that you can have an idea of what you can earn on the platform.

Let’s take this instance.

If you are a transcriptionist on rev, the payment rate ranges from $0.24 to $0.9 per audio minute.

How Much Money Can You Make In 1 Hour On Rev.com?

Which may amount to $14.4 to $54 per hour.

For captioners, the pay is different as you are expected to earn around $0.45 to $0.75 per audio minute.

This equally translates to $27 to $45 per hour. Now let’s see the data that talks about how people are able to transcribe in an hour.

According to rev, people are able to transcribe or caption about 20 minutes of audio or video per hour, which equates to about $8.00 – $15.00 per hour.

It’s not that great though but considering the fact that you are not engaging in manual labour and you get to do it while staying at home, it is a good start.

However, due to competition in the platform, do not expect assignments all the time especially when you are just starting out.  

An average earning of about $240 per month is recorded with the big guys in the industry earning about $1500 per month.

So if you ask me, it is a great source of extra income but it can’t really be your real income and you can’t take it as your full-time job.

But when it comes to additional hustle or a side income, it is perfectly fine.

Now let’s dive into the translators’ pay.

If you are really great in multiple languages (major language especially), you can apply as a translator or captioner.

live caption multiple languages

You get paid quite well for this as the competition is relatively low.

Translators earn as high as $5 to $8 per every audio minute they translate or $0.05 to $0.08 per word.

Currently, there is no data from rev as to how much translators make per hour but from third-party statistics companies like Lionbridge, we can deduce that translators earn as high as $36 per hour.

Now, this is quite sustainable.

Rev.Com Freelance Ranking / Classifications.

Rev.Com Freelance Ranking / Classifications.

Just like other online work or freelancing platforms out there like Fiverr, employees are always grouped into categories that demote their level of commitment and experience on the platform.

So why are you on the site to get some jobs and earn money, you also want to build your ranking so as to attract a higher number of clients and even high paying clients.

So, it typically works like this, the more your performance, the higher you grow.

Fortunately enough, you can’t buy your way up the rankings as everyone is giving an equal playing field and you’re promoting from rank to rank clearly depends on:

  • Your skill expertise
  • How hard you work
  • How many jobs or assignments you are able to complete
  • How fast you deliver.

The good news is that, as you climb up these rankings, your earnings tend to increase tremendously as you are entrusted with more tasking and of course higher-paying assignments.

So now, let’s dive into the various levels or rankings on rev and what they entail.

Rookie Level

The rookies level is the lowest level on rev and it gives you the right to access projects that are only 30 minutes or less in length.

This is to ensure you do not pick a task that is greater than your capacity as it may take you up to 30 minutes to even transcribe correctly a 5 minutes video when you are just starting out.

So it is kind of more of an advantage than a limitation for beginners.

So of the things you also stand to gain as a rookie is that there will be an expert captioner or transcriptionist going through all your works to rate them and give you some useful feedback that will help improve your skills.

You get 

  • An accuracy rating
  • Formatting rating
  • On Time percentage

Revver Level

After the rookie stage comes the Revver stage or level.

This is where you get a 25% bump in your pay as you are viewed as no longer a novice.

Think about it, 25% income raise is not something that you come by lucky and people always work hard at the rookie-level so they get promoted to this level.

Increased pay will be quite nice but it doesn’t stop there as you will also be granted access to longer files to transcribe which then means you can earn more at a higher rate.

Your works still get monitored and reviewed by editors at this stage.

However, if you are out there to just make some quick money, this may be the highest level you climb to as the next level takes a lot of personal commitment.

Revver+ Level

This is the highest level you can get to on the rev platform and to get to this level, 

the requirements would have transcribed over 1200 minutes of the media file which is equivalent to 20 hours.

Furthermore, these hours will have to have an accuracy of at least 4.6 on average on both the accuracy and formatting scale.

Also, you need a 90% on-time submission percentage to qualify for this level with a weekly commitment of at least 15 jobs.

Now you see the high level of commitment needed to get on this level.

This is for people who really take it as a job and are ready to dedicate the time to develop their skills and portfolio.

This opens you up to high paying and quality files compared to other ranks or levels which then translates to easier and more money for you.

How Do I Get Paid On Rev.com 

How Do I Get Paid On Rev.com 

Rev pays through PayPal, so if PayPal is accepted in your country, you can receive your payments.

Conclusion

So that is it guys, if you think it is a good fit for you, you can definitely give it a try.

When summed up, it could really give you a nice side income but hardly as anyone being able to make a full-time income on rev.

2 thoughts on “How To Make Money With Rev as Part-time Transcriptionist – A Full Guide”

  1. Pingback: 5 Transcription Jobs that Pay $20/Hour From Home Worldwide (NO Experience)

  2. Pingback: Murf.ai Review - Best Text to Speech A. I Voice Software [Natural Human Voice]

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