To Scope or Not to that is my question...

[Amber Lyn Seals]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am a student in court reporting and will be changing programs to become a scopist.  I am wondering what some of your opinions are on such a change?  I don't want to do be a reporter because I do not prefer the machine work.  My Theory Professor thinks I should continue on to be a reporter.  She says that it is very difficult to break into scoping without experience.  I am also concerned with getting paid and if scopists have issue receiving payment from reporters.  Any info/opnions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[Kellie Zollars]

Hi, Martha

I thought I'd jump in to answer your question.  I've been using scopists for most of my 30 years of depo reporting - I actually dictated from my notes and used typists for my first year of reporting, then used in-house reporting firm scopists and proofers before computers became affordable to the individual reporter.  Using a scopist is the best way to make good money as a reporter and still have a life outside of work.  I realized early that I could make more money spending the day reporting than spending it editing a transcript.  

When work was slow last year, I edited quite a few of my own jobs to save money, but noticed my hands bothered me a lot more - another factor to consider if you're going to be reporting for many more years.      

The quality of scopists is as varied as the quality of reporters.  You just have to try them out to see if you can work together.  It's extremely important to effectively communicate what you expect from each other. 

I do all types of depo reporting, but have cut back on the amount of technical "high-end" jobs I take so I have more family time.  I can't seem to juggle family and do the big stuff as easily as I used to.  Kelli does a lot of high-end work with very quick turnaround, and that is why her percentages sound so bad.  I didn't think what Kelli described was really egregious, but it is when the job's a rush and many people will be looking at the final transcript.  Most reporters that do the high-end stuff have high expectations, but since they pay their scopists very well, the really good scopists are more than happy to meet those expectations.  

I now have a scopist who lives in a different time zone, and the fact she starts work three hours earlier than I do works to my advantage at times.  Other times not.  So you might want to consider having a scopist on each coast if you can arrange that.