The job of a court reporter is demanding and often difficult. They must be constantly attentive and ready for anything that might be said or done in the courtroom, and their fingers must respond quickly and accurately to those occurrences. It should come as no surprise, then, that there are many different types of challenges a court reporter will face in his or her daily work. It’s important for any court reporter who wishes to have a long, successful and enjoyable career to be able to navigate those challenges and quickly find the best solutions for the problems they face.
Here are just a few examples of some of the most common challenges that must be overcome by any given court reporter in Phoenix, AZ:
- Listening to multiple speakers at the same time: Unfortunately, not everyone waits their turn to speak in the courtroom. Sometimes there are interruptions, or people attempting to talk over each other. It can be challenging to have to listen to multiple speakers at the same time, because you have to identify who’s speaking, whose voice is most important to record and still make an accurate record of what’s being said while there are multiple people talking. If this sounds stressful, it certainly can be, but the most skilled court reporters are capable of handling this work.
- Difficulties with individual speakers: Sometimes even if only a single person is talking it can still be difficult to make out what’s being said. This is especially true if they have thick accents, if they speak very quickly or if they tend to mumble. Court reporters occasionally have to ask people in the courtroom or during depositions to slow down so they can fully understand what’s being said, allowing them to take an accurate statement.
- Long days: Sometimes court reporters have to work long days without having the opportunity for any very lengthy break. Short breaks are always going to be required just to reenergize and regain one’s focus, but the nature of courtroom work is that there’s almost always something going on, so court reporters have to be “on” for long stretches of time. This can be quite challenging, both physically and mentally, and can make the job rather exhausting on particularly busy days.
- Scheduling: As we already mentioned, courtrooms tend to have packed schedules for their court reporters. Not only is there a lot of work to be done, but the hours can fluctuate heavily. You may be working odd hours, and have broadly varying schedules on a week to week basis. You might even be called in on very short notice to take a deposition. This is all part of the life of a court reporter.
These are just a few of the biggest challenges you would face as a court reporter in Phoenix, AZ. For more information about the types of challenges associated with the job and how our court reporters navigate those challenges, contact the expert team at Bartelt | Nix Reporting, LLC today.