Things Every Court Reporting Student Should Know

College can be very challenging, and court reporting school is not excluded. There are various things every court reporting student should know. If you have been looking for a unique career and love the fast-paced environment of a courtroom, read on to find out everything you should know about the job.

Tips for Students About Court Reporting School

Here are some court reporting tips for students.

Job Outlook

Court reporting pays a good salary. On average, people earn at least $49,500. However, this isn’t a field that is expanding at a quick rate. There were only about 21,000 court reporting jobs in the U.S. in 2014 and only about 300 more are expected to be added by the year 2024. If you’d like to go to school to learn how to become a court reporter, you should go for it if you truly enjoy the work. You shouldn’t do it because you are expecting to find a wide variety of job opportunities.

Choose the Right School

If you make the choice to continue on with becoming a court reporter, it is imperative that you select the right school to receive your training. A good school will have instructors that are experienced, and who have worked as court reporters themselves. They can offer useful information about what the job entails. Avoid choosing a school that has no hands-on training, since you won’t learn as much.

Career Costs

When you graduate, you won’t be done spending money on your career. In order to work as a court reporter, you need to provide your own equipment. It costs about $6,000 just to purchase a steno writer. Additionally, you will need to buy a laptop, printer, and the software to go along with it. In many states, a notary fee and certification fee are required. Many people spend around $11,000 just to get their career going.

Becoming Successful

Professional equipment and a good education are just two components of your success. Since you will be working in courtrooms, you need to make sure that you have a professional wardrobe. Men should wear suits and women should wear pantsuits or dresses. Avoid dressing too provocatively or casually. You should also purchase diction material and a scopist.

Expand Vocabulary

In order to become a successful court reporter, you must make sure that you expand your vocabulary. You can do this by reading all different types of books. If you come across a word you are not familiar with, look up the meaning. You can even download a vocabulary app that teaches you a new word daily. Take the time to study medical prefixes and suffixes in addition to basic legal terms. The more words you familiarize yourself with, the more successful you will be as a court reporter. Furthermore, you need to obtain Searchmaster and your own Wi-Fi connection, which you can secure via your mobile phone. This will enable you to find information quickly during your breaks. Searchmaster enables you to search your past transcripts for relevant terms or names.

Categorised in: Court Reporting

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