The concentration exhibited on the face of the court reporter is proof of his or her dedication to the task at hand. He uses a small desk located just in front of the judge’s bench. He uses a special machine, not a regular typist keyboard, to record all words spoken during a trial. He is well educated, knowledgeable and he and others like him deserve the high court reporter salaries they are earning.
She, and others like her are well educated, dedicated and provide meticulous attention to every detail of the court proceedings. Typically, a court reporter in the USA earns slightly fewer than fifty thousand dollars a year. This is an average that takes geographical location, industry and size of the company owned by her employer.
There are a variety of positions open to graduates of the court reporting course of study. In addition to those jobs performed in the court system, the court reporter can work for a lawyer taking depositions and recording other meetings as needed. Creating the closed captions for television shows is a highly paid profession. This may require extra education.
What does a person do to become qualified for a job as a court reporter? She goes to school for two and a half years, learning a new language used only by court reporters and how to use the steno machine. After graduation the next step is to pass a state board exam. After successfully passing, she can be licensed to work as a courtroom reporter.
A steno machine is quite different from the ordinary keyboard. It has only twenty two keys. It’s like learning a new language. The proficient court reporter can record up to two hundred twenty five words a minute after graduation. Every detail must be perfectly interpreted. There may be unfamiliar terminology used such as medical, scientific or legalese for example. After finishing a case, the reporter signs a document to verify the truth of the document.
The cable news channel, CNN reported the expected salary of a court reporter to be from $50,000 for a beginner to $100,000 for an experienced and business savvy freelancer. Superior qualifications are required. The freelancer may earn more money, however, he gives up benefits, paid vacations and other perks that the salaried reporter gets as part of his employment pay package. The freelancer has expenses that eat up some of that salary as well. He may need special equipment or an agency to direct him to jobs.
The court systems on federal and state levels require the continuous services of the official court reporter. Trials and hearings must be carefully reported. A job such as this has regular hours, a good salary and benefits worth a great deal. The freelancer, conversely, is self-employed, and pays his own taxes and saves his own retirement fund and has no paid vacations. He may work with a lawyer to take depositions and record other meetings.
A freelancer may be hired to attend and record board meetings in the corporate world. Deaf and other special needs students may require such services to help interpret classroom lectures. An especially high paying job is doing the closed caption services for television shows. The person who qualifies for this job is highly compensated.
Beginning court reporter salaries start at $50,000 per year. When they have five years experience their salary increases to $70,000 and on up to $90,000 with additional experience. Thousands of court reporters in the US are employed in these positions. It is a highly skilled job requiring meticulous attention to detail. They are paid accordingly for their expertise.
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