Top 12 Transcriber Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today’s clattering stream of audio and video, transcribers turn voices into text that people can search, scan, and trust. Put the right skills upfront on your resume and you signal speed, accuracy, and judgment—exactly what hiring teams hope to find.

Transcriber Skills

1. Touch Typing
2. Proofreading
3. Grammarly
4. Microsoft Word
5. Google Docs
6. Express Scribe
7. Listening
8. Confidentiality
9. Time Management
10. Multitasking
11. Research
12. Dragon Professional (formerly Dragon NaturallySpeaking)

1. Touch Typing

Touch typing means you type without glancing at the keys, leaning on muscle memory so thoughts flow straight to the page.

Why It's Important

For transcribers, touch typing is a force multiplier: higher speed, fewer typos, less cognitive drift. More accuracy with less strain.

How to Improve Touch Typing Skills

Make it a habit and your hands will learn faster than you think.

1. Daily reps: Short, focused practice beats occasional marathons.
2. Posture and ergonomics: Neutral wrists, shoulders relaxed, screen at eye level.
3. Home-row discipline: Keep fingers anchored; accuracy first, speed second.
4. Deliberate drills: Target weak keys and common word patterns.
5. Typing games or timed tests: Keep it lively and track progress.
6. Set milestones: For example, +5 WPM every two weeks while keeping 98%+ accuracy.
7. Review stats: Identify error clusters and fix them with micro-drills.

How to Display Touch Typing Skills on Your Resume

2. Proofreading

Proofreading is the final sweep for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting so the transcript mirrors the speaker’s intent—clear, faithful, readable.

Why It's Important

It prevents small errors from snowballing into misunderstandings. Clean transcripts keep trust intact.

How to Improve Proofreading Skills

1. Change the view: Zoom, switch fonts, or print. New angles surface hidden glitches.
2. Read aloud: Your ears catch bumps your eyes skate past.
3. One pass, one purpose: Punctuation first, then names/terms, then formatting.
4. Build a style sheet: Speakers, timestamps, numbers, capitalization—decide once, apply everywhere.
5. Use tools sparingly: Spelling and grammar checkers help, but final judgment is yours.
6. Take breaks: Fresh eyes save time.
7. Get feedback: Note recurring issues and turn them into checklists.

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

3. Grammarly

Grammarly is a writing assistant that flags grammar, spelling, punctuation, and clarity issues—handy for a quick polish before delivery.

Why It's Important

It speeds up quality control, spots easy-to-miss slips, and helps standardize tone and readability across projects.

How to Improve Grammarly Skills

1. Tune the settings: Pick the right domain (academic, business, creative) and tone so suggestions match the transcript’s purpose.
2. Build a personal dictionary: Add client names, jargon, and acronyms to avoid false flags.
3. Use Goals per project: Audience and formality settings sharpen recommendations.
4. Review suggestions in batches: Accept what fits the style sheet; reject what conflicts with the source audio.
5. Final human pass: Tools assist, but your ears and style rules have the last word.

How to Display Grammarly Skills on Your Resume

4. Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is the standard word processor—rock-solid for formatting, reviewing, and finalizing transcripts.

Why It's Important

It offers tracked changes, templates, styles, and robust formatting so you can deliver polished documents fast.

How to Improve Microsoft Word Skills

1. Dictate: Use Word’s built-in speech-to-text to draft, then edit for precision.
2. AutoCorrect/AutoText: Fix common slip-ups automatically and expand snippets into full phrases.
3. Styles and templates: One click for headings, speaker labels, and consistent spacing.
4. Keyboard shortcuts: Speed up navigation, selection, and formatting.
5. Macros: Automate repetitive cleanup steps (timestamps, brackets, spacing).

How to Display Microsoft Word Skills on Your Resume

5. Google Docs

Google Docs is a browser-based word processor with live collaboration and autosave—a natural fit for fast reviews and client feedback.

Why It's Important

Real-time editing, comments, and version history make it simple to collaborate without file chaos.

How to Improve Google Docs Skills

1. Voice typing: Tools > Voice typing for quick drafting or time-stamped notes.
2. Headings and bookmarks: Structure long transcripts for snap navigation.
3. Suggesting mode: Propose edits while preserving the original.
4. Keyboard shortcuts: Accelerate formatting, comments, and navigation.
5. Reusable building blocks: Create standard speaker tags and notes you can drop in instantly.

How to Display Google Docs Skills on Your Resume

6. Express Scribe

Express Scribe is transcription playback software with variable speed, hotkeys, and foot pedal support—built for control.

Why It's Important

It trims wasted motion. You keep hands on the keyboard, ears on the audio, and momentum intact.

How to Improve Express Scribe Skills

1. Customize hotkeys: Map play/pause, skip, and rewind to comfortable keys.
2. Playback tuning: Adjust speed and use pitch correction to keep speech intelligible.
3. Audio cleanup: Apply noise reduction or volume boosts when recordings are rough.
4. Foot pedal: Free your hands for typing and maintain rhythm.
5. Workflow pairing: Use with your editor (Word/Docs) and, if needed, a separate speech recognition tool for rough drafts.
6. Keep it updated: New versions often fix quirks and add useful controls.

How to Display Express Scribe Skills on Your Resume

7. Listening

Listening for transcription is focus with intent—capturing words, tone, and context, even when audio fights back.

Why It's Important

It’s the bedrock of accuracy. Better listening means fewer rewinds, fewer guesses, fewer fixes later.

How to Improve Listening Skills

1. Active focus: Silence notifications, close extra tabs, and work in blocks.
2. Quality headphones: Neutral sound, solid isolation, comfortable fit.
3. Speed control: Slow tricky passages; speed up clean speech to save time.
4. Accent and domain exposure: Practice with varied speakers and subjects to build pattern recognition.
5. Segment tough spots: Loop short sections until the meaning lands.
6. Rest your ears: Short breaks protect accuracy across long sessions.

How to Display Listening Skills on Your Resume

8. Confidentiality

Confidentiality means safeguarding everything you hear and type—no leaks, no loose ends, no surprises.

Why It's Important

Clients trust you with sensitive data. That trust—and compliance with laws and contracts—depends on airtight handling.

How to Improve Confidentiality Skills

1. Contracts and NDAs: Use written agreements that define scope, access, and retention.
2. Access control: Strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication on all accounts.
3. Device security: Full-disk encryption, automatic locking, up-to-date OS and antivirus.
4. Secure storage and transfer: Encrypted storage and vetted, encrypted transfer methods.
5. Minimal retention: Keep only what you need, only as long as required; document deletion policies.
6. Private workspace: Headphones on, screens out of sight, no sensitive audio in public spaces.

How to Display Confidentiality Skills on Your Resume

9. Time Management

Time management is planning your workload so transcripts arrive on time, on spec, without frantic scrambles.

Why It's Important

It raises throughput and steadies quality. Deadlines stop looming; they get met.

How to Improve Time Management Skills

1. Estimate honestly: Track actual hours per audio hour by difficulty (accent, audio quality, subject).
2. Prioritize: Use an Eisenhower-style grid—urgent vs. important—to slot tasks.
3. Timeboxing: Work in focused sprints with brief breaks to keep attention sharp.
4. Templates and checklists: Reduce setup time and prevent missed steps.
5. Batch similar tasks: Research names in a block; do formatting in one pass.
6. Limit context switching: One file at a time for deep focus.

How to Display Time Management Skills on Your Resume

10. Multitasking

For transcribers, “multitasking” really means smart orchestration—listening, typing, formatting, and verifying without letting quality slip.

Why It's Important

Handled well, it trims idle time and keeps momentum. Handled poorly, it breeds mistakes.

How to Improve Multitasking Skills

1. Chunk the workflow: First pass for capture, second for cleanup, third for proof.
2. Master shortcuts: Map playback and editing keys so you rarely leave the keyboard.
3. On-the-fly markers: Drop quick tags for unclear words and keep moving; resolve later.
4. Cognitive guardrails: When audio gets tough, pause formatting and focus on accuracy.
5. Health basics: Good sleep, quick stretches, hydration—sharp minds make fewer errors.

How to Display Multitasking Skills on Your Resume

11. Research

Research for transcription means verifying names, technical terms, acronyms, and references so the text is correct in the real world, not just on the page.

Why It's Important

It transforms guesses into facts. Transcripts become credible records clients can cite with confidence.

How to Improve Research Skills

1. Build a quick-reference system: Keep a living glossary per client with preferred spellings and titles.
2. Cross-check: Verify names and terminology using multiple reputable sources.
3. Context clues: Listen for industry hints to narrow searches and avoid homophone traps.
4. Timestamp unknowns: Note timecodes for fast rechecks during the proof pass.
5. Consistency: Lock in capitalization, numbers, and style once you confirm them.
6. Keep learning: Light subject-matter reading pays off when jargon appears.

How to Display Research Skills on Your Resume

12. Dragon Professional (formerly Dragon NaturallySpeaking)

Dragon is speech recognition software that turns spoken words into text, useful for creating quick drafts you refine by ear.

Why It's Important

When configured well, it can speed up first-pass creation and reduce repetitive typing.

How to Improve Dragon NaturallySpeaking Skills

1. User training: Run voice training and read the prompts to fine-tune recognition.
2. Microphone setup: Use a quality, noise-canceling mic and calibrate input levels.
3. Custom vocabulary: Add client names, product terms, and acronyms; train pronunciations.
4. Commands and macros: Create voice shortcuts for boilerplate text and navigation.
5. Environment control: Quiet room, minimal reverberation, consistent mic placement.
6. Regular updates: Keep Dragon current for accuracy and stability improvements.

How to Display Dragon NaturallySpeaking Skills on Your Resume