While the excitement Court Reporting & Captioning week has passed, we know the interest in the career is likely at a high, and we’d like to provide you with resources on the education process. We sat down with a couple of our reporters to hear about what life is like both during and after school. Stephanie Groshek is a recent graduate from Lakeshore Technical College for court reporting, and she is the newest addition at Gramann Reporting. We also spoke with Stephanie’s official mentor Julie Poenitsch, a Registered Professional Reporter and a certified Registered Merit Reporter at Gramann Reporting. Below please find their stories, advice, and a detailed look at the educational process to guide you on your journey in this unique industry.
School
Find a school near you: http://www.ncra.org/Education/content.cfm?ItemNumber=8511
Year 1
Learn theory and practice writing
Homework: roughly 9 hours a week (3 hours per class)
Lessons are online through Speed Coach (NCRA Realtime Coach)
Build your dictionary with the stenography language
Expand your dictionary here: http://www.dictionaryjumpstart.com/
Julie believes first-year students should take their time to learn basic theory and build their dictionary, “because when you’re learning that theory, that’s going to be what you build on for your entire career and schooling. You have to get that base down, it’s like learning math. You can’t go on to advanced math until you’ve learned the basic foundation of math. And you can’t achieve a higher degree of speed if you don’t have the basic theory down. So the biggest advice I would give to somebody in school is put in the time in the beginning and get your theory down, so you really have a good grasp of that” (Interview 2/10/16).
Year 2
Speed building → testing how fast you can type words per minute (wpm)
To go to the next speed, you must pass three sections of a skills test at 95% accuracy: Literary, Jury Charge, and Testimony/Question & Answer/ After you reach 180 wpm, you are required to intern for a total of 40 hours with an official reporter at a courthouse (20 hours) and with a freelance reporter (20 hours). Here are some of the advantages and differences between the two types of reporting careers:
FREELANCE
OFFICIAL
Something new everyday
Changing environment
Engage with clients
Paid per page of transcript & by appearance (half or full day)
Flexible schedule, choose when you want to work
Set hours, Monday through Friday
Set location – the courthouse
“Floaters” visit a few different court houses in one area
Paid hourly rate (starting $45k)
Full Time benefits
In school, Stephanie’s teachers made her aware that she will be facing two plateaus over the course of her education. A plateau is the inability to increase one’s typing speed over a certain period of time. This is something almost all court reporting students have to face.
Stephanie saw her first plateau during her second year. She was stuck at 120 words per minutes for an entire year. Then something suddenly clicked! She was faced with her second plateau in her third year. This time, it was 200 wpm that stopped her from progressing for about 7-8 months. She passed the Literary & Jury Charge sections, but found difficulty reaching higher typing speeds while transcribing testimonies. Being out in the field for one day really helped her pick up her speed to 225 wpm, but she couldn’t get any faster than that until 1-3 months later.
When students are faced with these plateaus, Stephanie suggests using resources beyond your daily homework. “I went to Youtube and found a whole bunch of stuff. Moss 4 ACI pushes you to go faster.” The video courses on Moss 4 ACI are broken down by speed – 200wpm, 225wpm, and 240wpm; this challenges you to go beyond your comfort zone.
When you’re looking for positive reinforcement and advice, “Encourage Court Reporting Students” is a private Facebook support group page filled with students, proofreaders, and working court reporters. You can post a question like, “I’m stuck at this speed” and veterans will respond with encouraging words to help you get through your plateau. These resources are introduced to students in school, but more information can be found at the National Court Reporting Association NCRA webpage.
Beyond the struggle and frustration of writing faster, Stephanie reminds herself that “everyone goes through a plateau, but you’ll get out.” After Stephanie obtained real world experience by shadowing a freelance reporter in the field, she immediately picked up her speed in Testimony/Question & Answer and passed her final exam. “Over time, it just clicks,” she says about her whole experience.
Graduation
The average student graduates within 2-5 years, depending on how quickly he/she can increase his/her typing speed and can excel through the program. To graduate, one needs to pass the three skills tests at 95% accuracy: Literary 180wpm, Jury Charge 200 wpm, and Testimony/Question & Answer at 225 wpm. Once the exam is passed, the jobs are there. Within one week after graduation, Stephanie had four interviews lined up and received three job offers (the fourth company would have given her the position if she was willing to relocate). Two weeks after graduating court reporting school, Stephanie was employed and had begun shadowing reporters at her new firm. After two months, she is now taking depositions solo.
Certifications
Certifications are not necessary to find employment post graduation; however, Julie explains why you should expand your credentials and continue learning. “It’s important to keep going for additional certifications because, that not only helps you in being a better reporter and making your job easier if you do go on and get the higher credentials, it helps you on your job”.
To become a Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) like Julie, you’ll have to take a test similar to the one taken at graduation, passing the three skills tests at 95% accuracy: Literary 180wpm, Jury Charge 200 wpm, and Testimony/Question & Answer at 225 wpm. When you do pass the RPR exam, the NCRA grants you a license.
From there you can move up to the RMR, Registered Merit Reporter certification. To be a certified RMR reporter, you must pass the three sections of the skills test with 95% accuracy at faster speeds: Literary 200wpm, Jury Charge 240wpm, and Testimony/Q&A 260wpm.
A third type of credential that reporters can obtain is the Certified Realtime Captioner certification. This can take your stenography career beyond the legal industry. All of the captioning on live television and in movies are done by a court reporter. Visit the NCRA for further details on captioning.
Advice for future students
Stephanie’s main advice: “You need to put a lot of time in court reporting…. It takes dedication and patience. You need to practice.”
More advice from our reporters:
Study legal terminology, especially business law and construction law
Know what’s important to you when deciding between a career in official reporting, freelance reporting, or captioning
Remember that the jobs are waiting for you after graduation – mental reinforcement