Court Reporting Careers
Court Reporting Careers
A successful career as a court reporter requires a high degree of comfort working in a fast-paced and sometimes stressful environment. It also involves great attention to detail and a willingness to adapt to new and changing technologies. Professional court reporters are generally responsible for accurately capturing, protecting and maintaining information.
While many people think of court reporters working in a traditional courtroom environment, the court reporting career path also includes other roles that use the same set of skills. Generations College’s Court Reporting program prepares students to succeed in any of several exciting court reporting careers throughout the greater Chicago area and across the country.
WHAT DOES A COURT REPORTING JOB DESCRIPTION INCLUDE?
GENERATIONS COLLEGE CAN PREPARE YOU FOR MANY COURT REPORTING JOBS
Before embarking on a course of study, it is important to understand for what types of roles the program can prepare you. The most common court reporting careers are:
- Official Court Reporter. The court reporting description for an official court reporter typically includes creating quick and accurate transcriptions of legal depositions, trials or other court proceedings. Many court reporters work directly for the court system and legislature. However, there are plenty of opportunities for freelance court reporters who take only the work they want to complete. The court reporting role is expected to grow at a rate of 9% by 2029, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. The median national court reporter salary as of May 2019 is $60,130 per year, making this a financially rewarding career choice.
- CART Provider. Communications Access Realtime Translation or CART providers translate spoken English to written text in real time. For people who have hearing impairments, CART providers offer unique assistance: a way to be more connected in group meetings, workshops, classrooms, court proceedings, therapy sessions, church services or virtually any other scenario. On the whole, CART professionals can choose to work remotely or in-person. Depending on the time and effort you are willing to devote to the job, the court reporting salary for freelance CART providers can exceed $90,000 per year.
- Convention Reporter. A convention reporter often acts as a stenographer or captioner at business or political conventions or conferences. Stenographers use steno machines and a specialized shorthand to capture accurate written records of the proceedings, preserving what was said for later reference. Convention reporters are usually freelance court reporters, managing their own schedules.
- Webcast Captioner. As technology continue to change and improve, more business meetings and conferences are being held virtually, with attendees viewing the same material simultaneously from around the world. Webcast captioners transcribe spoken words into written text, typically working on a freelance basis from remote locations to create accurate transcripts. When someone views a video or webcast presentation that has been captioned, the text appears on the screen as the audio is spoken.
Generations College offers accredited on-campus and online court reporting classes designed specifically for busy adults. When you pursue an Associate of Science degree in Court Reporting from Generations College, you can be confident knowing we have been educating students in the Chicago area since 1904. We have also offered online instruction since 2013.
Our instructors are passionate about the subjects they teach, building hands-on learning opportunities into the curriculum whenever possible. This helps ensure that students are prepared to jump into their chosen court reporting career path immediately after graduation.
Whether you see yourself working as an official court reporter or want to pursue another option, your future begins with Generations College. To learn more, contact us. Get your life started and apply online today.
