What kind of careers could I get with an average typing speed of 115-120?

Question

I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas of careers that specialize in typing.

Thanks in advance :D

Answer 1

Just about anything that involved keyboarding.

I am a trained medical transcriptionist--my speed has dropped since I stopped working, but at 65-75, I was making decent money. You do have to go to school to learn all the medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, however. The course is pretty much the equivalent of the textbook side of nursing school in a condensed form, meaning that you come out the other end exhausted but knowing enough to embarrass the hell out of your doctors all the time.

The one that really pays well, even better than medical transcription (or legal--sort of the same thing--school to learn the terminology) is court reporting. The typing skills are different, as they don't use a regular keyboard, but most training programs won't even consider you for training if your regular typing skills aren't at or above about the 80 wpm range. The main thing is that you need to be able to move your fingers fast enough to capture what is said as it is said, whereas in transcription, you can always go back if you miss something. I only know one court reporter, and she's been doing it for a long time, so I don't know what starting pay is like, but she makes nearly $100K a year, if I am not mistaken.

In all honesty, while court reporting probably pays a bit better, if you seriously consider any of the jobs I have mentioned, I really suggest the medical transcription. It is difficult, and not everyone can pass the course with a high enough grade (meaning enough medical knowledge) to get hired, but if you can, there's a lot of work out there. First of all, in the US, the Baby Boomers are getting to retirement age, and needing a lot of medical care, so it's projected to be a growth industry. Secondly, English is pretty much the language of medicine everywhere, and you can, if you want, go to other countries and work your magic. When I was training, there were job offers rolling into our class for those of us at the top for jobs in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, all of them working at Western-style hospitals, and all of them for good pay. There was a girl in my class who applied for a job in Saudi Arabia. (No one else did, as you had to be single or willing to be apart from your spouse for 10 months of the year, and we were all married.) The job paid a base of $67K a year, plus bonuses for production (i.e. speed). The living arrangements were paid for at a secure, private compound, and on top of the regular salary and bonuses, there was a per diem allowance for food and other goodies. When she started really talking to the people, she found out that when she added the apartment, utilities, medical care, transportation, and per diem all together (they were all on top of the salary), she was looking at about $80K a year right out of school. Not exactly peanuts for a girl who wasn't married. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that healthcare jobs of all sorts are booming right now, and only bound to get busier, so that's what I would do if I did it all over again.

Oh, almost forgot--there's obviously also the jobs like executive secretarial positions. Those usually pay well, but you have to climb the ladder most times to get there, unless you already have a lot of experience in the industry.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best. With a good speed like that, you should do well.

Answer 2

Depends on who you are referring to? Are you asking the average typing speed of your typical secretary or personal assistant or about your average college student typing their essays? Of the secretaries and personal assistants I know of, they type at least 60 words a minute and, on average, they type 100 words a minute. It's their job so they are pretty good at it. With your average high school and college students, they average around 40 words a minute. They're not blazing fast but, for the occasionally term paper, it will suffice. Most people without formal training in typing can't type faster than $30 - 40 words a minute - people who type with both index fingers and nothing else.

Answer 3

A life of typing? Are you kidding me? I've got two words: Carpal Tunnel.

Sorry, I obviously hate typing. Consider this: the median 50% of income for a court reporter was $30,680 to $60,760. The average household income is about $40,000. So yes, you could make a living with typing skills, but to advance beyond simple input machine (which could someday be eliminated with voice recognition software), you'll need to have more skills than just typing. If you like the courts, there are a number of other higher paying jobs that don't require decades of eduction and a little less monotany.

If you wanted something perhaps a little less government, you could also become a virtual assistant and work from home. Incomes are similar, benefits are not as good, but there is much more flexibility.

Answer 4

Don't listen to ShoeBomb...that's uber-fast! :) Most typist jobs just require like 60-90 words per minute, I think. You could probably find work as a secretary, a receptionist, or just taking dictations from someone. There are companies that specialize in typing up reports and things for people; so if you know how to format papers in the proper manner, then you could probably work for someplace like that.

Answer 5

That's really fast. The problem is that there are few straight typing jobs any more. Forty years ago you'd have been in heavy demand, but now that won't get you much of anything that 50 wpm wouldn't get.

Answer 6

Go to www.opm.gov and find out what other skills are required for an "assistant" job in the Government and find out when the next test is scheduled in your area. Even though you can type fast, you need computer skills and need to know grammar and punctuation and other basic skills in math, etc. There's a lot of typing (word processing) required in lawyer offices. Pretty much clerical jobs so far as I know.

Answer 7

Wow. That's good. Mine is 60 something. I do clerical work. It's not hard to get into. I work in medical billing and records. Call places like that. Good job. always busy!

Answer 8

Transcribing records maybe. There isn't a lot of call for typist any more since most people write their own documents on word processors. I am surprised they still teach typing you seldom see a typewriter anymore.

Answer 9

You can be one of those recorders during court hearings. Those people usually need to be able to type fast.

Congrats man, your typing skills are nearly double the rate of a regular person.

Answer 10

Aside from what was mentioned, you can check into working as a TDD/Relay typist for the deaf/hard of hearing. They have to type fast, because they basically would be relaying a deaf persons' message to whatever merchant/company the person is calling.

For example, I work for a credit card company, and when I used to receive a relay call, the operator would basically relay the deaf person's message to me, and whatever info I had to relay back, the operator would type what I say, as I say it, and relay the message to the deaf person.

I don't know where you're from, but in California there is a California Relay Service, where deaf people call a special number through TDD (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf) . You can google TDD or relay service for more info.

Answer 11

EASY: typist.


How about court reporter, or medica transcriptionist? both are specialized, so they require specialized training, but with quick fingers you'll do fine.