The court reporter has a very specific job. That is to transcribe all of the written word in the court room so that it can be referenced at a later time. Without this information, jurors would not have the reference that they need when they are deliberating, and attorneys would not have the information that they need to be referenced as well. Court reporters often work full-time, but those who don’t are usually hired by lawyers in order to perform similar duties. Thus why a court reporter salary is a lucrative one.
Court Reporter Salary
In rare cases, court reporters can earn up over $100,000 a year. The New York State Supreme Court is where you will usually find the top earners in the industry. A lot of reporters for the court will earn money off of the transcriptions that they make as well. Most places that you work for are going to pay you on a per page rate. Usually it will vary somewhere in between $2.50 and $6.50. You can expect to write about 30-45 pages an hour. If you do the math, the hourly salary is one that is going to be appealing to most.
To be considered in most court rooms, you will need to have attended some sort of court reporter school for at least 2 years. You should also try and get just about every certification that you can that is related to the job. The more you have the better, and the more you will get hired. There are also a variety of skills that you should try and make sure you are adequate with. You obviously need a strong command of the English language, and you also are going to need to have incredible typing skills.
You will have to be good with computers as well. You never know when something could come up with your computer, and you need to know how to quickly fix it, so that you can get back to typing quickly. You also need to know how to properly prepare the equipment and software that you are going to be using when you do start typing before hand. Lastly, you should be increasing your education and training every chance that you get. Remember, the better your resume looks, the higher chance you are going to have of making more money per project.