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Stenographers, or stenotypists, use a stenotype machine to document (word for word) all statements made in official proceedings. Stenographers learn their trade either on-the-job or from technical and vocational schools or junior and community colleges.
Duties and Responsibilities
The most obvious employment of stenographers, also known as stenotypists, is in court room legal proceedings where exact records are needed. Stenographers, however, also do transcription work for important businesses meetings, prominent speeches, closed captioning for television or anywhere else an official legal record of the spoken word must be preserved. Stenotype machines have several keys with letters on them that represent sounds, words, phrases. Stenographers hit several keys at once to record combinations of letters that can represent sounds, words, or phrases. The key combinations are then electronically recorded and then translated in a process called Computer-Aided Transcription (CAT). Depending upon the type of employment, many other job functions may be added to regular stenography duties and responsibilities. The following excerpts are stenographer duties and responsibilities from actual Monster.com postings:
Job Requirements
Job educational requirements differ by employer. Some accept relevant experience only, while others require an associate's degree or certificate in legal transcription, stenography, court reporting/captioning or any related program. In addition to education, some states require court reporters to be licensed or certified. Different professional associations offer certifications; most of which are voluntary, but help set you apart from the competition through demonstrated knowledge.
Other job skills include speed, accuracy, listening skills, computer skills and knowledge of jargon for a particular industry. For example, court reporting stenographers must have a thorough knowledge of judicial terminology. The following excerpts are stenographer job requirements from actual postings on the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (AAERT) website, www.aaert.org:
* 'Graduation from a standard high school or equivalent and five years of stenographic work in the court system, legal field or criminal justice environment is required. An Associate's degree from an accredited court reporting school may substitute for two years of the required experience. Certification may be required at the discretion of the Chief Just