Recruitment managers understand the difficulties of interviewing candidates before narrowing down on the right one. The challenge doubles if you must sit for hours, record the session, and then create interview transcription for later analysis.
This recruitment process calls for patience, good listening skills, and meticulous editing. Fortunately, interview transcripts simplify the recruiting process by providing detailed records of the discussions during the interview.
Because this process happens in real-time, you need a qualified transcriber to ensure accuracy. Other times, the session is recorded into an audio file and then outsourced to a transcriptionist.
This post will walk you through the steps in transcribing interviews and discuss the pros of writing an interview transcription to your business.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
This post has been updated in September 2021.
What is an Interview Transcription?
A transcript is a typed record of an oral interview session. This process documents the details of the discussions between two or more people and can happen in real-time or from a captured video or audio recording.
The professional who turns audio/video content into text is called a transcriber or transcriptionist.
An expert transcriptionist can type from 80 to 100 words every minute. Still, it takes a grueling 4 to 6 hrs to document an hour of audio/video interview. This rate translates to spending up to 2.35 minutes transcribing on a minute of talking.
Moreover, the average human being utters up to 140 words every minute. With so much to capture, the transcriptionist must pay attention to detail when documenting a recording or transcribing in real-time.
If you need help turning audio interviews into text, hire an expert transcriber from legitimate freelance platforms like Bunny Studios. These experts work to produce transcripts that reflect the source audio file without compromising on client instructions.
The Advantages of Interview Transcriptions
Documented interviews offer multiple advantages to the recruiter and the organization looking to hire.
Below are some of the pros of creating an interview transcript:
· It captures all the details
When vetting a candidate, you can easily miss the details or fail to recall some of the responses to crucial interview queries. Transcripts record every detail of the vetting process, simplifying the recruiter’s work down the road.
Interview transcriptions are also an excellent way to store a record of the entire conversation for future reference.
· Allows the recruiter to share the interview with other decision-makers
If the hiring process involves group decision-making, a recruiter should document the entire discussion for the rest of the team members.
Capturing the session ensures all candidate’s responses get to all board members for informed and unbiased decision-making.
Instead of meeting to discuss the interviewee’s answers, share a transcript with all the people tasked with choosing the right candidate.
· Allows you to focus on the candidate
It can be challenging trying to capture notes while listening to an interviewee. A simple approach is to record the interview and listen to it later. Better yet, turning the audio to text can aid in pointing out the most delicate details.
Therefore, interview transcription offers peace of mind: Recruiters can focus on vetting the candidate, knowing everything will be recorded for later analysis.
· Encourages better decision-making
With so many candidates to interview, recruiters can easily get lost or forget much about the candidates.
Capturing everything provides decision-makers with an exact copy of the discussion, thereby eliminating bias or uninformed decision-making.
· Acts as a time saver
Transcription helps simplify your work down the road because you’ll capture everything discussed during the encounter.
With this information, it’s easier to revise each candidate’s responses and come to a unanimous decision, especially if the recruitment process involves multiple decision-makers.
4 Strategies Used in Creating Interview Transcription
When it comes to creating interview transcriptions, there are four main strategies to use. They include:
- Using speech-to-text software
- Share with a transcription company
- Transcribe it manually
- Work with a Freelance Transcriber
Choosing the right approach to use from the above strategies may depend on multiple factors like:
- Topic
- Your transcription skills
- The urgency of the transcript
- Current budget
- Clarity of the audio
Below is a comprehensive guide on each of the strategies to use in audio-to-text projects.
a) Speech-to-text Software
For recordings with a solo speaker talking at a reasonable speed and volume, speech-to-text software can suffice.
However, it’s crucial to note that audios transcribed through conversion tools are not as accurate as those done by humans. This means you must go through the audio yourself and edit the document to eliminate any mistakes.
It’s also crucial to note that while some speech-to-text software is meant for recorded audio files, others only work with live interviews or dictations.
b) Transcribe the Session Manually
For recordings with more than a single speaker, as with interviews, it’s better to use manual transcription because speech-to-text tools aren’t smart enough to understand when a different speaker takes over.
This method also applies to thick accents, speedy speech, or technical topics. Though you can struggle with such transcriptions alone, outsourcing to a third party can help speed up creating the record.
c) Share with Transcription Company
If the recorded interviews are in a foreign language, or you’re busy with other tasks, sharing the project with a transcription company is an excellent strategy.
These companies transcribe your work for a fixed fee while guaranteeing accurate and well-formatted work quickly.
The only downside is that the services are expensive, and fees are non-negotiable.
d) Work with a Freelance Transcriber
If you find transcription companies expensive or the service structure less interactive, you’ll love working with a freelance transcriber.
Hiring a transcriptionist from legit websites like Bunny Studios guarantees an accurate document tailored to suit your needs.
The primary advantage of this approach is that they turn your audio to text for a reasonable fee, within the same period, as a transcription agency.
Still, it would be best if you searched for the right candidate to enjoy the best experience.
Interview Transcription: Steps to Turn Your Interviews to Text
Transcriptionists follow different steps when transcribing an audio interview into text.
This section will discuss the most important tips to consider when documenting the contents of an audio file.
1. Do a cold-listening
Cold-listening involves going through the entire script to familiarize yourself with its contents. This process helps you understand essential things like:
- How many speakers are involved
- How long is the discussion
- Are there any technical jargon
- Do you need the entire conversation or a part of it?
Cold-listening also helps you decide which transcription method to use.
2. Plan your time
Once you’ve gone through the audio and decided which approach to use, it’s easy to plan how to tackle the project.
Before you choose to go DIY, analyze your typing speed versus the audio’s length. If you’ve never done this before, you are in for a long haul. This process can last hours, depending on its length.
Be sure to also factor in the time it takes to proofread, format, and timecode the script.
3. Choose the right tools
Before thinking of turning audio to text, you must gather all the tools you need for the interview transcription.
Some of the things to consider include:
- Earphones/Headphones
- An audio player/laptop
- Word processor
If you plan to use speech-to-text software, identify a suitable converter and familiarize yourself with it upfront.
4. Start with a draft
After you’ve gathered all the tools you need, embark on the transcription work.
Start simple. Type up everything you can hear from the audio.
Remember, transcribe the audio in bits to maintain concentration and reduce burnout.
5. Use transcription tricks
Cutting corners using strategies like auto-completion or auto-correction can go a long way in eliminating typing mistakes and speeding up the transcription process.
You can also use tags like S1, S2, and S3 to denote speaker one, speaker two, and speaker three and fill in the names later.
6. Go through your transcript
After creating a draft, be sure to edit it and place all the time codes properly. Play the whole discussion once more while going through your script to confirm accuracy.
Proofreading helps you fill any blanks and include all the left-out details making your script even easier to understand.
7. Format the transcript
Formatting is an integral part of interview transcription. Without it, a reader can hardly decipher the contents of your script.
Formatting the script involves:
- Using a reader-friendly font
- Dividing the text into paragraphs
- Including page numbers
- Adding headers
- Punctuating the script
Once you’ve formatted the transcript, please share it with other decision-makers to get everyone on the same page.
Sharing the transcription simplifies the decision-making process when it’s time to pick the winning candidate.
Interview Transcription: Hire a Transcriber from Bunny Studios
Often, recruiters are busy searching for qualified candidates and have limited time to spare on transcription work.
Or maybe, they have all the time, but they’ve never handled such a task before, and everything sounds too technical.
Instead of struggling with an interview transcription, outsource the work to a freelancer from Bunny Studios. This platform exposes you to a team of qualified transcriptions regardless of the language.
In addition, Bunny studios vets all its transcribers and has a quality control team that ensures freelancers tailor projects to suit client needs.
Closing Remarks
An interview transcription simplifies the recruitment process. It gives access to crucial vetting data that decision-makers can use to point the finger at the right candidate.
If you choose to outsource, be sure to work with a talented transcriptionist from a legitimate freelance website or transcription agency. Remember to request samples of previous works to gauge a transcriber’s experience.
Also, be sure to prepare all essential project instructions upfront. Explaining everything you need prompts transcribers to tailor the script to your needs.
Ready to outsource your interview transcription?
Submit the details to Bunny Studio, view samples from various freelancers, and hire a transcriber to help you with audio-to-text work.
Your time is valuable, and we know it!
