Guest Post by Ratatype.com.
The current job market is very competitive and most employers are looking for job applicants that have more than just academic qualifications. Besides experience, they also want individuals with practical skills that are relevant to their jobs. Most companies are looking for individuals with good communication skills, computer skills and the ability to understand, as well as implement, strategies effectively and quickly. If you do not have good typing skills, it might work to your disadvantage. Touch typing is among one of the easiest skills to learn and it just might help you land a good job. Below are seven professions that require you to have good touch typing skills:
1. Administrative Assistant
If you are excellent at planning, paying attention to details and working well with others, this might just be the best job for you. To excel in this particular field, you should be able to accurately type about 60 words per minute (average typist speed – 41). As an administrative assistant, you may work in places such as sales offices, attorney’s offices, doctor’s offices and executive headquarters. You could also work as the executive assistant to a CEO in some large corporation. Excellent typing skills are required as you will be expected to perform many tasks like communicating with the organization via email, setting up meetings, creating spreadsheets and other documents.
2. Editor
If you have an eagle’s eye for mistakes, becoming an editor might just be your calling. However, this job requires you to have good typing skills. As an editor, you may work for a magazine, a publisher or freelance for private clients. Quality control will basically be your domain and since you may have multiple projects with tight deadlines running simultaneously, you must be in a position to correct mistakes quickly and accurately.
3. Freelance Writer
The same publishers and magazines that hire editors hire writers as well. Although some writers work directly for an organization, some enjoy flexible lifestyles by working on a freelance basis. Either way, excellent keyboarding skills are necessary if you want to complete your stories on time. Writers who are able to type quickly and accurately can typically handle more assignments and hence, earn more money.
4. Medical Transcriptionist
If you are patient and good at listening, then medical transcribing might just suit you well. However, to be proficient at this job, you will need swift fingers on your keyboard. Due to the fact that medical transcriptionists’ deal with a lot of legal documents and must understand medical jargon, the position requires special training. The good thing however, is that you can do it right from the comfort of your home.
If you can type about 60-75 wpm, you can earn approximately $40,000 per year. However, for the more experienced transcriptionist who can type more than 100 wpm, the salary could be in excess of $70,000 per year.
5. Paralegal
If watching CSI type shows and murder mysteries is your thing, you might ideally make an excellent paralegal. Paralegals typically provide support for busy attorneys. They can work in law firms as well as government offices and their duties entail performing tasks such as doing research, organizing files and drafting documents. As a paralegal, you will be dealing with very time sensitive documents, which means that time is of an essence. You will therefore rely on your touch-typing skills to work effectively and meet deadlines.
6. Data Entry Clerk
Data entry jobs basically involve entering and updating data in a computer system database, mainly from paper documents. A data entry clerk, also referred to as a typist, uses a keyboard, a data recorder or an optical scanner to carry out their tasks. The profession involves continuous typing on the computer and your typing speed is critical as there are strict deadlines to abide by.
7. Support Assistant
This is another job where touch typing skills are quite critical. Besides having good communication and filling skills, the profession requires one to have exceptional typing and data entry skills. The individual is expected to enter registration forms into a system and update information when necessary. Other roles include providing support to certain departments by recording information in databases, typing documents, proofreading mailings and reconciling records. All these roles require top notch touch typing skills.
All of the above professions require you to have good touch typing skills. To improve on your typing speed and accuracy, you need to use a typing program that has been tested and found to be exceptionally good at honing touch typing skills. Ratatype.com is an online typing tutor and a great resource for people who want to learn how to type better. Practice your typing online with a typing tutor or test your keyboarding speed today at Ratatype.com where you will be awarded with a certificate that matches your touch typing skills.