If you're looking for a way to make some extra money from home, captioning jobs might be a good option for you. While experience is always helpful, there are many companies that are willing to hire beginners.
This blog post will give you an overview of what captioning is, how much you can make, and some of the captioning jobs for beginners at home.
What Are Captioning Jobs & Their Importance?
Captioning jobs are one of the most important, yet often overlooked, positions in the media industry. As the name suggests, this job is about displaying text (creating captions) on videos such as television, online videos, or other media.
Even though captioning might seem like an easy job, it's a very skilled job that requires a deep understanding of the media being captioned and the audience's needs.
Captioning ensures that the media is accessible to all audiences, including those with hearing impairments. Furthermore, it may be required when translating media into other languages.
Talking about the types, there are basically two types of captions.
- Closed Captions: These captions exist on the video as a separate track. As a result, the user can turn them on and off. It is also known as the offline caption.
- Open Captions: These captions are actually burned into the video. As a result, the users can't turn them off.
The process of creating both captions are same but the difference lies in how the captions are associated with the video.
For closed, you need to upload a separate caption file to the video platform or player. While for the open, you need to actually burn the captions into the video file itself.
Most of the companies mentioned here will hire beginners for closed captioning jobs.
5 Captioning Companies From Home For Beginners
1. CaptionLabs
CaptionLabs offers closed captioning and subtitling services for all forms of media. It is one of those companies that hire beginners who are new to captioning work.
As of the time of writing, they had three openings, namely,
- English offline caption editor
- Live caption writer
- Spanish offline caption editor
Your job as an English offline caption editor will be to add transcripted phrases to the speaker on video in television programs, educational and religious broadcasts, movies, and other video content. However, this job requires fluency in both oral and written English, as well as close attention to grammar.
Besides, you should also be computer literate, with knowledge of Microsoft Office, typing, and Internet research skills, as well as the ability to stay motivated and organized in order to meet deadlines.
For the Live caption writer job, they are looking for experienced candidates. So this job is not for you. However, once you have gained experience, you can definitely apply for the same.
Lastly, the requirements and job responsibilities for a Spanish offline caption editor are the same as those for an English caption editor. However, you must be fluent in Spanish rather than English.
All three jobs do not require any prior experience or familiarity with any software because they will train and provide everything to the trainee.
To apply for any job, you can send in your resume, cover letter, and contact information to jobs@captionlabs.com. To learn more, check out their career page.
2. 3Play Media
3Play Media is a captioning company that provides closed captioning, live captioning, audio description, translation, and subtitling services.
There is currently a job opening for Realtime Captioner jobs in Minneapolis. This job involves using voice recognition software to prepare and make closed captions for live and post-production events.
For this job, you need to understand and use English grammar and spelling well and be able to work under pressure, and meet tight deadlines.
They have included all of the job responsibilities and requirements on their career page. I went through the entire thing and couldn't find any experience requirements.
So, if you are a beginner interested in working as a captioner with 3Play Media, you should definitely give it a shot.
3. Vitac
Vitac is the largest closed captioning company in North America. Its services include English, French, or Spanish live and offline captioning, as well as dubbing and subtitling in Spanish.
They post captioner job openings on their website from time to time. So keep an eye out for them so you don't miss out.
They are currently seeking a Real-time closed captioning scheduler for a full-time position. The job is remote, and only US citizens are eligible to apply.
The requirement includes - a high school diploma or a bachelor's degree, knowing how to use Microsoft Office software, and having good oral and written communication skills, among other things.
The salary range is $18-$20/hour, which includes benefits like health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, short and long-term disability, AD&D insurance, paid time off, and an employer-matched 401(k) (k).
You can view the job duties and responsibilities, on their job page by clicking here. They haven't specified any experience requirements, so you can apply as a beginner.
4. Rev
Rev is a well-known American speech-to-text company that offers closed captioning, subtitles, and transcription services.
They provide work-from-home captioner jobs that do not require any prior experience, but you must have strong English skills, computer knowledge, and a reliable Internet connection.
As a beginner, you can join this company if you are able to pass their quiz and captioning test.
As part of the job, you'll write captions for YouTube videos and work on closed captions for a movie or marketing videos for a big brand.
According to their website, you can earn an average of $240 per month and work as little or as much as you want. All payments will be made weekly through PayPal.
5. HappyScribe
Happy Scribe is an all-in-one platform for transcription and subtitling needs. I looked through their website and noticed there are no captioning jobs listed, but there are subtitling jobs.
The subtitling jobs are similar in that you must add captions to the videos. They also have subtitle translation jobs, but you must be fluent in certain languages.
To join them, you need to fill in the details and proofread the subtitles of a sample video while following the company guidelines. If you're a good fit, they will contact you via email.
Speaking about the job, you will be responsible for listening to a wide range of audio files uploaded by customers and proofreading the subtitles generated by the A.I.
If you're working with a subtitle file, you'll also want to synchronize the subtitles with the audio and improve the subtitle breaks for readability.
A HappyScribe subtitler earns around 450 € per month, while most active subtitlers earn up to 3,000 € per month.
This is determined by the language they choose to subtitle, the availability of jobs, and the amount of time they can devote. All payments will be made biweekly and deposited into your bank account.
3 Freelance Captioning Jobs For Beginners at Home
If you don't have much luck with the companies listed above, you can always try freelancing jobs with a few reputable platforms.
Though it is difficult to find work as a beginner, you can still give it a shot if you have excellent captioning skills.
1. Upwork
Upwork is one of the most popular freelance marketplaces for beginners to find online captioning jobs.
All you have to do is create a profile and fill out all of the information. Make it appealing so that clients do not ignore your profile. It would be preferable if you could start out with a low pay until you gain some experience.
To begin, simply search for captioning jobs posted by clients and bid on them. If the customer likes your bid, they will contact you and you will be able to begin working with them.
Payment will vary depending on the customer and the project. You can also expect bonuses, and your clients may become regular clients if you provide them with excellent work on time.
2. Flex Jobs
As a beginner, you can also look for captioning jobs on Flex Jobs. It is a job board that lists various freelance jobs from all over the world.
There are both closed and open captioning jobs available here. Though you can use their website for free, they also offer a paid membership ($24.95 per month) that gives you access to more jobs and other benefits.
3. Fiverr
Fiverr is a legitimate marketplace where freelancers can find work-from-home captioning jobs for beginners.
Unlike Upwork, where you must bid on jobs, Fiverr allows you to have your gig page on its platform so that customers can decide whether or not to hire you by looking at it.
You can start charging as little as $5 for your captioning service and slowly raise the price as your experience and skill grow.
You can also earn extra money by providing faster delivery or other benefits. So, if you want to give Fiverr a try, click here and create your profile.
How Much Money Do You Make Captioning?
The pay will be determined by how many jobs you complete in a month and how much they pay.
According to Glassdoor.com, a Closed captioner earns between $30k and $43k per year in the United States.
Though this does not guarantee that you will earn the same amount due to a variety of factors, it is still a good idea to have an estimate.
Final Thoughts:
Though I have listed all of the captioning jobs for beginners at home, the same job openings may or may not be available when you are reading this post.
So, please add these company websites to your bookmarks and check back to see if there are any openings if there aren't any.
Until then, you can try the freelance marketplace to find work and gain experience.