Why do I need training to become a scopist?

Hate to break it to you, but there’s no faking being a scopist. There’s no good way to “wing it.” If you’re brand new to the court reporting world — even if you’re a trained editor or proofreader in some other field — you need to understand that scoping is completely different than traditional editing. You will need to read steno notes (not as hard as it sounds!) to succeed as a scopist. You will need to learn and use the CAT software. You will need to understand the court reporting profession as a whole. Unless you kidnap a court reporter or an experienced scopist and force them to teach you everything you know, you’re going to need training.

What if I’m already a court reporter?

There are aspects of scoping that reporters generally don’t deal with or may not even know about.  We feel that certain sections of the course are necessary, even if you have reporting experience. Some of the sections may serve as a refresher course, but as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. We do allow experienced individuals to test out of certain sections. Check out this FAQ for more.