Vervoe

How To Hire A Typist

Admin & Office

Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Typist hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.

What does a Typist do?

A Typist is a professional responsible for typing documents and other written materials to a digital platform. This includes transcribing audio or video recordings, reports, minutes of meeting, and other correspondences.

Day to day tasks of a Typist

  • Maintain office supplies are in stock and request for new supplies when low in stock.
  • Type documents from audio and video recordings, dictation, written documents, and other media.
  • Attend meetings to record the minutes.
  • Prepare drafts of documents, spreadsheets, reports, and other written material.
  • Maintain the physical and digital documents filing system.
  • Proofread and edit the typed documents to ensure accuracy.
  • Operate office equipment including scanner, printer, and photocopy machine.
Recruitment guide role overview illustration

A Typist’s primary responsibility is to type documents from written form into digital form. These include recordings, minutes of the meetings, and other notes. Because of this, they must have a very keen eye to details and fast typing abilities.

Role definition illustration

Typist Hiring Process

Build the Ideal Candidate Profile​

To find the best person for the role, you need to understand what the role involves. You can complete this with the hiring manager to define the role, its contribution, and the skills needed.

Write A Job Description Based On Skills

Once you understand the requirements for the role, you’ll need to understand the skills for success. You can then write an effective job description to promote your role.

Selecting The Ideal Candidate

See which applicants have the right skills for the role. Send all your applicants a Vervoe skills assessment from the expert library, or customize one for your organization.

Interview Top Performers

Your skills assessment results will identify top performers. Focus your time on interviewing those that have met or exceeded your requirements. Assessment results will also help guide which skill areas to focus on in the interview.

Making An Offer

Once you assess your candidates against these skills, you’re ready to offer the top performer(s). You should base your offer on the value that the candidate would bring to your team and your business as a whole. It is also important to ensure your compensation and benefits packages are competitive in the industry and help you attract and retain the top talent.

Admin Office sector illustration

Skills needed for a Typist

A Typist must be very detail-oriented as they will by typing in documents into a digital form. Typists will handle several forms of materials–audio or video recordings, presentation, handwritten notes, as well as live meetings. It is imperative they possess a fast typing ability with accuracy.

  • Attention to Detail
  • Typing
  • Following Directions

How to write a Typist job description

Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position. Here’s what to include in your Typist job description:

Job Title
What position are you hiring for?
Summary
What makes your company unique? What would it be like to work for you?
Responsibilities
An overview of the role’s day-to-day activities, and how the position contributes to the organization
Requirements
Skills a candidate must have to perform the job successfully
Benefits
Details of compensation, benefits, and any perks on offer
Use our sample Typist job description
Job description checklist illustration

Sample skill tests for a Typist

Create a free account today to access the full assessment and more from our library

Question 1

Typing

Question Type: Text

'Homophones' are words that sound the same, but have different meanings, for example; their, there and they're. complete the sentences by removing the INCORRECT word1. During winter my skin became so ___________________(pail/pale).2. She purchased a beautiful new gown _________________(for/four) the dance3. I can't wait to walk down the _______________(I’ll/aisle/isle) at my wedding4. Bombfire's have been ________________(band/banned) on the beach.5. I will knead some _____________(doe/dough) to make bread.6. I haven't received any _________________(male/mail) this week7. My dad's head is __________________(bald/bawled)8. I love movies with a long fight __________________(scene/seen)9. The farmer had to ________(so/sew/sow) the seeds.10. Rachel noticed the girl________________(stair/stare) at her.11. The government has the right to __________(sees/seas/seize) _________ (your/you're) property

Question 2

Attention to Detail

Question Type: Multiple Choice

Identify whether the information in the bottom line matches the data in the table.

Question 3

Following Directions

Question Type: Text

Please type as much of the following passage as you can in the time limit.

How to interview a Typist

Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The interview should focus on any skills that require development that were highlighted from the skills assessment.

Now you know that candidates can do the job, the interview becomes more of a relationship building exercise where you can get to know the candidate on a more personal level, understand their motivations, and how they would fit in with the team.

How much does it cost to hire a Typist?

The US average for a Typist is $32,540 according to Talent.com, while Glassdoor.com reports it at $37,993. Some can go higher up to $203,000, while some can start as low as $27,000. Companies have the option to pay for additional pay through performance bonus, tips, commissions, or profit sharing.

United States

Typists’ salaries in the United States range from $27,000 - $203,000 (USD). The average falls between $32,000 - $35,000 (USD). The salary range can still vary depending on the years of experience, additional skills, and the location.

Source: Source: Talent.com; Glassdoor.com

United Kingdom

Typists’ salaries in the United Kingdom range from £17,000 - £31,000 (GBP). The average falls between £20,000 - £21,000 (GBP). The salary range can still vary depending on the years of experience, additional skills, and the location.

Source: Source: Talent.com; Glassdoor.com

Australia

Typists’ salaries in Australia range from $48,000 - $70,000 (AUD). The average falls between $50,000 - $60,000 (AUD). The salary range can still vary depending on the years of experience, additional skills, and the location.

Source: Source: Talent.com; Payscale.com