Whether it be on a laptop or your phone, typing, in some form or another, is now a part of everyday life. If you're sending an email to friends, it probably doesn't matter too much if a spelling mistake creeps in or it takes you a while to write your message, but if typing is how you earn your wage, these things are infinitely more important.
If your typing speed is lower than you want it to be, or you're prone to keyboard errors, this is where the best typing software (opens in new tab) can prove invaluable. Accuracy at work is always important, but equally there are some professions that require much faster typing speeds than others. To help you assess whether you need to up your typing game, we've looked at current job descriptions to find out how fast, on average, you need to type for specific typing jobs.
Secretary and Receptionist
If you're interested in being a secretary or receptionist, these positions usually require an average type speed of around 65 words per minute (wpm). Such employers are looking for people who can type quickly so they can take dictation and quickly input information when required.
Legal and Administrative Assistant
Administrative and legal assistants also need to be able to type quickly, with employers often looking for applicants who can type around 70 wpm. For the most demanding of positions, applicants may even be required to have a type speed upwards of 100 wpm.
Medical Transcriptionists
While it's important for medical transcriptionists to type quickly - typically around 70 wpm - it's equally important for them to type accurately. Medical transcripts need to be flawless, as errors on patients' medical records could have serious repercussions.
Data Entry
Employers who hire people for data-entry positions usually look for applicants who can type between 60 and 80 wpm. They want people who can enter data quickly so that they can input more information in a shorter amount of time. However, along with speed, you'll need to be accurate, otherwise the information you enter will be compromised.
Court Reporter
A court reporter needs to catch every word that is said during a court proceeding. This means that he or she needs to be able to type incredibly fast, around 225 wpm. To achieve this, court reporters use special typing machines called stenotype machines. The keys on these machines are laid out differently than they are on a QWERTY keyboard - the standard home computer (opens in new tab) keyboard layout. Court reporters undertake special training to learn how to achieve such fast typing speeds.
Other Professions
Not all positions require you to type at lightning-fast speeds. Registrars need only type around 40 wpm, and CNAs and phlebotomists need only be able to type around 25 wpm. Sales people may only spend a small portion of their day using a computer, and they may not need to type at a specific speed to perform their job well.
Of course, there are many other jobs that are unlikely to require any typing skills at all. However, even if your profession has no type speed requirement, it might still prove useful to hone your keyboard skills using typing software (opens in new tab) just in case it becomes a requirement in the future. Even if it doesn't, at least you'll be able to message your friends confident that you haven't made an embarrassing spelling mistake - and the faster you can type, the more time you'll have to keep in touch with others too.
