General and legal transcription work at home jobs are a reality and you can leverage some good steady income out of them. The skill set needed for these jobs is almost what everyone who uses the internet and has basic listening, typing and reading skills can do. 
But still before you prepare yourself as a legal or general business transcriptionist, you may want to look at this comprehensive skill list for the trade.

1. First of all you should have a good keyboard typing skills. If you have a background in chatting over the IM’s then that won’t be much a hindrance. You can even improve your typing skills by either using some free online tools or by downloading some desk top applications like typing tutor etc. 2. It is essential that you have ample comprehension skills. You need to understand what’s being said or written down so that when you start typing the stuff, you actually have a grasp and idea of the subject matter.

3. If you are reading this article then this means that you do have enough computer operating and internet surfing skills intact. If you think you need to polish them a little more, you can always search Google for some comprehensive and step by step guide on how to use a computer and internet.

4. As this will be a business in which you will be your own boss, so some communications skills are highly desirable. You need to confident enough to talk to your employers or clients and negotiate your fee and project specs with them. You must also have an email, IM and phone access so that your clients and you both can follow up on each other as and when a need arises.

5. You must have a high level of concentration and give attention to teeniest bit of detail. This will not only make your productivity worthwhile but you will see a great response from your clients who hired your for the job. Remember, If you deliver a good finished product, you will definitely be getting more and more business.

6. With the passage of time you must acquire some good copy editing and grammatical skills. This cannot be done in a day or two but if you are a person who loves to learn and take reference from internet or books, then you can get it pretty easily.

7. Most of all you need to have some real good listening skills. These skills are sometimes natural but if you practice more and more on listening, you can get it polished and perfect as per job and task demands.

So this is all you need to get started with General and legal transcription work at home jobs.