Typing: Speed vs Accuracy

[susans]

Is typing fast important or is better to be slower with more accuracy?

Do you know your typing speed?

[gee4]

Well according to recruitment agencies, speed is more important.  Having done a recent typing test for a vacancy with a recruitment agency, the post required a speed of 55 wpm which I surpassed.

But I have to ask, in this modern era of a PA, who actually sits all day and types documents to maintain that speed?

[Cathy S]

I would go for accuracy every time - I have only ever done one keyboard test for an agency; I was borderline on straight typing speed but 100% accurate; however when they tested application skills as opposed to just typing I more than made up for speed with knowing my way round the shortcut keys and menu/toolbars.

In my role I do little straightforward typing, I do a great deal of creating documents from scratch where I have the control of layout, design, etc.  Although there are deadlines to get these to press, it is attention to accuracy and detail that makes the difference to the finished document.  My motto is "right first time" because there is nothing more tedious than reproofing documents over and over again.

Cathy

[raindance]

Susan,

If my reply to your post in the other thread on this top is more relevant here, please would you be kind enough to move it?

Many thanks.

Raindance

[misslynn]

Accuracy is always more important than speed.

Being able to type accurately and quickly is a bonus.  I learned how to type when I was very young and it's helped me a lot of the years.  I range somewhere around 60wpm in the typing tests I've done.  It's especially helpful when my boss wants to dictate a message for me to send out on his behalf, I type much faster than I write so I try to capture as much as I can of what he's saying and then fill in the holes at the end.

[Atlanta Z3]

I read somewhere that Bill Gates thinks keyboards will be obsolute in ten years.  I can't imagine having to hand write as I type so much quicker than I write and my handwriting has only gotten worse in the last few years.
I'm on the fence with this question.  Spell check in word auto-corrects mistyped words (even my iPhone auto corrects in emails) so I'm not sure that accuracy is my top priority.  I have to spell check a document before sending it out.  My keyboarding classes taught me to type as fast as possible, do not format and then spell check and format last.
On a very good day I can type approximately 70 wpm - but I also do not sit and straight type documents, so my speed fluxuates.

[laurafmcdermott]

Second that my handwriting has declined over the years.  I rarely write notes to coworkers anymore, since I can email.  If I do need to write something (like a thank you note), I actually write it on scrap paper a few times to "practice" my handwriting!

I'll go with accuracy.  Fast is great but correct is better.

[gee4]

If Bill Gates thinks keyboards will be obsolute, what does he think will replace them??  Are we going to be using speech-recognition and end up talking to our pc's.....heaven forbid.

[raindance]

Gee,

Them sort of people don't have no admins!  And probably no friends either.

R.

[gee4]

That deserves a conga, even on a Monday...

[geminigirl]

Accuracy trumps speed, always!

In my typing heyday (!) I was tested at 75wpm with 100% accuracy but those days are long gone!  I don't do so much straightforward typing anymore so the speed (but not the accuracy) will have dropped considerably, I expect.

[adminkate]

I would say speed is less of an issue for me, as I'm not sitting typing documents all day.  If I was, clearly the more I got done, the better.  As it is, however, typing documents is only a fragment of what I do, so my 50 wpm vs. any other speed makes little difference in the overall time I contribute to documents.  Accuracy is my objective--I can't stand sending anything out with errors.

[spitfire78]

Speed and accuracy used to be important.  When I was going full-tilt at secretarial work, my speed was 120 wpm with 100% accuracy.  I haven't done straight typing like that in a long time, so I know my speed has decreased tremendously.  However, my accuracy has not.  When you are typing numbers, you better make sure you get them correct!

[jodith]

Speed or accuracy is going to depend on the type of work you're doing.

If you're an administrative assistant, you probably don't do a great deal of straight typing anymore, so in the long run, it's more efficient to type accurately the first time.

However, if you're a transcriptionist, speed is of the utmost importance.  You'll correct mistakes when you proof the final document, but you need to be able to keep up with the person dictating as much as possible in order not to lose time constantly rewinding and playing again.

In testing circumstances, if I've had a few minutes of practice first, I generally type around 70 net.  I do data entry at around 13000 kph net.

Remember, when you take a typing test, they will usually factor in your mistakes to give you a "net" figure.  So even if you type 80, if you have a bunch of mistakes, it'll drastically take your score downwards.  On a test, type as fast as you can accurately.

[ozbound]

I would say accuracy is more important. For one thing, I've found that when I slow down and focus on doing it right, it really doesn't affect my speed as much as I think. And it certainly is a lot faster in the long-run to not have to proof and re-proof everything (and of course as we all know, you can't always depend on spell check!)