I was on the waitlist for 7 months before I could enter the Sandbox (and I’m not talking about the playground, but about the start of the training) and then there were still the watlists in between levels, the waitlist for the final exam ánd the time you need to wait till you hear if you have graduated. All this time, I could not work on shows as a segmenter. But I got through it all, became a segmenter and later also a CS.
You may not have to wait that long; it depends on the availability of the senseis and the amount of people waiting. At times, the waitlists can be surprisingly short so it’s a matter of luck. But in any case, you just have to accept it. You need this training to become a good segmenter. Just watching videos on the subject isn’t enough. You need to practice and have senseis tell you what you do wrong. And not just once. You will go through Sandbox and 5 additional levels with different senseis who will all have a slightly different approach but who all work within the guidelines of the NSSA. And then even when you have become a segmenter, you will find that there are still things to learn.
Volunteers on Viki are under a lot of pressure because viewers want their subtitles ASAP. The last thing a CS (Chief Segmenter) needs is having a segmenter in the team who has not been properly trained cause it will only slow things down. So just be patient.
By the way, I saw on your profile that you also have ambitions to become an English editor. You could ask an existing CE (chief editor) to train you while you are waiting. This is not about your English skills, which already need to be good to get accepted by a CE, but to learn how exactly things are done. There are no “official” trainings so if and when depends on the availability of the editor but at least, you won’t get on another waitlist.
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