What You Need Before Working as an Interpreter

When watching the United Nations, foreign sports teams and others on television, you might notice interpreters standing off to one side. They are the ones who take the words that others speak and translate those words into one or more languages. Most interpreters have a college degree and take the time while in college to study abroad. They work for private companies and for major nonprofit organizations. Before you apply for jobs with interpretation services New York City companies and those around the globe, you need to know what you must have to work in one of these positions.

What You Need Before Working as an Interpreter

College Degree

Many of the top companies will only hire interpreters who have a bachelor’s degree. Going to college gives you the chance to improve your language skills. Even if you are a native speaker or grew up speaking a second language in your home, you still need to go to school. You’ll have the chance to talk classes on literature written in that language and courses that help you become more fluent. Many schools have study abroad programs that let you spend a semester or a full year in a country too.

Language Fluency

Working as an interpreter requires that you are fluent in two or more languages. While some assume that companies look for those who know a more common language like French, Spanish or English, these companies need people who can speak and communicate in any language spoken around the world. You’ll usually need to take some tests to show that you are fluent and go through an interview with a native speaker. This shows the hiring manager that you can quickly translate between languages in your head and that you don’t need to waste time thinking about a response.

Organizational Skills

Strong organizational skills are also important because many translation and interpretation companies hire workers capable of both speaking and writing in a second language. You may spend more time translating documents for a client from a native language in one country to that of a second country than you do working in the field. Interpreters must have strong time management skills too and know how to work on their own with little to no supervision as well as how to work with different types of people. With these simple things, you’ll have an easy time finding a job as an interpreter.

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