Translator Careers Information
Translators are given the task of converting a written text from one language to another. In doing this, it is not enough to simply find the equivalent words. A translator must fully understand the primary text and work to translate its structure, style, and tone along with its meaning.
Translator Careers & Degrees
Translators come in a few different types. Literary translators translate creative works, such as poems, novels, and films. Medical translators translate the technical information found in brochures for patients who have limited English skills. Localization translators use their knowledge of a particular location to adapt the products of a foreign culture for use in that locality, to make it seem as if these products were actually native.
Translator Careers Path
Many translators have been raised bilingual or have a Bachelor’s degree in a particular language. Just as many, however, have degrees in other specialities, such as literature, medicine, or the social sciences, and have acquired sufficient language skills along the way. Many literary translators are university professors and so have Master’s degrees or Doctoral degrees, though again, sufficient experience and skill with translating are more important than any particular degree.
Translator Careers: Compatible Personality Traits
Excellent language skills, excellent written skills, interest in a variety of subjects, self-motivated, works well under pressure of deadline.
Translator Interview
To put all of your language skills to use in a translator career, Read More from a Professional Translator…
Translator Careers: Salary Expectations
Salaried translators earn an average of $17.10 an hour, with the middle fifty percent earning between $12.94 and $22.60 and hour. Those employed by the Federal Government earned an average salary of $76,286 a year. For freelance translators, however, pay is often determined at a rate per word. As with interpreters, translators who have more experience and/or are fluent in high demand languages may earn more.
Translator Careers: Job Outlook
The job outlook for translators in the coming years is very strong. With more foreign speakers in the United States and growing business ties between countries, there will be ever-increasing work for translators. Technology, unlike in other occupations where it eliminates jobs, is making life easier for translators, allowing them to work from a variety of locations. Those translators who can translate high demand languages, such as the PFIGS-Portugese, French, Italian, German, and Spanish-languages, and Middle Eastern and Asian languages, have the best job prospects.
Slightly off the Footpath
Source: bls.gov/oco/ocos175.htm
