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Friday, November 20, 2009

Top Jobs: Translator

Parlez-vous opportunity? It takes translators and interpreters to raise a global village. Here's how to crack the code.

By Teresa Odle
CTW Features

We may take for granted that important national security issues such as nuclear disarmament require the skills of people with some technical knowledge and expertise in foreign languages to review and translate materials. Kevin Hendzel is one of those people.

Hendzel, the national spokesman for the American Translators Association (ATA), graduated from Georgetown University with a background in physics, electronic engineering and Russian language that included extended time at a university in Russia. His first serious assignment as a translator was as a technical translator on the U.S.-Russia Direct Communications Link, better known as the Presidential Hotline.

"It is not and never has been a red telephone," says Hendzel. The image of a phone "is a clever Hollywood prop but has no basis in reality."

Hendzel's job as a translator involves converting written words from one language to another. By contrast, interpreters must re-express spoken words from one language to another, says Izabel Arocha, president of the International Medical Interpreters Association (AMIA). "Interpreters must know the languages at a higher level than needed just to communicate," says Arocha. "They're not just repeating words but ideas and idiomatic expressions."

Special Skills Required

It's no wonder jobs for interpreters and translators are in high demand. These professionals must have an in-depth grasp of two languages and often knowledge of a technical area. Hendzel advises that those interested in the career specialize in a difficult technical field or a "language of lesser diffusion, such as Urdu, Pashto or Dari," for example. Arocha says community interpreting is any specialized interpreting service; medical interpreting is a subset of community interpreting that's really on the rise.

"This is a great job for a person who doesn't want to be behind a desk," says Arocha. "In one day, a medical interpreter may interpret for a mother delivering a baby and then help with an ER patient," she says. Flexibility and the chance to help others draw many people to the career. But if you prefer to be behind a desk, medical translation might be the answer. Translators tend to work at their computers more, performing research and converting written materials. What's more, many of today's interpreters work from home. It's just not practical for every hospital, for instance, to employ interpreters for every possible language that a patient who walks through the door might speak. "Many interpreters are working from home, more or less on call 24 hours a day," says Arocha.

Arocha says that many people choose medical interpreting as a second or third profession; Hendzel agrees. "Engineers, attorneys, scientists and doctors often come to translation and interpreting as second careers," he says. These professionals already have specialized subject knowledge; with excellent writing and language skills, they can become successful at translating or interpreting.

Training and certification for these careers can be a mixed bag. Of course, you need the language education and often specialty background, like Hendzel has. A bachelor's degree usually is required and the ATA offers certification in at least 20 specialties. As with any developing profession, medical interpretation training varies. Arocha says some colleges offer special programs in medical interpretation. There's a new certification program in the field for mental health interpretation services. "This is a huge, growing industry with lots of flexibility and opportunity for people who want to work full-time, part-time or freelance," she says. Check out the ATA and AMIA for much more information.

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