A potentially lucrative career…
You may or may not have noticed that the world is actually getting smaller. It’s not because of the sun or because we are sucking all the oil out of the inside, or because of some geological disaster, no it’s getting smaller because we are getting better at communicating.
Communication between different countries and cultures is growing in frequency exponentially thanks to globalisation and things like improved networks and the internet. Plus companies are increasingly confident about looking for business abroad thanks to better export opportunities.
However there is one crucial thing that is standing between the world and itself: language, and that’s where you come in. Here are some tips on how to start a career as a translator…
Be Naturally Bilingual
By far the easiest way to get into a job as a translator is to be naturally bilingual. If you had a mandarin speaking parent and an English speaking parent you would be pretty darn lucky. This is not to say that everyone who is bilingual is in fact going to be a good translator as there is a lot more to it than just speaking two languages.
Skills
To be a translator you need to obviously have impeccable language skills, but you also need to be able to be diplomatic and to have an understanding of whatever sector you want to provide translation services for. This would typically be business or engineering or maybe politics if you want to work at one of the highest levels. You need to be incredibly professional as you may be translating crucial information and you have to be sensitive to every nuance of the subject you are faced with translating, especially if you want to get a good reputation and be able to advance your career.
In The Beginning
You can’t go straight into a directors meeting though, you need to study hard and get lots of qualifications in the languages you want to translate, then you need to ideally get a degree in translation. After that you need to get as much experience as possible possibly working for an agency translating documents or working with immigrants who need some kind of paper or verbal translation services. You could even start your own business from scratch and take on as much or as little work as you could handle.
Whatever you do, remember that you need to stick with it because one day that call will come and you will be translating world leaders in the UN.
Sam Qam provides certified translation services. He translates documents including certificate translation for a number of high profile clients.
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