In addition to near native source language proficiency, translators need other skills too; probably the most important are excellent writing skills in their target language, in depth knowledge in one or more areas of specialization, and business management skills. Some would be translators are in practice not very successful because they have weak writing skills in their target language, making their translations difficult or unpleasant to read.
Highly specialized translators are among the highest earning members of the profession; for example a bilingual intellectual property attorney, stock broker or biomedical engineer may earn many times the per word rate of a jack of all trades translator with a B.A. in German. Some translators turn a previous career into an area of specialization, while others take additional courses in areas of specialization or learn specialized terminology from more experienced translators. Paradoxically, specializing can also lead to more work, not less, as the specialized translator becomes known as the go to person in his or her area of expertise, whether it s environmental engineering, textile manufacturing or stage sets.
The translation industry in the United States is moving more and more toward an independent contractor model, where the vast majority of translators are self employed and work for a variety of clients: approximately 70 of the members of the American Translators Association are self employed independent contractors. As such, translators need business management skills such as the ability to find and retain clients, work on tight deadlines with little supervision or management, handle increases and decreases in work flow and cash flow and perform tasks such as bookkeeping, tax planning and computer upkeep and maintenance. In fact, most self employed translators spend 25 50 of their time on non translation work, largely involving management of the day to day tasks of running a business, so these skills are just as important as translation related skills in succeeding as a freelance translator.
If you d like to work as a translator but your language skills are not yet up to par, you have a few options. The best, but most difficult, is immersion: living and working or going to school in a country where your source language is spoken. If you want to improve your French, without a doubt the fastest way to do it is to move to a French speaking country for a year, work or go to school with native French speakers, and speak only French while you re there. If this isn t possible for you, university programs in translation and interpretation do exist in the U.S., although they are much less common than in other countries. However, nearly all medium or large colleges and universities will offer advanced courses in the more widely spoken foreign languages. If you re trying to improve your language skills, be realistic; although its certainly far from impossible to learn a new language at age 30, 50 or 70, it s also not going to happen with a few semesters of night classes. If you re starting from a beginner level or close to it, two to three years of intensive language study in a college level program is probably a bare minimum.
As mentioned before, simply knowing more than one language isn t enough to guarantee your success as a translator. While requirements for different translation jobs vary, nearly all translators have at least a Bachelor s degree, and often more education than this. If you would eventually like to earn certification from the American Translators Association, you ll need either a Master s degree or higher, or several years of work experience as a translator.
The rapid expansion of the translation industry, flexible work possibilities and high earning potential have made freelance translation an attractive career for bilingual lawyers, accountants, doctors and scientific professionals, and many translators feel that specialization is extremely important to their success. This is especially true as the Internet has opened up work opportunities for translators who live in countries where the cost of living is relatively low, and where educated professionals may be able to make more money by working as translators over the Internet than by practicing in the professions they were trained for.
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