Translation Career Information - An Exciting Career for Many

Translation Career Information - An Exciting Career for Many

Becoming a translator can be an exciting prospective career for many. Especially those who were raised in a bilingual family setting, the ability to use that as a career can sound especially good. There are many great opportunities for translator careers in the world today. Many international hotels and airlines hire translators, as do embassies, intelligence agencies and news publications. There is much potential in this field for those who have the right skills and the right education.

For those who wish to pursue a translation career, there are many different types of education they can pursue. There are certificate programs, bachelor's degrees and master's degrees in the field. In addition to these certificates and degrees, one must know their second language as well as they do their first. In order to be able to translate others written words into the second language, a person must understand the language and understand it well. They must know the nuances that are unique to the language as well as their meanings. Sometimes words have different meanings depending on their context and a translator must know this so that they do not make a mistake in meaning.

Once one has obtained a good basis in education, the next step would seem to be to find a job, but it generally is more beneficial for a translator to find an internship position. Internship positions are generally nonpaying jobs but one can gain much valuable experience by doing this. This can be helpful in establishing yourself in your translation career. Experience is a much sought after asset to a translator and obtaining it in any way one can will be a tremendous help in finding a good job. Internships are also good because one now can see how the principles and theories that were taught in class are actually applied in the real workplace setting. This can be a valuable learning tool.

Once one has some experience then they will be able to be more confident when they are applying for jobs and prospective employers will sense this. This will make it easier to further one's translation career and find the job that will work well for them. In translation just like many fields, pay and position depends a lot on experience in the field. This may mean taking a lower pay at the start until you prove yourself and how valuable you can be to the company that is hiring you.

-By Adriana Tassini

The following Translator Q & A is part of our Translator FAQ Series.Question:Answer: Learn more:Tags: