Becoming a Professional Translator

In order to obtain a career in the professional translation service industry, your level of education should be a 4-year college degree at the minimum in additional to having proficiency in both a source and target language. You also must have subject matter expertise in the area you wish to translate.

Professional translation service agencies are not looking for a person who is fluent in a language. Being a language translator requires very different skills than being a professional language interpreter. If you intend on specializing, that is, working for a Spanish translation service or medical translation agency, master Spanish and all the dialects and culture nuances that affect a translation. For medical translations, you must be proficient in all medical terminology and again, knowledgeable of culture nuances that affect the language you are translating.

In order to obtain work in as a professional language translator, we suggest the following:

• Study and live in the county whose native language is the language you are interested in translating
• Be proficient in desktop publishing and word processing along with other basic computers skills i.e. familiarity with working with PDF files
• Create a collection of resources and equipment, i.e. Online reliable dictionaries, fax machine, email, printers…..
• Become familiar if not purchase the various translation software tools available
• Continue to read periodicals, books, text books and other documents in the language you are translating
  

The professional translation service industry is growing at an increase rate, which means there is a lot of competition. Prepare a detailed CV which highlights your knowledge of a language and your proficiency of a subject, valuable for Spanish translation agencies or for those looking for medical translation.