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Home-Based Phone Interpreters in Demand By Christine Durst & Michael Haaren Feb. 23, 2012 If you’re looking for a home-based job, knowing a second language can come in handy. Language Line Services, for example, announced this week that it seeks to hire 2,000 phone interpreters this year, most of them home-based. Work-at-home translators, too, are in demand. Language Line says it will be hiring “1,300 Spanish interpreters, 400 Mandarin, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, Cantonese, Portuguese, Arabic, Polish and French interpreters and nearly 200 in more than 160 other languages.” Work-at-home slots will be available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the U.K. Job seekers may apply here. Phone interpreters handle everything from business discussions to 911 calls, making sure that what is said is what is understood. Work can be high-pressure, as you can imagine when a home-invasion is taking place and police are needed, or a multi-million dollar deal is literally “on the line.” TRANSLATORS WORK WITH THE WRITTEN WORD While interpreters work with the voice, translators, many of whom are also home-based, work with the written word. Assignments can range from poetry to business contracts to complex judicial decisions and beyond. As might be expected, translators certified by professional organizations such as the American Translators Association tend to earn more than others. Those who work directly with clients can also earn more than those who work through middle-man agencies. But if you’re not comfortable marketing yourself and would rather have someone else handling client relations and administrative functions, you might be better off with the agency option. JOB GROWTH AND PAY RATES According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook for 2010-2011, the job outlook is good: “Employment of interpreters and translators is projected to increase 22 percent over the 2008–18 decade, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.” The demand is driven by “the broadening of international ties and the large increases in the number of non-English speaking people in the United States.” Demand and pay depend in part on the languages and type of work involved. Spanish has strong prospects, says the BLS, as do the areas of healthcare and law. The median pay for salaried interpreters and translators as of 2008, per the BLS, was $38,850. However, expert Corinne McKay, a certified translator who specializes in French-to-English translation, and the author of “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator,” affirms that there is more to be made working directly with clients. As she writes in her blog, Thoughts on Translation, “I think that if you’re very good at what you do and you market yourself fairly assertively, there is enough work out there to earn at least $75,000 a year as a freelance translator even if you work with a mix of agencies and direct clients. I’d say that at this point, all of the translators I know who work exclusively with direct clients earn at least $100,000 a year.” In other words, hablas español yet? ---- Christine Durst and Michael Haaren are leaders in the work-at-home movement and advocates of de-rat-raced living. Their latest book is Work at Home Now, a guide to finding home-based jobs. They offer additional guidance on finding home-based work at www.RatRaceRebellion.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2012 BY STAFFCENTRIX, DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM |
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