From graduate to professional translator

Building a career as a translator/editor

Lingo24 is often approached by languages under-graduates, graduates or post-graduates - not to mention professionals from other branches of industry who also have sound language knowledge - asking for advice on how to get into the translation profession. A simple enough question you might think - yet the answer is far from straightforward. For in reality there is no "ideal" way to forge a career as a translator: indeed the routes to becoming a successful translation professional are many and varied.

You know where you want your journey to end: as a bona fide professional translator. However, how you get there depends - not surprisingly - on where you're starting from! So let's take a look at the three most common scenarios.

1. Languages degree (literature-based course)

Obtaining a good languages degree (B.A. Hons or equivalent) is certainly a great start if you're hoping to pursue a career as a translator, since nowadays even the most literary based language degrees contain at least an element of translation. Equally, you have to bear in mind that the texts used in traditional, literature-based language courses are often excerpts from novels or newspapers and magazines. Whilst this sort of translations provides a good basic grounding in the process, more often than not the source texts bear little resemblance to the ones a professional translator might be expected to tackle. So you need to extend your vocabulary in at least one or more of your foreign languages, and at the same time develop your knowledge of several subject areas which - all being well - will later become your translation "specialisations". If your finances can withstand the onslaught of a few further years of study, then embarking on a second degree - law, finance or engineering, for example - would put you in a stronger position on the translation job market in the long-term. However, the tricky part is maintaining your level of foreign language competence whilst you study another field. One way of achieving this is to do your second degree abroad. Another is to spend as much time as possible - during university vacations for example - in a country where the language you wish to maintain or improve is spoken.

Another sensible course of action is to sign up for a post-graduate diploma or degree in translation (and/or interpreting) [see: www.lexicool.com/courses_uk.asp / www.lexicool.com/courses_usa.asp].

Such courses provide highly motivated languages graduates with an ideal opportunity to acquire more of the skills required of a professional translator. Study blocks cover several different types of translation, ranging from technical to legal to commercial plus a wide range of additional subjects, such as translation studies, international institutions and law, European history and background, plus linguistics. Armed with a post-graduate translation degree or diploma, you will be a more interesting proposition to a translation agency or indeed any company looking to recruit an in-house translator.

2. Specialist translation degree/diploma (applied languages)

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If you're certain, even before leaving school, that translation is the career for you, then it's well worth exploring the range of under-graduate translation degrees currently available. [see: www.lexicool.com/courses_uk.asp / www.lexicool.com/courses_usa.asp].

Entry requirements for translation courses are usually high, so you'll need to apply yourself seriously in your final few years at school if you want to be considered for one of the much-coveted places. Moreover, just getting top grades in your exams is sometimes still not enough to guarantee you a place on highly sought after courses such as these: in many instances, the Universities which run them have so many outstanding applicants for a restricted number of places, that they also interview candidates individually to assess their suitability face-to-face. To prepare for such interviews, it's wise to ensure that you're conversant with world current affairs and have a good grasp of how the major political institutions work and interact. To this end, make sure you read a representative cross-section of reputable newspapers on a regular basis, and familiarise yourself with publications such as "The Economist" and "Time Magazine" which cover world issues in more depth.

If you believe that translation is a career perfectly suited to you, and you to it, then all the hard work required to gain a place on a specialist degree translation course will pay dividends. You'll receive four years (one of them generally spent at similar language institutions abroad) of intensive tuition in the various skills you'll need for your chosen profession, giving you a distinct advantage over those leaving University with a traditional languages degree.

3. Experience in another field plus in-depth knowledge of one or more languages

It's not surprising that those freelance translators most in demand with agencies and private clients tend to be those known to be experts in a particular field. For example, if a project manager is faced with placing a pathology report for translation, and only one of the twenty approved medical translators on his list actually holds a degree in pathology, no prizes for guessing who'll be approached first... Likewise, if an oil company knows of someone who is not only a top-notch translator but has also worked in the oil industry for ten years in a previous life, then the said translator is a natural choice if they need to have their oil rig safety procedures translated.

We've already explained that specialist knowledge is not enough on its own, however, and that highly developed language skills and awareness are also essential prerequisites for any professional translator. Individual circumstances tend to govern precisely how such language skills are acquired by people who are also active in other fields. In some cases, they've had the good fortune of being raised in a family where two languages were spoken, giving them an immediate advantage. Others have perhaps completed a languages degree before embarking temporarily on another career and then decided that they'd rather return to using their languages. Yet another possibility is that foreign language knowledge has been the result of working abroad for a prolonged period, and not through any formal training.

All these different scenarios may preclude one vital element which is essential for success as a translator, namely the ability to write well in one's own native tongue. This skill is absolutely fundamental. So if you're contemplating jumping ship and launching yourself into a translation career, be absolutely certain - before you leap! - that your writing skills in your target language (i.e. your native tongue) are well honed. Many publications offer advice on how to develop good writing and editing techniques and become more self-critical. Writers' News, Writing Magazine and Poets and Writers are two good sources of information and advice, especially the latter, which runs features every month promoting good writing practice in a range of fields, including legal and technical. Another useful tip for improving your own writing is to read other people's writing as much as possible. If your chosen field is medicine or veterinary medicine, the subscribe to the relevant professional journal (e.g. www.thelancet.com or www.veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com), or if you hope to specialize in finance, aim to digest at least a few pages of the Financial Times (or similar publication in your native language) before breakfast each day. The more familiar you become with the terminology used by successful professional writers in your field, the better equipped you'll be to produce translations which are both highly readable and steeped in the correct terminology. Moreover, never underestimate the mammoth amount of careful research required when you're embarking on a new commission. For no matter how much you know about a subject, there will always be the odd word, term or concept that you haven't come across before - and it can sometimes take hours to find it!

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