Profession Perspective

Most of the translators do not plan to translate for the rest of their professional lives. It is surprising, of course: most translators leave the profession within five years of entering it. Many plan their departure ahead of time, developing the skills or receiving the education necessary to make their move. The rest just get out, for a host of reasons.

The departing translators head in generally the same directions. Some move on to start translation agencies or language consulting firms, some become technical writers or authors, some become interpreters, some enter academia as linguists or literature professors, and some few head off on other paths (naturally, there are many other paths, but the above careers were mentioned much more frequently than any others).

They also depart for basically the same reasons. Lack of long-term job security, frequently low pay for the value of the work they are doing, no benefits (which becomes more important as people grow older and have families), and little job satisfaction. Every industry benefits from having seasoned professionals, but the translation profession almost seems to prevent people from staying in for very long. Although I do know translators who have been in the industry for over twenty years, most of them have moved back and forth from in-house to free-lance as well as back and forth among the countries where their languages are used.

This is not to say that every translator moves on or that someone contemplating this profession should not enter it. First, the relatively high turn-over rate is good for those trying to get in. Second, the industry needs as many competent and responsible professionals it can get, so the more the merrier. Third, there are few professional careers in the world in which you do the exact same thing for five years. In most corporations, you get regular promotions, moving up the ladder and working towards greater responsibility, income and security. Translators don’t have that in their profession, so perhaps they are just creating it for themselves by moving on to a related field within five years or so.

The translator in modern society is something of an anti-hero. The translator spends years or more developing and honing an eclectic set of skills which he knows society neither understands nor values enough. He then struggles valiantly to use those skills to earn a living, taking test after test, filling out form after form, dealing with agencies, clients and others to make enough money. He wins clients and then loses them. He is hired by a company and then fired during the next round of restructuring or outsourcing. He is expendable and he knows it. Yet, he fights on, convinced that his skills have value. Ultimately, he leaves the profession and takes his skills forward to better things. He quixotically raised his lance and charged the windmills, only to find they were all too real. He is a dying breed which society does not recognize or acknowledge but cannot afford to lose.

Questions for discussion:

1. What are four qualities of translator?

2. What are the dont’s of translator?

3. What does the Client expect of his interpreter?

4. What kind of troubles emerges while interpreting?

5. What is common between the professions of translator and programmer?

6. Why do the translators leave the profession?

7. For what reasons do the translators leave their profession within five years?

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Дата добавления: 2015-07-10