How To Become A Bilingual Interpreter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a bilingual interpreter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A bilingual interpreter is employed by companies to help translate a foreign language to the native tongue or a preferred dialect. As implied by the title, these bilingual interpreters are fluent in two languages, making them bilingual. They are expected to be able to quickly translate any material without the help of a dictionary or a computer translator. They are also expected to understand and converse in a specific foreign language. At times, they are brought to formal events to help interpret any foreign language or to help translate speeches to the native tongue. In addition, they may also represent the company in functions that are held in a different language.

Bilingual interpreters may not have formal education specifically to become bilingual. They may be a native of a foreign language and have learned the native language through experience. Nonetheless, they should still at least have a high school diploma in order to understand, translate, and interpret any conversations that may require higher-order thinking. For native language speakers, they are expected to have a bachelor's degree specializing in a foreign language in order to become bilingual interpreters.

ScoreBilingual InterpreterUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,168

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.1

Growth rate 20%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.25%

Asian 11.02%

Black or African American 4.31%

Hispanic or Latino 47.23%

Unknown 4.66%

White 32.53%

Gender

female 64.86%

male 35.14%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

6.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a bilingual interpreter

Explore bilingual interpreter education requirements

Most common bilingual interpreter degrees

Bachelor's

46.2 %

Associate

19.3 %

High School Diploma

13.4 %

Start to develop specific bilingual interpreter skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	28.37%
Translation Services	23.30%
Interpretation Services	17.11%
Target Language	9.35%
Customer Service	9.24%

Complete relevant bilingual interpreter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New bilingual interpreters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a bilingual interpreter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bilingual interpreter resumes.

Research bilingual interpreter duties and responsibilities

Observe company's protocols, including HIPAA compliance.
Set and attend appointments for professional staffs in school setting conferences for IEP, DEP, financial aidand truancy.
Provide bilingual interpretation during verbal interactions between English-speaking medical professionals and non-English speaking Hispanic patients.
Assist non-English speaking Hispanic patients providing accurate medical history, expressing medical concerns and receiving educational and various written materials.

Prepare your bilingual interpreter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your bilingual interpreter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a bilingual interpreter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable bilingual interpreter resume templates

Build a professional bilingual interpreter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your bilingual interpreter resume.