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Freelance interpreter/translator skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted experts
Victoria Juharyan,
Katty Kauffman
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical freelance interpreter/translator skills. We ranked the top skills for freelance interpreter/translators based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 9.0% of freelance interpreter/translator resumes contained medical appointments as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a freelance interpreter/translator needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 freelance interpreter/translator skills for your resume and career

1. Medical Appointments

A medical appointment is a scheduled / specific day and time for a person to be examined or treated by a physician, nurse, or other licensed healthcare professional. The aim of the medical appointment is for the physician to be able to identify health problems or illnesses at an early stage.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use medical appointments:
  • Worked frequently with patients requiring interpretation during hospital stays and medical appointments.
  • Conducted interpretation in a wide variety of fields including health care and social services, medical appointments and court hearings.

2. Healthcare Professionals

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use healthcare professionals:
  • Serve as a liaison between healthcare professionals and patients.
  • Interpreted and facilitated conversation between healthcare professionals, i.e.

3. Vice Versa

A vice versa is a Latin expression that means - the other way round. That is, what we just said also applies in reverse (opposite) order.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use vice versa:
  • Interpreted from English into Ukrainian or Russian and vice versa using consecutive mode while operating under strict deadlines and heavy workload.
  • Provided oral translation services from Japanese to English and vice versa between the company management team and a Japanese contractor.

4. Interpretation Services

Interpretation services refers to the process of translating information from one language to another. These services can be for languages that are spoken or signed and require the translator to be fluent in both languages and even the tones necessary to convey the messages.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use interpretation services:
  • Provide simultaneous and consecutive interpretation services at a large-scale construction project in South-East Asia, translating related documents.
  • Provide interpretation services to lawyers for screenings and interviews with Spanish-speaking children pending immigration status.

5. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use mental health:
  • Provided interpretation for Toledo Rescue Mental Health, and Lucas County Job and Family Services.
  • Worked in various community settings such as; medical, vocational and mental health.

6. Sign Language

Sign language is a system of communication using gestures and signs. The deaf community applies sign language when communicating with each other or other people.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use sign language:
  • Experienced in providing American Sign Language interpretation, translation and communication services.
  • Freelance sign language interpreter for various settings Vernacular Language services

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7. Social Services

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use social services:
  • Interpreted for Clients and family members at 700+ appointments including: legal, medical and social services appointments
  • Facilitate effective communication between clients in assignments within the education, health, and social services sectors.

8. Translation Services

Translation Services turn spoken words or texts into another dialect. During the interpretation cycle, somebody with expertise in two dialects takes the words and context and places it into another dialect for others to understand.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use translation services:
  • Attended networking functions to identify companies & organizations in need of interpretation or translation services.
  • Performed translation services for different jobs including hospitals and county governments

9. Language Services

Language services are services that are rendered to clients, customers, investors, or groups of persons with difficulty or inability to understand basic English. The service could also involve having established communication with the deaf and dumb using sign languages.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use language services:
  • Contracted with top language services companies such as Transperfect and Black Diamond Language services.
  • Work from home/part-time): Currently working as a freelance interpreter, for American Language Services (www.alsglobal.net).

10. Social Security

Social security is a federal government program that offers benefits to those registered under it when they are retired or can't work because of some sort of disabilities.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use social security:
  • Interpreted at Welfare, Social Security, and Unemployment Hearings.
  • Served as a Spanish and Arabic translator for Social Security administrative proceedings and for administrative law judge-ordered evaluations.

11. English-Spanish

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use english-spanish:
  • Provide an essential public service by offering English-Spanish language interpretation.
  • Provide translating support services to individual and companies in English-Spanish and Spanish-English.

12. Literature

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use literature:
  • Translated different formats of documents, including reports, web-sites, presentations, non-fiction literature, etc.
  • Translate articles/letters/proposals/dissertation in different genres including, but not limited, IT, computer science and Literature.

13. Target Language

The target language is the language in which a text, document, or speech is translated into the final language. It is a foreign language that a non-native speaker intends to study or learn, as well as the individual elements of the language they want to learn. The target language is the opposite of the source text, which is the initial text to be translated.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use target language:
  • Make researches on the assignment information in the original and target languages to find and analyze the specifics of language use.
  • Interpret between English, Arabic and French speakers; listen and re-formulate ideas and concepts in the target language.

14. ASL

American Sign Language (ASL) is a language that communicates ideas by using hand signs, facial expressions, and body posture.

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use asl:
  • Freelance ASL interpreter providing interpreting services for Deaf and hearing professionals in corporate and government environments.
  • Provided ASL interpretation for education-based meetings and social work.

15. Medical Interpretation

Here's how freelance interpreter/translators use medical interpretation:
  • Provide over-the-phone and face-to-face medical interpretation on a part-time as needed basis.
  • Freelance legal/medical interpretation with Johnson County Division of Workers Comp
top-skills

What skills help Freelance Interpreter/Translators find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What freelance interpreter/translator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Victoria Juharyan

University of California - Davis

The UN has some fantastic internships and volunteer opportunities for students of Russian in their Global Communications and many other departments. I strongly recommend recent graduates beginning their career in the field to apply to those and to also explore and participate in their Young Professionals Programme and the competitive examinations (CELPs), which create rosters to fill language positions at multiple locations.

What type of skills will young freelance interpreter/translators need?

Katty KauffmanKatty Kauffman LinkedIn profile

US-based Freelance Interpreter, member of AIIC, representative of the VEGA Outreach and Mentoring Network, International Association of Conference Interpreters

Interpreters need a range of skills, which fall roughly into three categories:
- Skills covered by your university program. These include technical skills in Simultaneous Interpreting, Consecutive Interpreting and Sight Translation, as well as professional ethics. Ethics are increasingly important at the moment when, because of Covid-related health restrictions, many of us are, unfortunately, having to work without a boothmate until normality returns, and still need to maintain a high level of trust with agencies and clients.
- Skills you may not have covered in school, which are vital as a freelancer. You need soft skills to help you network and engage with potential clients. Applying for pre-candidacy and subsequently joining AIIC as a full member can also raise your visibility within the industry.
An understanding of how to run your own business is also essential. Know what contract you are being offered, how to write an invoice, and which tax structure is best for you. If you are planning on working for yourself, be aware of what is happening with the PRO Act (H.R.2474) and the consequences it may have for freelance workers.
-Technical skills. On the business side, you are creating your own brand, so nowadays, you need a website and a social media presence. Understanding the workings of various RSI platforms and the equipment you need is also fundamental.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about freelance interpreter/translator

List of freelance interpreter/translator skills to add to your resume

Freelance interpreter/translator skills

The most important skills for a freelance interpreter/translator resume and required skills for a freelance interpreter/translator to have include:

  • Medical Appointments
  • Healthcare Professionals
  • Vice Versa
  • Interpretation Services
  • Mental Health
  • Sign Language
  • Social Services
  • Translation Services
  • Language Services
  • Social Security
  • English-Spanish
  • Literature
  • Target Language
  • ASL
  • Medical Interpretation
  • Facilitate Communication
  • Physical Therapy
  • Government Agencies
  • NYC
  • Birth Certificates
  • Law Firm
  • Court Proceedings
  • Subtitles
  • Hindi
  • Public Schools
  • LEP
  • USCIS
  • Simultaneous Interpretation
  • Creole
  • K-12
  • PowerPoint
  • Court Hearings
  • Haitian Creole
  • Arbitration
  • State Courts
  • Technical Manuals
  • Family Court
  • LLC
  • Medical Facilities
  • Immigration Cases
  • Urdu
  • UK
  • Farsi
  • Ministry
  • Consecutive Interpretation
  • Sight Translation
  • Language Barriers
  • Language Interpretation
  • Phone Interpretation
  • Translation Agencies

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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