What does an interpreter do?
An interpreter is responsible for facilitating communication between different language speakers by translating information from one language to another for easy comprehension. Some interpreters work on spoken languages while the rest specialize in sign languages. Interpreters must have strong knowledge and expertise in their chosen language to translate communication accurately and efficiently. They should also provide written texts as needed, especially in the transcription and publishing industry. Interpreters must be detail-oriented all the time to communicate the message effectively without altering its core content.
Interpreter responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real interpreter resumes:
- Lead an international team of HUMINT collectors for the NATO mission in Bosnia where overt and covert collection protocols are observed.
- Perform administrative duties such as filling, scanning, printing and photocopying.
- Keep update information on students, families and translate school documents into Hmong.
- Serve as a media spokesperson for the ESL department on Spanish radio and television.
- Interpret ASL to English, and English to ASL for high profile & complex legal matters.
- Serve as French, creole and Spanish interpreter when necessary.- Responsible to take and document vital signs.
- Maintain cognizance of the intelligence community and DoD policy and operations, and apply personal experience to support both.
- Participate in committee meetings by interpreting to the parents of students and the multidisciplinary team in the creation of IEP.
- Translate law, medical, education, technology, and hospitality by ensuring formal Thai to English and English to Thai.
- Translate and interpret in English, French, Romanian and Italian for foreign patients in the hospital s walk-in urgent care.
- Offer PowerPoint presentations weekly exploring natural resource management.
- Maintain confidentiality abiding by HIPAA and relate company policies
- Interpret from sign-to-voice and voice-to-sign in a variety of educational settings.
- Require extreme attention to detail in transcribing transmissions; relating background information.
- Create PowerPoint presentations to display and categorize severity of defects to company personnel.
Interpreter skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Interpreters are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and ASL. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Cultural sensitivity, and Dexterity.
We break down the percentage of Interpreters that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 24%
Worked with Polish patients at Georgetown University Hospital in translating diagnoses and acting as intermediary between patients and doctors.
- Customer Service, 18%
Assist with English-to-Spanish over-the-phone interpretation to customer service departments to private industries as well as government agencies.
- ASL, 10%
Freelance ASL interpreter providing interpreting services for Deaf and hearing professionals in corporate and government environments.
- Medical Terminology, 8%
Provided professional translation services for administrative hearings, insurance companies, financial, medical terminology, and 911 emergency services.
- LEP, 5%
Facilitate accurate Communication between clients and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Clients and Customers.
- Sign Language, 4%
Facilitated communication between sign language users and English users while applying relevant interpreting and translation techniques.
"patients," "customer service," and "asl" are among the most common skills that interpreters use at work. You can find even more interpreter responsibilities below, including:
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for an interpreter to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what interpreters do because "self-employed interpreters and translators must be able to manage their finances." Additionally, an interpreter resume shows how interpreters use business skills: "use my bilingual and interpretation skills, while maintaining excellent standards of professionalism to facilitate communication between businesses and their clients. "
Cultural sensitivity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling interpreter duties is cultural sensitivity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "interpreters and translators must be aware of expectations among the people for whom they are helping to facilitate communication." According to an interpreter resume, here's how interpreters can utilize cultural sensitivity in their job responsibilities: "provide interpreting services in a culturally sensitive manner to facilitate communication. "
Dexterity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of interpreters is dexterity. This skill is critical to many everyday interpreter duties, as "sign language interpreters must be able to make quick and coordinated hand, finger, and arm movements when interpreting." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "perform frequent transfers and lifting, dressing, bathing, grooming and feeding for all assigned patients. "
Interpersonal skills. For certain interpreter responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of an interpreter rely on this skill, as "interpreters and translators must be able to put clients and others at ease." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what interpreters do: "helped break down language barriers, effective communication and interpersonal skillsworked well under emotionally charged conversations. "
Listening skills. Another crucial skill for an interpreter to carry out their responsibilities is "listening skills." A big part of what interpreters relies on this skill, since "interpreters must pay attention when interpreting for audiences to ensure that they hear and interpret correctly." How this skill relates to interpreter duties can be seen in an example from an interpreter resume snippet: "communicated with staff on restaurant owner's behalf conducted interviews in somali on restaurant owner's behalf"
The three companies that hire the most interpreters are:
- TransPerfect60 interpreters jobs
- Lutheran Services in Iowa30 interpreters jobs
- Lutheran Services Florida18 interpreters jobs
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Compare different interpreters
Interpreter vs. Cryptologic linguist
Cryptologic linguists are lingual professionals who are responsible for using signals equipment to identify and analyze foreign communications. These linguists must assist intelligence community analysts in translating open source and sensitive materials as well as producing comprehensive reports about the daily activities of their enemies. They are required to supervise a team of other linguistic professionals to provide transcriptions and analysis from foreign communications. Cryptologic linguists must also identify the languages spoken at target geographic areas of interest.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between interpreters and cryptologic linguist. For instance, interpreter responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "customer service," "asl," and "medical terminology." Whereas a cryptologic linguist is skilled in "tip," "national security," "signals intelligence," and "language training." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, cryptologic linguists reach lower levels of education than interpreters. Cryptologic linguists are 6.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Interpreter vs. Arabic linguist
Arabic linguists are experts who interpret and translate research or business documents that are written in the Arab language or its dialects. These linguists are required to advise peers and superiors about the Arabic language and culture while providing inputs of written reports developed from target materials utilizing the specific Arabic language. They must conduct simultaneous interpretations of conversations during diplomatic meetings and conferences. Arabic linguists must also create and manage Arabic language training for the newly hired linguists.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real interpreter resumes. While interpreter responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "customer service," "asl," and "medical terminology," arabic linguists use skills like "english language," "transcription," "language," and "cultural knowledge."
Arabic linguists earn similar levels of education than interpreters in general. They're 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Interpreter vs. Technical translator
Technical Translation is the act of translating materials in a specific technical or scientific subject domain. A Technical Translator understands the nitty-gritty of the subject matter and knows the specialized terms in that field in both the source and secondary languages. This individual works to produce translations and interpretations of either written or oral communications of one language to another for a specific purpose or industry. As a Technical Translator, your duties may include interpreting conferences and emails in an organization.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from interpreter resumes include skills like "patients," "customer service," "asl," and "medical terminology," whereas a technical translator is more likely to list skills in "technical translation," "technical manuals," "proofreading," and "user interface. "
Technical translators earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $76,753. Interpreters earn the highest pay from the government industry, with an average salary of $55,265.Most technical translators achieve a similar degree level compared to interpreters. For example, they're 4.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Interpreter vs. Language translator
Language translators are linguistic professionals who are responsible for converting information from one language to another to help people read the translation based on the original source. These translators must use a computer to translate the original language into their native language. They can work for software development companies as under contract independent foreign language translators. They must utilize target language to translate and transcribe critical information and performing immediate data analysis. Language translators must also provide interpretations for meetings, conferences, and administrative hearings for any sponsored functions.
Types of interpreter
Updated January 8, 2025
