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

What is a staff interpreter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Laura Polhemus Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a staff interpreter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.02 an hour? That's $43,714 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 20% and produce 14,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a staff interpreter?

Laura Polhemus Ph.D.

Advanced Assistant Professor, Bethel University

Always be involved with the Deaf community where you live. Go to events, volunteer where appropriate, and seek out ways to be involved. This will grow your ASL skills and your understanding of how to be a good ally. Never stop learning. Listen to podcasts, watch ASL news, read, go to workshops, seek out mentors, and continue to learn and grow to become more knowledgeable of the world and the languages you're using. Give yourself grace and practice self-care. It will take many hours of practice to become an expert, so don't expect that to happen immediately. The biggest difference between experts and novices in this field is that experts know how to see a mistake and turn it around into something that motivates them or sometime they can learn from instead of seeing it only as a negative. Take advantage of massages, counseling, chiropractic services, and other types of self-care to keep yourself healthy physically and mentally.

ScoreStaff InterpreterUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,714

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.1

Growth rate 20%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 11.47%

Black or African American 7.23%

Hispanic or Latino 23.72%

Unknown 4.56%

White 52.77%

Gender

female 75.49%

male 24.51%

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 staff interpreter

Explore staff interpreter education requirements

Most common staff interpreter degrees

Bachelor's

51.7 %

Associate

28.5 %

Master's

12.8 %

Start to develop specific staff interpreter skills

Skills	Percentages
ASL	38.38%
Mental Health	17.78%
Interpretation Services	12.05%
Sign Language	11.21%
LEP	8.14%

Complete relevant staff interpreter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New staff 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 staff interpreter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real staff interpreter resumes.

Research staff interpreter duties and responsibilities

Help to build collaboration with internal and international patients with medical staff, social organizations and insurance companies.
Create education and promotional materials relate to Latino health and wellness.

Prepare your staff interpreter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your staff 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 staff 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 staff interpreter resume templates

Build a professional staff 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 staff interpreter resume.