How To Get Hired In Any International Agency As A Certified Translator?

To excel in any field, you require professionalism. To gain professionalism, you need to enhance proficiency in your field. In the world of translation, professionalism is attained through certified translation. If you want to become a translator and want recognition in this field then you must enhance your skills and become a certified translator. Probably then you can get a job in any best translation agency around the world. 

Due to digitalization, the demand for certified translators is more than before. People require the certified translation services for legal, business and professional purposes. For instance, if anyone wants to migrate from the USA to Spain, they have to take assistance from certified Spanish translation services to translate their legal documents. Do you know that Spanish is native to 500 million native speakers? Most of these speakers are residing in America and Spain. This huge population requires certified translation services in various fields of life. 

Let’s find out how you can become a certified translator.

Enroll Yourself in The American Translators Association 

The American Translators Association provides certification programs for translators. The best part is, these certifications are accepted all around the world. You can get certification to translate the documents into English and from English to another language.

Fulfilling Certain Requirements 

To get certified by the American Translators Association ATA, you need to meet certain requirements. The ATA website has more information, but two main criteria must be fulfilled before applying.

• Firstly, you must be an ATA member to apply for certification. If you are not already a member, you can become one when you apply for the test.
• Secondly, you need to take a reading proficiency test in both the language you are translating from and the language you are translating into. This test is provided by the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages).

Do Check Whether Your Language is Available in the test or not

If you want to become a certified translator then first make sure that the American Translators Association supports your language pair. The exam offers a limited number of languages, either from or English.

For professional English translation services, you can choose from Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Ukrainian.

If you want to offer translation from English into other languages, you can select Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, or Ukrainian.

Appear in the Test 

The Test is a challenging three-hour exam. It covers comprehension of the source language, translation techniques, and writing in your target language. Your grammar, word choice, and translation quality will be graded.

• Aim for at least the ‘Advanced-Low’ level on the ACTFL scale before attempting the ATA certification examination.
• Practice tests are available on the ATA website.
• You’ll receive three passages: A, B, and C.
• Passage A can be an editorial, essay, or non-fiction book.
• Technical, scientific, or medical information can be in passage B. 
• Passage C may be financial, business, or legal.
• You must translate two passages: A is compulsory, and you can choose either B or C.

Can You Take the ATA Test Without a Bachelor’s Degree? 

The point to ponder is whether you can take the ATA certification exam with no degree. The exam is difficult. Therefore, having a good knowledge of both languages is important for accurate translations. If you have a bachelor’s degree in translation studies, it can be helpful, but it is not mandatory.

Get International Certification from the United Nations 

Well, you can expand your translation business internationally with the assistance of United Nations certification. Are you looking for certification in the Spanish language? Good news for you. The six languages in which the UN provides certification are English, Mandarin, Russian, French, Arabic, and Spanish.

Want to become a Spanish-certified translator? To pursue this career you must have a diploma or bachelor’s degree from a recognized translation school. Moreover, you must be proficient in translating at least two UN languages.

Moreover, to get certification, you have to pass written and competency-based interviews. The candidates who passed this test gained global recognition. It is worth the hard work for those who earn it. If you are the one, then you can get a job in any best translation agency.

Certification can add you to the List of ATA Directory of Translation and Interpreting Services

Upon certification, you will receive an ATA-certified translator seal and your listing will appear in the ATA Directory of Translation and Interpreting Services. In this way, you can become a professional certified translator according to industry standards.

Want to know your certification number? It is documented on the ATA seal, which you can use on your documents. Anyone looking for certified Spanish translation services or in any other language can easily find you and see your contact details from the list of the ATA Directory of Translators and Interpreters.

Wrapping Up 

Remember, it is challenging, but you can forget this challenge when you get jobs in top translation agencies and have clients worldwide. Moreover, the demand for Spanish translators is growing fast, so the future looks bright. Are you ready to take the plunge? Start researching certification programs and researching translation schools.