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Interpreters and Translators
Interpret oral or sign language, or translate written text from one language into another.
Also Known As:
American Sign Language Interpreter (ASL Interpreter)
Court Interpreter
Educational Interpreter
Interpreter
Linguist
Medical Interpreter
Sign Language Interpreter
Spanish Interpreter
Spanish Translator
Translator
Wages
Annual wages for Interpreters and Translators in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
76,600
2% Change From 2024
Explore Interpreters and Translators video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Follow ethical codes that protect the confidentiality of information.
- Translate messages simultaneously or consecutively into specified languages, orally or by using hand signs, maintaining message content, context, and style as much as possible.
- Educate students, parents, staff, and teachers about the roles and functions of educational interpreters.
- Adapt translations to students' cognitive and grade levels, collaborating with educational team members as necessary.
- Listen to speakers' statements to determine meanings and to prepare translations, using electronic listening systems as necessary.
- Discuss translation requirements with clients and determine any fees to be charged for services provided.
- Identify and resolve conflicts related to the meanings of words, concepts, practices, or behaviors.
- Read written materials, such as legal documents, scientific works, or news reports, and rewrite material into specified languages.
- Adapt software and accompanying technical documents to another language and culture.
- Compile terminology and information to be used in translations, including technical terms such as those for legal or medical material.
- Check translations of technical terms and terminology to ensure that they are accurate and remain consistent throughout translation revisions.
- Follow ethical codes that protect the confidentiality of information.
- Check original texts or confer with authors to ensure that translations retain the content, meaning, and feeling of the original material.
- Proofread, edit, and revise translated materials.
- Train and supervise other translators or interpreters.
- Travel with or guide tourists who speak another language.
- Refer to reference materials, such as dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, and computerized terminology banks, as needed to ensure translation accuracy.
- Compile information on content and context of information to be translated and on intended audience.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")