Working as an interpreter: My experience (and also my WORST experience) 

I work as an interpreter at LanguageLine Solutions and it is one of the worst places one could work at. The workload is massive, the communication between your supervisors and you is nonexistent, the pay is terrible, there are no benefits and their "training" lasts for 5 days and doesn't teach you a thing.

I'm currently a full time Spanish Medical interpreter. I rarely do remote interpreting because I mostly do in-person apts, but man, driving from one place to another can be really stressing as well, not to mention that interpreting for more than 2hrs straight can be draining! Although, there're some days where it's not as bad, and some other days where its super slow. I'm sorry for what you went thru, but at the same thank you as well for sharing your experience. On another topic, can we talk about how often latinos love to ramble? When providers ask patients a direct question, latinos talk for hrs and say everything except what was asked for. It can also be reaaally hard for me sometimes to stick with the protocole of interpreting verbatim when patients insinuate their replies/ questions, like, Do I keep confusing the provider or should I just ask/say the actual inquiry?

Forever ago i read an article talking about call center syndrome when a bunch of fellow interpreters were talking about getting anxious or depressed (we worked at a place that did OPI). Crazy how some companies don’t care …. so thankful for the ones that do ¡Saludos desde Texas!

I was working as a medical spanish/english interpreter online and i acknowledge that at some point i got so stressed and tired that i failed to give a good rendition, sometimes because i could hardly hear, others because they would go on and on, sometimes because i didnt understand because of the accent so what i did was ask for repetition, but the cliente would get irritated by me asking them for repetition. At the end someone of the clients would submit a complaint comment pointing all my flaws end even exagerating things, which provoked my account elimination. Then i called my manager to ask him why they left me out like that and he Said they have Zero Tolerance. My question Is How does a company expects their employees to have a good performance without previews training , experience or without even a try- error opportunity. That got me to the point that companies want perfect robots that make no mistakes and that's imposible because Google translator Is not accurate. And i dispise that mentality because i think that as human beings we learn from mistakes and we can not scape from that reality no matter How efficient a company pretends their workers to be.

I work for Language service associates (LSA). Best company ever. Highly recommend. For full time workers, They pay $25/hr, insurance, 401k, PTO, paid holiday. However, you will need a very good resume. They are very picky on who they employ, and they really do test you to make sure you are good enough. Good luck guys!

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm sorry about the scam you went through. I had horrible experiences with two different companies. One of them was a translation agency which was notorious for scamming freelance translators, only I didn't know it at the time. Like you, I had a few red flags but did not pay attention. To anyone reading this: when you have red flags at the start of relationship, be it a business or a personal relationship, RUN!!!

Im just training for 3 weeks in a company mentioned here a few times. There is a massive amount of terminology i need to learn and the amount of work to retain and interpret word for word accurately is overwhelming. The pay is about 85cents per hour. 8 hours a day 😅😢

language line es el de los peores, pero bueno yo trabaje con ellos nada mas part time aqui en Nicaragua me pagaban por hora 2.8 dolares pero al mes ganaba como 490 dolares al mes para mi no estaba mal jajaja si era algo estresante pero lo tenia que hacer porque estaba ganando mas del doble que el salario minimo y trabajando la mitad del tiempo y desde casa. No lo vi muy dificil siempre me daban el feedback como "meeting expectations" un 90% de las veces y nos corrieron a todos porque hubo apagon y no teniamos backup xd ahora quizas empiece como freelancer en algun otro parecido

Do not become an interpreter. It's one of the worse jobs ever. Very stressful, low pay job. They put you in front of a computer, with a headphone and make you do interpretation, no stop, for hours. You will have terrible headaches, dizziness and you will end up losing your ability to hear well. Terrible job.

Thank you! We have very similar stories. I'm not sure how I lasted so long (17+ years) in the call center environment. I, also, now suffer with physical health conditions due to the stressful work. I still do it part-time but it's like a new life on the outside now.

Be strong brother and focus on your dream . you will make one day .This is a big challenge don't give up.

It depends in what area of interpreting your going into and the company. The people with or without degrees make the same. What matters is the experience

Thank you for sharing all this information. I think you should report your employer's abusive unprofessional behaviour to all the organisations that group and represent interpreters in your area.

thank you so much for sharing your experiences, I subscribed to your channel

I work as an interpreter I am currently retired so Interpreting is my job now I really like it sometimes we run into things and preparation is working for this company that I’m working for they seem to not care about the interpreters not getting enough work and letting the employees in the company determine who gets to work more than others I have brought that to their attention but I have seen that there don’t care they are bringing new interpreters that probably charge less per hour but her get getting less quality into the field I am hearing other doctors saying why are we getting interpreters they don’t know what they’re doing well because they charge less Scheduler please don’t disrespect me the scheduler get upset and you will get no work as I have been doing I have no work for the rest of the month through the rest of the year as I told the scheduler please respect me when you speak to me Been with this company I am with right now I am considering leaving and not working with them anymore it’s too much of a struggle to get any work and having to kiss up to the people that work there which is not necessary when you’re working for your money I shouldn’t have to kiss up and I won’t

Hello D.C. which companies would you suggest for me to find a job as an interpreter/translator, i must say ive never done it before, my native languages are mostly Spanish then Italian, some understanding of brasilian Portuguese..i would apreciate your usefull information..

Very interesting, thank you.

Well, I think your only "mistake" is having too much patience! You should tell the name of that company so that no translator gets trapped like you. Please, do not stop being an interpreter for having that horrible experience with a single company. It was THEIR fault that they were completely useless, not yours.

💥💥💥💥💥 1:50 Unique lesson Interpretation means - Verbal Translation - Written

They pay 15 usd per hour now. The paid “training” now last for 20 working days, 7 hours and a half each day. Every shift Im scared to death. This is super stressful. We are still in training but the trainer doesn’t supports enough and its not warm and normal as another one we had for 2 weeks while ours was sick. Every day there is less and less students in the class. We started with 17 and now we are just 9. I can not sleep right now. Some clients are rude AF. Sometimes the LEP speaks in low voice, away from the phone, too fast, in a rude way too or even weird and screaming. I have to listed to dirty nasty weird stuff every day. It’s horrible. The client gets mad every time I ask to repeat sonethibg. Nobody speaks a word in class. Seems a military training. Today I have 4 hours of calls. Yesterday I had 3. The training ends in 2 days. I am an unemployed software developer and I feel like shit doing this, but I have to. There is worst jobs than this one.

This is a horrible experience that you had, I’m so sorry, you were way too patient with them.

hy...i want to become a Chinese interpreter .... but currently I'm in 1st year graduation..and i chose BA HONS CHINESE from JNU,Delhi,India How to start this..? i mean what's the next step when I graduated...?

Would you say exprience or certifications matter more for translating? Is it any different for interpretation?

Thank you for sharing your experiences and input. It would be so helpful if you share what this company is called somewhere like Glassdoors for others too see and be warned. These people sound unprofessional and unethical.

Excellent video. Apparently in the US interpetes are not paid very well. In Europe they are paid , according to qualifications and languages , between 200 and 600 dollars per day.

I worked as a Spanish interpreter for Cyracom. It was my first time working for an interpreting company. If you’re reading this: please NEVER work for them. They’re horrible. They underpay you and the work is extremely stressful, back to back calls. It gave me PTSD. I no longer work as an interpreter, although I do freelance at times with Lionbridge.

What do you recommend I do? Should I make flashcards with monolingual definitions ? Should I add examples? Should I only use the translation of the word?

Well, I am about to start my career in translation and interpreting but now I’m confused . I really love languages and the fact of working abroad . I like remote job but I have heard that many companies are just like your last company. Any suggestions?

again, thanks for sharing..I would like to be in medical terminology....

What is the name of company...I need to try OPI. Thanks

How did it end up, like did you sued them or just paid the penalty?! Also which country has this happened please, starting next week to work as a interpreter but very nervous!😬

Sounds like a very bad nightmare. Crooked bosses taking advantage of interpreters and paying them pennies.

Good morning Carlos! I'm Anderson, from Colombia, and I'm glad I've found your channel! I'm applying to be an interpreter. I would like where I could find useful material to practice some, coul you tell me please where I could do it? Thanks in advance!

Can you put degree in your resume even though they didn't for it? Because the requirements can be high school diploma or secondary certificate

Thanks for the sharing

Thank you for sharing

I can do simultaneous from Finnish to Swedish and Finnish to english pretty smoothly, and English to Finnish decently. But i struggle with Swedish to Finnish and esp. Swedish to english. Even tho Finnish and swedish are native languages and English was learned.

Im 20y/0. I've an A in the FCE but no means to take an IELTS, and haven't studied interpretation. I passed exam an lls and Im gonna get paid around 3.80 x hour, working 3.75 hours a day. Im highly susceptible to stress, and i know that because i'm used to getting eczemas right after i had an horrible day. I'm scared to death cause the training was meh, and im underestimating myself i think. Im gonna work on LLS but through another company. And there's really nothing left to do; as someone said comments ago, there's worse, and I need to become a support for my mom, so...

Could I do that even if I don't livr in the uk/usa?? I live in italy

Hello There! I’m studying to translate English and Spanish do you have any tips for how I can improve my translation ?

Wiil you recommend to take a job for interpreting only few months while I pay Some debts? 5 or 11 months? I got a friend whi told me that he has been working there for many years... Is that possible?

Can you tell me my ayslum has been accepy by home office i got my lr uk and i have done master degree in uk University can you tell me how can i start interpeter job in uk please guide me how to take agencu offer job

i just want to know is this company language line solutions? cause im about to start my first day in operations and im scared lol

does someone need to take courses for interpreting? and dose he need to improve that he has the lang skills by a test like IELTS or so ?

Hello. Which company did you work for?

Was the company Language Line Solutions?

I want to start working an interpreter. I speak English, Spanish and Portuguese. Yet I know nothing about this king of job. How could I start it? I mean, if you guys could suggest an app or site that will not have lots of requiments for a totally beginner. Will they pay me using Paypal? Thank you for your help. PS. I don't need to make lots of money, just want start and get some knowledge and expertise about this job.

I recently got hired to be a Spanish interpreter. I have never done this job, and what caught my attention from your video was that you do not need a degree for this. I passed the assessments and started over the phone interpretation. But I feel as being a part of a hiring quota. I was called almost 2 months after applying and when i read the job post they were looking for more than 10 candidates. I will like your thoughts on this and any advice? By the way I was hired as a freelancer. Thanks

Being an interpreter it's very rewarding because we are able to help. But when you are not appropriate it makes angry sad and at the top of everything you pay penalties. Wtf

Thanks

Eteneme, what is the name of this company?

Do you get paid 8h/day? or paid by the minutes that you are actually taking the calls? Thanks.

Hi! I work as an interpreter. Could you tell us the name of this company so I can keep a safe distance?

What are the other companies doing the same businesses

Hi! I watched your video and I'm about to start a training in a few days for a company that was looking for interpreters. Can you tell me the name of the places where you had your worst experiences?. I really don't wanna have a bad time.

What can I do to become an interpreter? I mean, what kind of course can I do to learn the technics?

Hello please let me know what company you were working for? regards, Kat

Thank you for your expressions. I am interested in becoming interpreter or translator. I want to follow you. My name is Manuel Pineda, from Nicaragua. I will be attentive in the case you have the time to answer me. Have a good time.

Was it for kelly services? I live in mexico and applied, i start training soon.

Can you help me, as because I'm learning korean and seeking jobs in this language!

hi, whats the company you are referring to?

I would like to know the name of the first company you mentioned,,,

I'm new in this brand and was very interesting ☺️ your experience, I hope to see more videos like this to learn more about interpretation from you, my best wishes for your channel. The following question maybe doesn't makes sense, but I'd like to know your opinion Does every company you have to work with for a meeting, conference give a glossary of words that they'll use or you have to figure out by yourself?

How to apply

I want to get started as an interpreter! What are the first steps to getting started?

Language Line Solutions?

I have a question about simultaneous interpreting: How does that even work? I speak Mandarin fluently, and the grammar in English and Mandarin are two worlds apart. How do I even interpret while the other person is speaking when the grammar is just so different?

Omg sounds the same as LLS

Anyone here has worked as interpreter at teleperformance?

Can you help me?

Can i be able to contact you brother?

Hey lo siento mi amigo! What they did to you was horrible, I might become an interpreter too and so it might be useful to know what companies may do, thank you for sharing

This sounds like LLS to me

Man.. you got scammed 😭😭

Why did you wait so much to quit? Too many signs or red flags 🚩

Seems that these interpreter companies are all the same .

Telephone Arabe

i didn't even finish highschool and i am working as a part time spanish interpreter, tbh all you need is to develop a very sharp understanding of the language and you'll be getting paid just to talk to people.

Saying Jesus is how you get out of sleep paralysis btw

If you want to be really a good and greatful interpreter, you have to apply for high schools like ISIT or ESIT or Geneva university, from here you will know numerous things and technics also the pleasure of translation and interpreting, and this accept after a hard and selective contest, so good luck, and do not talk about profession you don't know exactely what is it and how it work and where, conference interpreting is one of the dreamed career around the world, so be real and dellicate next time, thanks