Interpreters and Translators
Interpret oral or sign language, or translate written text from one language into another.
- Median pay
- $60,170
- Doing it now
- 73,900
- By 2035
- Up 2%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
a year
across the country
6,000 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Follow ethical codes that protect the confidentiality of information.
- Identify and resolve conflicts related to the meanings of words, concepts, practices, or behaviors.
- Translate messages simultaneously or consecutively into specified languages, orally or by using hand signs, maintaining message content, context, and style as much as possible.
- Check translations of technical terms and terminology to ensure that they are accurate and remain consistent throughout translation revisions.
- Refer to reference materials, such as dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, and computerized terminology banks, as needed to ensure translation accuracy.
- Compile terminology and information to be used in translations, including technical terms such as those for legal or medical material.
- Listen to speakers' statements to determine meanings and to prepare translations, using electronic listening systems as necessary.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Romance Languages, Literatures, and LinguisticsSee 877 colleges that teach it
- Special Education and TeachingSee 602 colleges that teach it
- Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group StudiesSee 484 colleges that teach it
- Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and ServicesSee 390 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Organised and precise
Creative and expressive
Helping and teaching
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $60,170 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.