Vital Skills and Characteristics of a Translator

Like most careers, professional translators offering certified translation services have passed through stringent challenges and further honed their skills upon taking a language degree. What sets most of these professional translators apart from other careers, however, is that their motivation behind taking up translating as a career is more personal rather than career-driven.

Common Skillset

Having the knowledge of another language is not enough to become a professional translator. Aside from a personal-oriented goal of translating, professional translators have also honed their oral and written communication skills, which always comes in handy when they interact with other people. They also have mastery of at least one foreign language, and they have also had experience of living abroad for some time, wherein they had to deal with other people coming from various backgrounds, countries and languages.

Professional translators are also expected to work in a team as well as work independently. They might sometimes be required to have basic IT skills, aside from project management and presentation skills. For most employers and those needing a bit of help in translating, these are just some of the skills they look for in a professional translator.

Careers Other than Translating

Most professional translators can be found among certified translation services, and most of the time are helping people with their translating needs. Some of them opt to teach in schools, colleges or universities, while others might even go into Teaching English as a Foreign Language in the U.K. and even abroad.