Professional conference interpreters are either staff interpreters (employed by the EU, the UN, International Criminal Court) or freelance interpreters.
Freelance interpreters are self-employed; conference interpreters work at conferences and business meetings.
Community or public service interpreters work in garda stations, courts, probation, hospitals.
Interpreting is a very specialised skill. In order to be a successful interpreter it is not sufficient to be “good at languages”.
Resourcefulness for dealing with the unexpected
Perseverance
Self-discipline
Self-reliance
Ability to move into new areas of specialisation
Complete intellectual integrity
Great intellectual curiosity
Ability to analyse and process information quickly
Thorough understanding of the language and culture of both the language from which and into which you are interpreting
Proficiency in the Mother tongue
Check out our members stories where ATII members talk about their work as translators and/or interpreters.