{"id":1699,"date":"2021-02-09T16:48:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T16:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/?p=1699"},"modified":"2021-04-27T15:04:19","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T15:04:19","slug":"how-to-assess-the-quality-of-your-interpreter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/2021\/02\/09\/how-to-assess-the-quality-of-your-interpreter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to assess the quality of your interpreter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/p>\n

By Ofer Tirosh*
\n<\/span>Originally published at the <\/span>Tomedes Blog<\/span><\/a>. Reposted with permission.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

With an increase in remote interpretation during the pandemic, companies must assess the quality of the interpreters with whom they work. Many businesses out there are keen to assure themselves of the quality of their <\/span>interpretation services<\/span>, in order to ensure that they are benefiting from superb language skills. As such, here are some tips on how to do just that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing demand for interpretation services\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Just as demand for document translation is growing, so is demand for interpretation services. In fact, according to <\/span>this article on future interpretation service need<\/span><\/a> from <\/span>Job Monkey<\/span><\/a>, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of both translators and interpreters will increase by 22% over the coming eight years. Those specialising in Arabic, along with European languages including Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese are most likely to find their services being sought out with greater frequency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interpretation service quality assessment<\/b><\/h3>\n

A common concern for those hiring both <\/span>document translation<\/span><\/a> specialists and interpretation staff is how they can tell whether or not they are getting a good service, in terms of the language being used. After all, the reason for hiring a translator or interpreter is usually the need to produce a document or deliver a conversation in a language that you don\u2019t speak. And if you don\u2019t speak the language, it can feel near-impossible to judge the quality of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, there are some steps that you can take to assess the quality of the services you are receiving, even if you don\u2019t speak a single word of the language being interpreted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Use interpreter reviews<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re hiring an interpreter through a freelancer site such as Upwork, put plenty of time into reading reviews. Make sure you hire an individual who has nothing but glowing reviews \u2013 not just for their language skills but also for their timekeeping and customer service. A good interpreter has to deliver the whole package, being prompt and personable as well as linguistically talented. Make sure that the reviews you read have recent dates, too, so that the feedback you\u2019re using is current.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re satisfied with an individual\u2019s reviews, be sure to discuss your needs in detail with them before making the hire. That way, you can get a feel for their level of customer service before you commit to using them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hire through an interpretation agency\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Relying on an interpretation agency is also a good way to find a talented language professional. The agency will take care of vetting and quality assessment of the individuals it uses, so all you need to do is to investigate the credentials of the agency itself. Reviews, again, are a great help in this respect. Make sure that they are current and from multiple sources, as well as relating to the language and\/or specific subject for which you need an interpreter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth looking at how long the interpretation service has been in business. An agency that has been operating for many years is obviously getting it right!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Set up a test conversation<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you really want to test the mettle of your interpreter, there are various ways to do so. One of the easiest is to engage someone online \u2013 a language teacher is ideal \u2013 in order to assist you. All you need to do is pay for an hour of the teacher\u2019s time and an hour of the interpreter\u2019s time. The teacher speaks in the target language and the interpreter translates what they say. At the end of the conversation, you talk to the teacher in your native tongue about how well the interpreter performed. It\u2019s a simple test that can give you the confidence you need to proceed with using the interpreter in a business setting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why top quality interpretation is important<\/b><\/h3>\n

When you use an interpreter to speak for you, they become the representative of your business. As such, if you\u2019re trying to impress clients or potential partners, using a top quality interpretation service is absolutely essential. A poor service indicates that your company doesn\u2019t place much emphasis on quality, which is hardly the impression that most businesses want to make!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"PhotoOfer Tirosh<\/strong> is the founder and CEO of Tomedes<\/a>, a leading translation company established in 2007. Throughout the years, Tomedes has quickly grown into an industry leader in translation, localization, and interpretation services. Now, Tomedes has branches in 3 continents and has served tens of thousands of clients, including Fortune 500 companies.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ofer Tirosh* Originally published at the Tomedes Blog. Reposted with permission. With an increase in remote interpretation during the pandemic, companies must assess the quality of the interpreters with whom they work. Many businesses out there are keen to assure themselves of the quality of their interpretation services, in order to ensure that they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-interpreting","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1699"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1708,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699\/revisions\/1708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}