Translators provide products and services, and work with written documents, as distinguished from interpreters, who work as oral language mediators. Most practitioners pursue one field or the other; it is less common to work in both. Interpreters and translators are employed in a variety of industries: schools, colleges and universities; healthcare and social assistance, especially hospitals; and other areas of government, such as Federal, State and local courts. Other employers of interpreters and translators include interpreting and translation agencies. Many translators will require on-the-job training in addition to Kent State's pre-professional B.S. in Translation. Translators work predominantly into the mother tongue. Many companies prefer to hire employees who can function in more than on language and who can handle language transfer tasks.
Translation is one of the top ten fastest-growing business sectors worldwide, with demand rising at 25-30 percent per annum. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014) projects a 46 percent growth in employment for translators and interpreters with bachelor's degrees, much faster than the average for all occupations.
About 26 percent of interpreters and translators are self-employed, and thus majors should have a strong foundation in entrepreneurship; those who work in-house should be aware that such opportunities are decreasing due to outsourcing and vendor consolidation. Many translators rely on other sources of income to supplement earnings, such as teaching or language consultancy. The career outlook is best for those who gain a functional ability with translation tools and value-added skills such as revising/editing/proofreading and desktop publishing. Prospects are currently strong in software internationalization and webpage localization (making products, text or images acceptable to target-country market norms). The freelancer's best credential at present is to become certified in the language combination through the American Translators Association, or for interpreters, through state or federal bodies at the national level. Growth projections for the coming decade are much higher than for other sectors.
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