Most American corporations do not maintain a staff of language specialists. When translation or interpretation is needed, businesses usually employ the services of language agencies. Agencies handle millions of words for their clients; they translate technical reports, business agreements, manuals, correspondence and, increasingly, provide interpreters. Yet, because demand fluctuates, few agencies maintain full-time staff. There are some notable exceptions, but most agencies rely on a large roster of free-lance specialists and usually have full-time employees only to deal with sales, customer relations and scheduling. Some language specialists maintain steady working relations with an agency. Some have a steady income from their agency or free-lance work while others do not. All free lances must deliver assignments on time, in the format requested, and often have to invest in dictionaries and a word processor. Agencies keep a percentage of the fee paid by the customer.
Some freelancers prefer to find their own clients, either on an ad hoc basis or by founding their own agency. This requires business acumen, a talent for dealing with clients and colleagues, and capital for start-up costs.
Persons of a more cautious nature can become part of a "group," a loosely organized cooperative, in which several language specialists, preferably with complementary language combinations, pool their resources to pay for their "shingle" (the advertisement in the Yellow Pages, an answering service, calling cards, stationery, and possibly a shared computer).
Freelancers charge according to the difficulty of the material, the languages used, the kind of translation required, and the employer. Translators are paid from $60 to $80 per thousand words; after equipment, commuting and other costs, this averages about $25 an hour.
The Federal government is the largest U.S. employer of language specialists. The Office of Language Services at the Department of State tests and employs full-time language specialists. Working in this division is generally considered to be the top of the career ladder for government language specialists. The Office has a staff of about 20 interpreters and 30 translators and maintains a roster of about 1,400 free lances. Permanent staff start at the GS-9 level (about $21,000 a year) and go up to GS-14 or GS-15 (from about $44,000 to about $52,000 a year). Conference interpreters are paid about $250 a day, seminar interpreters, $195, and escort interpreters, $100.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also maintains a roster of about 1,400 translators who work on a contract basis for the U.S. Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS). JPRS serves as a translation service for the government, mainly for the CIA. Employees work at home on unclassified information and send much of their work through the mail. Contract workers are paid from $26 to $75 per thousand words.
The National Security Agency (NSA) is one of the largest employers of language specialists in the government, with over 1,000. Specialists trans-late, transcribe, abstract, analyze and report on recorded or live voice transmissions. NSA hires college graduates at the GS-7 level or those with advanced language degrees at GS-9 or GS-11. It is particularly interested in speakers of Slavic, Middle Eastern and Asian languages. Familiarity with colloquial and idiomatic speech is required. NSA encourages and pays for its employees to expand their language skills at nearby universities, in intensive summer programs or at the Foreign Service Institute. Some language specialists are posted abroad. Applicants and their immediate families must be U.S. citizens and must pass a variety of language proficiency, psychological, polygraph and security tests.
The Voice of America (VOA) section of the U.S. Information Agency hires over 1,000 language specialists. It expects them not only to translate but to adapt material to a target audience, write a script and deliver their piece on the air. Its personnel are known as International Radio Broadcasters (IRBs). They work on the GS-9 to GS-13 levels and are divided into six area-related sectors. Most positions are in Washington, DC. [See U.S. Information Agency entry in Chapter 9 for more information.] VOA also hires recent college graduates for its Foreign Language Intern Program. This program offers permanent positions to fluent speakers of foreign languages and serves as a training program for IRB positions.
The FBI hires both staff and contract translators, and it has about 217 language specialists in its employ at grades GS-6 through GS-13. Assignments include interpreting for foreign dignitaries visiting FBI headquarters, administering language tests and analyzing and summarizing intelligence materials. Arabic and Slavic languages are the most useful for permanent staff while contract specialists are needed in a variety of languages. Permanent staff must be U.S. citizens.
Other government agencies also employ language specialists. The Language Services Section at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress has five permanent translators. It also takes summer interns.
The Naval Intelligence Support Center, Translation Division, Department of the Navy, has 11 language specialists. The Translation Branch of the Patent and Trademark Office of the Department of Commerce has five translators. The Center for International Research at the Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, employs three. The U.S. Army Foreign Science and Technology Center's Translation Division has 10 translators. The Central Translation Service at the Social Security Administration has about 16 translators. The Technical Translation Division, Foreign Technology Division, located at Wright-Patterson air force base, has 12 translators, two of whom are military personnel. For more information on translation and interpretation opportunities within the Federal government, see Translation in the Federal Government: 1985 by Ted Crump.