For trained linguists, either already out and looking for a career or for those getting ready to transition into the civilian world, getting a Bachelor’s Degree of Interpretation and Translation could be your ticket to a rewarding civilian job where you can continue to use your foreign language skills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects linguist jobs to grow at a much-faster-than-average rate of 29% between now and 2024. This percentage interprets to an additional 17,500 jobs added to the 61,000 already in existence. And if entrepreneurship interests you, better yet as 20% of these jobs will be for those who are self-employed.
Why the demand in this field? In the last three years, the number of non-English speaking Americans has tripled. And with the number of immigrants coming into this country on the rise, this number will continue to grow.
Into the Future: Bachelor’s Degree of Interpretation and Translation
Because communicating is becoming such a massive problem, the federal government has created requirements for interpreters and translators for non-English speakers to be present in certain medical and court situations, so the affected party fully understands what is being said and can respond in their own language. Many of these translators are hired on a contract basis either from an agency or through self-employment. Others may be hired into full-time positions by a government agency: local, county, state or federal.
As globalization continues to grow, companies are finding themselves needing more dual-language employees to market their products and services around the world – the demand is especially high in the Spanish-speaking countries of Argentina and Spain.
The pay for these jobs is decent; median in May 2015 was $44,190 annually. Those employed in government service was slightly more at $49,660. Employment with the federal government is especially beneficial for veterans as their time in service transfers over to seniority on the job, plus some veterans will qualify for Veterans Preference making it potentially easier to get hired.
Several schools offer this degree program, or a variation of it, including the University of South Florida, Kent State and Syracuse University.
While the large urban areas of Washington, DC, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles provide the most opportunity in this area, there are jobs across the breadth of the U.S. along with overseas – especially in the two new emerging markets of Asia and Africa.
If you already know a foreign language, and would like to continue working this field, interpretation and translation has a bright future out until at least 2024, and if the current trend continues, well beyond.
