Is ATA Membership Really Worth It?

¿Vale la pena ser miembro de la ATA?

Tell us what you think?

There are a lot of translators (in the U.S.) that believe every translator that is working professionally should be certified (or accredited) by the ATA and that if a translator is not, he/she should not be translating professionally.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are translators who feel that the American Translators Association does not serve any translator's interest and is only out there to make money.

While both of these extremes in thought do exist, I believe that ultimately they are both flawed and that every translator's situation is different. Only the translator will be able to determine whether or not membership is indeed worth it.

In terms of personal experience, I know translators that are members of ATA as well as translators that will have nothing to do with ATA. Both types of translators are able to find work, establish freelance businesses, and serve the translation profession, well, professionally.

I am not a member of ATA and have never given much though to becoming one. While it's true that nobody that I've translated for has ever asked if was a member, it could also be quite possible that another freelancer was chosen over me because I wasn't a member. (But I don't know that for sure, so what I don't know doesn't hurt me.)

Well, I decided to go to the source and ask ATA members if they felt their membership dues was worth what they got in return from ATA. I emailed about 20 translators at random (finding their email addresses on the ATA website) and asked them the following questions:

• Has being a member of ATA led to more clients?
• Have people contacted you from ATA's website needing a translator or do you still get most (if not all) your jobs from outside agencies?
• If you don't get many job offers by being a member, in what way(s) is it worth it to you?
• What benefits does ATA give you that you couldn't do without as a freelance translator?

I received 9 responses back and most of them were quite informative.

Almost everyone said that being a member has not led to more clients. Rather, the consensus was that being a member doesn't provide any tangible benefits and the only way it could help is if a translator was certified by ATA. Telling a potential client that you are certified might bring you more work, but the amount is pretty miniscule.

I found it interesting that some translators didn't really know why they were members because it cost so much and the return was so little. It seems like being an ATA member is almost more of stigma that has been perpetuated by a certain group of translators.

So while I believe that there are some good things that can come from ATA membership, I personally don't believe that it is worth it.

What do you think about being a member of ATA? Is is worth it to you?

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