Be a certified translator

by Eva Marshall
(Cincinnati, OH)

Eva asked: I live in the Cincinnati, OH area and was wondering if you could tell me how to go about becoming a translator (i/e getting jobs as one) and/or a certified translator. My languages would be English to Norwegian or Norwegian to English. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.



The Spanish Translator: Thanks for the question on being a certified translator, Eva. Many people have the same question and are interested in becoming freelance translators. First of all, your language combination seems like a pretty good pairing, as I can imagine that there probably aren't that many Norwegian translators.

The only thing to remember about becoming a freelance translator is that there really aren't any requirements. If you say you are a freelance translator, then that's what you are. The thing that separates some translators from others is the amount of clients that they have, and that is what you want to work on when building up your freelance translation business.

There are lots of ways to build your client base, and you just need to find the best ways that work for you. You can have your own web presence, network with other translators, contact local organizations that are in need of translators, or even use The Freelance Translator's Ultimate List of Translation Agencies to contact translation agencies.

Translation certification, while not necessary to become a freelance translator, can be useful to some people. The American Translators Association is probably the most well known translation organization in the United States, but there are other options if you wan to become certified, such as getting an online translation certificate.

Hope this helps, and good luck!