An employer has no way of finding out how well you will fit into his organization if he doesn’t interview you.
A cover letter or resume is no match with an actual meeting, which shows a prospective employee’s true colors, aka abilities.
Interviews are necessary to conduct if employers want to hire the right translators. As a candidate, all that you have to do is prepare well for what you will be asked during an interview.
For a translator position, here is a set of interview questions and answers that you can take help from:
Translator Interview Questions and Answers
1. How do you qualify to work as a translator at our organization?
As you mentioned in your advertisement, you are looking for someone who is trilingual – I am proficient in three languages, including English, French, and Spanish. And I have extensive experience in translating information from one language to another, which makes me a great person to work as a translator at your organization.
2. What do you do to maintain the efficacy of a translated document?
t is one of the most challenging jobs to do. However, it is also the most important thing to do. I make sure that I maintain the essence of the document that I am translating by not changing anything in it even though we translators have been given some leeway in this regard. I do not believe in literal translation – my aim is always to translate what needs to be said.
3. But sometimes, one does have to translate in a literal manner…
True. But I know exactly when this is needed. I read and re-read the document many times so that I can understand what is written and then translate it accordingly. A literal translation is only done when there is no other way to interpret the document.
4. As far as translating in real-time is concerned, what is your experience?
I have translated conversations during meetings and seminars quite extensively. By listening intently to what the source-language speaker is saying, I can quickly process the information that he or she wants to relay and translate it into the target language.
5. If given a chance, which fourth language would you learn? And why?
I would opt to learn Chinese and all its variations. This is because Chinese is the next most important language after English, taking over the world through trade and business. It will come in handy.
6. What do you think is the most important thing to do when translating between two languages?
Apart from maintaining the essence of what needs to be said, it is important to effectively relay concepts and ideas between languages.