We’re currently looking to expand out Community Interpreting pool of linguists. If you know someone, who is interested in Community Interpreting, who has accredited training or voluntary experience you can encourage them to find out more and send us a CV.
We often received general enquiries from across Sussex, the UK and internationally about how to begin a career in Community Interpreting and other language support services.
We were contacted recently by a Careers Advisor working for West Sussex County Council. The advisor was supporting a young person at school leaving age. The young person’s first language is Arabic and they are keen to use their language skills in an interpreting role. The Advisor requested help to find a route into professional interpreting that didn’t require a Masters’ Degree as this may not be accessible to all those they support.
We signposted the advisor to accredited training providers for Community Interpreting in the Sussex area such as the WEA and conveyed the value of voluntary experience in interpreting informally for family, friends or the community to build experience.
We also shared what SIS looks for when enrolling new Community Interpreters:
DESIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
- Existing interpreting accredited training & qualifications
- Fluency in English and target language(s)
- Understanding and empathy with the client group and its culture, and with the public service agencies and their cultures
- Knowledge of public service agencies
- Knowledge of client rights and equal opportunities
- Ability to apply standard interpreting techniques in a range of settings
- An ability to listen actively
- Appropriate assertiveness skills
- Appreciation of confidentiality and impartiality
- Basic research skills
The advisor appreciated our sharing knowledge:
“Thanks so much for coming back so quickly, this is great to know. And really fab that he doesn’t have to do a Masters to become an interpreter! I thought that was a bit much. Community Interpreting is exactly what he wants to do I can see this clearly now”. (Lucy Formosa – Careers Team – WSCC)
We are incredibly encouraged to see young people supported by Local Authorities in their ambition to follow a career in supporting communities with a language need.
