Translators may go a long way in their career before deciding to join an association that could coincide with their professional plans and linguistic needs to further develop their language skills and open the door to opportunities to strengthen their connections with other colleagues.
The benefits offered by professional linguistic associations are varied and they provide a unique range of advantages specially tailored to their members. These can include fantastic discounts on a range of everyday products and services, including:
- Insurance (life, home, travel, etc.)
- Health and wellbeing (gyms, weekend breaks, holidays, etc.)
- Financial and legal advice (legal helpline telephone service)
- Business support (stationery, venue finding)
Another benefit is the use of post-nominal letters after the translator’s name – something the translator could use to their advantage to act as a guarantee of their high professionalism and extensive experience in the translation or interpreting industry. Professional linguistic associations also provide translators with a free listing on the Find-a-Linguist service, a regularly updated online database of members available for freelance work, which will bring your professional services to the attention of a worldwide client base. When you become a member of a prestigious organization, the association can also send you a button logo, which you can use as part of promoting yourself to agencies or clients.
These organizations also offer opportunities for networking and to attend events such as conferences, seminars and workshops, where linguists can meet new colleagues by becoming part of different groups, such as a translators’ network, interpreters’ network, business, professions and government e-groups. Translators are also usually given a free subscription to the organization’s own magazine, in which they can read up on the latest news in the translation industry. They may also be able to take out professional indemnity insurance at advantageous rates.
Translators and interpreters can also benefit from discounted rates (10%) for advertising in the organization’s magazine to promote their business and/or skills as professionals.
So review the organizations you would like to apply for and decide which one you wish to join. Carefully read through the respective benefits they offer and become a member of the one that best suits your needs and expectations!
You can find links to some of the most popular professional linguistic organizations below:
- Institute of Linguists (IOL) www.iol.org.uk
- American Translators Association (ATA) www.atanet.org
- Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) www.iti.org.uk
- International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI) http://www.aipti.org
- American Foundation for Translating and Interpreting (AFTI) www.afti.org
- American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) www.literarytranslators.org
- International Federation of Translators (IFT) www.fit-europe.org
- National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) www.naati.com.au
- National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare (NCIH) www.ncihc.org
- New York Circle of Translators www.nyctranslators.org
- PEN American Center – Translation www.pen.org/translation
- Society for Technical Communication (STC) www.stc.org
Author: Nataliya Nedkova
English-Bulgarian translator/interpreter/linguistic validation consultant
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