I have an assignment for my Interp II class: interview as many working interpreters as possible with the questions below. So, want to help out a still-struggling student? I would really appreciate it, I want to be a skilled interpreter and learn as much as I can,. which includes hearing your experiences "from the trenches". Feel free to answer some or all.
Thank you so much!
What was your training? Where? Background?
Share some experiences or struggles.
What made you want to become an interpreter?
What are some of the pros and cons of the profession?
Do you have a lot of Deaf friends you hang out with?
What are the physical demands of the profession? Carpal Tunnel? Arthritis?
What is some advice you would have for pre-certified interpreters?
What's your favorite or most exciting job that you have taken? Worst?
What's something you wish you knew then but you know now? Training you would have had?
What activities and organizations are you a member of and what do they do?
Most memorable ethical dilemma you have had to face.
What made you want to become an interpreter?
What was your most embarrassing moment? Worst?
How did the Deaf community perceive you as you became involved in it? Were they suspicious, encouraging, indifferent? Explain.
If you could go back and say something to yourself as a student or as an aspiring interpreter, what advice would you give yourself?
What was your best "pat yourself on the back" moment?
What your favorite interpreting assignment?
Do you research/prep before going to an assignment and if yes, how and if no, why not?
How do you deal with it when you have a deaf audience with mixed sign preferences and styles?
What was your training? Where? Background? I have been signing most of my life, but I've never attended a formal ITP. Well, not true - I went to the first two classes of one after I became a working interpreter, and I found I was already aware of just about everything they were teaching. But I've never completed an ITP! My training was mostly "on the job" and I learned about ethics and so forth by reading the 2nd edition of "So You Want to Be an Interpreter" as prep for the old written exam (GWT) which I passed on my first try. I had participated in a Signs of Development discussion group as GWT prep as well, and I have to credit the people in that group for their insights too.
Share some experiences or struggles.
What made you want to become an interpreter? I was kind of thrust into it. I had been asked to do some volunteer interpreting, and at the time I was only a signer, not an interpreter - one of those "we can't pay you" jobs. But I did it anyway. A few months later, I lost my job in the computer industry, and a friend suggested I apply to an interpreting agency. For some reason, they hired me, and that was the beginning! What made me want to stay an interpreter, though, is partly that I have ADHD. As an interpreter working for an agency, there is very little paperwork to do, and I never have to remember anything beyond the end of an assignment! I think my brain works quickly because of the ADHD and that helps me with the actual task of interpreting as well.
What are some of the pros and cons of the profession? Depending on where you work, it can be socially isolating. It's important to keep contact with other interpreters, because you may need to discuss things from time to time, and stay aware of the interpreting world beyond just reading Views. I do find it very rewarding to walk away from a job knowing that if I hadn't been there, they would have had a harder time communicating - knowing that I can help people, make their lives easier, is really nice. (That goes for both sides, hearing and deaf!)
Do you have a lot of Deaf friends you hang out with? Well...I'm also a Gallaudet undergrad. So actually most of my friends are Deaf. I quit my full-time interpreting job and went back to school, so now I only interpret part-time, and 99% of that is in VRS.
What are the physical demands of the profession? Carpal Tunnel? Arthritis? People - hearing people - always come up to me after an assignment and say "that was so beautiful, but your hands must be so tired!" But they never are...the thing that hurts the most is my shoulders, and that doesn't kick in until I've been interpreting for an hour straight. (That sometimes happens when a client doesn't want to pay for more than one terp, and the agency doesn't insist on sending two.) I already had arthritis before I started the profession - Thanks, Mom! - so I don't know about that. I do know terps who have developed repetitive strain injury, though. I've only been interpreting 6.5 yrs, and only 5 yrs of that was full-time, so I haven't gotten to that point yet myself.
What is some advice you would have for pre-certified interpreters? Obviously you shouldn't take a job that's beyond your ability. But sometimes the job is not described well, and you don't realize you can't do it until you get there. I had a hospital assignment once, and nobody told anybody that the deaf client was MLS. I am not good at reading MLS clients, so I don't usually accept those jobs (at least not without a CDI), but this time I was the only terp on site and I had to manage somehow. I guess the important lesson from this is: don't run away from a situation you're not prepared for. You will see a LOT of crazy things as an interpreter. If something unexpected happens, deal with it the best you can. Call your agency and ask for another terp if you can, but if that's not an option, or no one is available, don't be scared. Be patient, trust yourself, and do the best you can. Interpreting can throw some crazy stuff at you, so you have to learn to roll with it. Sometimes deaf clients will tell you they're not happy with your performance (hearing clients usually have no idea) and they may even tell you that you're a bad interpreter. That kind of thing ESPECIALLY you have to just let it roll off your back. Okay, that person didn't like you. Move on.
What's your favorite or most exciting job that you have taken? Worst? Call me crazy, but I have to say the Star Trek conventions are way up there. I get to interpret for famous people. I'm kind of a nerd myself, so interpreting for people from Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and so forth is actually really cool. It's a volunteer gig - they're fan-produced conventions so they have no money - but it's a fun, exhausting experience. I definitely love them. And like I said, hey, famous people!
What's something you wish you knew then but you know now? Training you would have had?
What activities and organizations are you a member of and what do they do? I am a member of RID, which as you know is the only national certifying body for interpreters now that NAD doesn't do it anymore. They also produce Views, a magazine (bimonthly I think) that is actually kind of interesting. I'm also a member of BLeGIT, a member section of RID for GLBT interpreters. It's mostly a networking system, but at major conventions (RID convention especially) they sometimes offer classes and stuff.
Most memorable ethical dilemma you have had to face.
What was your most embarrassing moment? Worst? My very first job, my first time out in the big world, my first time alone, was a hospital gig. The patient was a flasher. Someone had requested the interpreter remain in the room rather than in the hall (as is customary), so I was in the room. He kept lifting up his hospital gown at me! I honestly had no idea what to do, so I just buried my nose in my book. At one point a female nurse came in to bathe the patient, who had been speaking for himself most of the time, it was a voice-to-sign only job. Suddenly he signed, "I want her to wash me" pointing at ME. I voiced this, and the nurse - a wonderful motherly lady said "Oh no, we won't have ANY of that!" Eventually the patient flashed the doctors when they were on their rounds, by "sleeping" with his gown pulled up. After this I finally got permission to sit in the hall! The bizarre thing is that his hearing wife, who claimed to be a terp herself, said "oh, that's just Deaf culture, they're very open." I didn't argue, but in my head I was thinking "none of MY Deaf friends flash me!!" So yeah, that was definitely my most horrific assignment of all time.
How did the Deaf community perceive you as you became involved in it? Were they suspicious, encouraging, indifferent? Explain. I wouldn't say there was any connection between me and the Deaf community at first. Or rather, I didn't socialize with any of my clients. That's an important distinction you need to keep - don't mix work and social. It's not possible in small towns, of course, you can't help seeing people, and in that case you have to remember to keep quiet about everything you've learned in interpreting assignments!
If you could go back and say something to yourself as a student or as an aspiring interpreter, what advice would you give yourself?
What was your best "pat yourself on the back" moment?
What your favorite interpreting assignment?
Do you research/prep before going to an assignment and if yes, how and if no, why not? I mostly work in VRS now, partly due to its convenience and partly due to my hearing loss (easier to hear with the earphones). There is ZERO prep in VRS! In past jobs, sometimes I've gotten prep material and sometimes not. It's another case of roll with the punches, if prep material is available you make use of it, if not you just do the best you can!
How do you deal with it when you have a deaf audience with mixed sign preferences and styles?
I would really appreciate it, I want to be a skilled interpreter and learn as much as I can,. which includes hearing your experiences "from the trenches". Feel free to answer some or all.
I'm also a member of BLeGIT, a member section of RID for GLBT interpreters. It's mostly a networking system, but at major conventions (RID convention especially) they sometimes offer classes and stuff.