Challenges Faced by ATA Certified Translators and How to Overcome Them

The American Translators Association (ATA) certification is the gold standard for American translators. It shows a translator’s subject matter expertise and translation skills, as well as professionalism – and first impressions count. Nevertheless, obtaining and keeping ATA certification is not an easy task.

This article will explore the key difficulties faced by ATA-certified translators and provide practical tips to manage them successfully. It’s tailored for an audience of tech-savvy business people and entrepreneurs who want insight into the translation industry.

Challenges of Getting ATA Certified

Getting certified in ATA translation requires meeting strict eligibility criteria, passing a rigorous skills exam, and keeping credentials up-to-date. These present the following notable obstacles:

Gaining Relevant Experience

The minimum requirement for applying for ATA certification is two years of professional experience. It is about steady work volume in specialized fields. But entering the industry is hard to break into, because it’s hard to build a reputation and clientele.

Volunteer for open projects, do an internship, or do pro bono work. Jobs opportunities arise when you build a profile on freelance platforms.

Passing the Exam

The ATA certification exam pass rate is between 15% and 25%. It goes through a depth of evaluation on proficiency of the source and target languages, subject matter, tools, technology and ethics.

Reviewing sample tests, reading style guides, taking practice exams, studying glossaries, getting mentorship is all exam prep. Some also take refresher courses in terminology and grammar.

Affording Fees

Gaining ATA certification is expensive, including the exam fee, preparation materials, and continuing education units (CEUs) required to maintain it. This can deter otherwise qualified translators.

However, certified translators can usually charge 10-30% higher rates. The ROI makes it worth budgeting and investing in this career advancement goal. Some employers also offer financial support.

Challenges of Working as an ATA Certified Translator

While ATA certification offers lucrative work opportunities, certified translators also deal with some consistent difficulties:

Finding High-Value Clients

Certification doesn’t guarantee clients. Translators, like any other business, must market their services to attract consistent work. However, uncertified competitors undercut rates, making it difficult.

The use of an agency allows you to connect with clients who are willing to pay for quality services. But translators need to demonstrate their subject matter expertise, technological capabilities and the adherence to standards in order to stand out.

Managing Inconsistent Income

Most certified translators are self-employed or work on contract. This means that their income can increase in any given month, depending on the projects and deadlines.

Contingencies budgeting and keeping an emergency corpus fund helps smooth cash flow. Unemployment programs also act as a safety net. This stress is offset by seeking long-term clients or exploring staff positions.

Meeting Tight Deadlines

Certified translators usually handle urgent specialty projects with tight turnarounds. Despite experience, this places extreme pressure and risk of burnout.

Using translation memory tools and seeking support during overflow help address time limitations. Blocking distractions, creating daily plans, and leveraging experience also keep deadlines on track.

Continuing Education Requirements

To maintain certification, ATAs must complete 20 continuing education units (CEUs) every three years through courses, conferences etc. This demands extra time and financial commitment.

Planning schedules and budgeting for renewal in advance helps ease the maintenance burden. Some employers also allocate funds to support ongoing education.

Best Practices to Overcome Challenges

ATA-certified translators who apply certain skills and strategies often thrive better in their careers:

Specializing In Niche Fields

Developing sharp subject matter expertise in a technical, medical, legal or other niche translation specialty has multiple advantages for ATA-certified translators. These include:

1. Establishing a strong personal brand and reputation related to the field that attracts direct work.
2. Building familiarity with industry terminology, style guides and textual nuances.
3. Expanding knowledge through continuing education in the focus area.
4. Higher success rates in responding to RFPs and bids in the specialization.
5. Being able to charge premium rates due to advanced skills.
6. Gaining referrals and repeat business from satisfied clients.

This hyperspecialization and becoming proficient in the peculiarities of a domain’s documents allows certified translators to maximize income potential.

Investing in Technology

As translation work relies heavily on processing large amounts of content quickly, mastering technology tools is imperative for certified professionals to remain competitive.

Specific applications that enhance productivity and capabilities include:

1. Translation Memory (TM) systems that accelerate repeat content.
2. Terminology management platforms that centralize glossaries.
3. Machine translation tools that provide AI-generated raw drafts.
4. Subtitling and localization software to adapt multimedia content.
5. Secure file-sharing programs for client collaboration.
6. Online invoicing, payments and accounting systems.

Certified translators who integrate these technologies seamlessly improve the consistency, accuracy and promptness of their deliverables. This ability to take on more complex and urgent projects expands their services’ value.

Networking Effectively

In an independent profession like translation, effective networking provides certified professionals access to:

1. Direct client referrals and testimonials.
2. Agency contacts that source steady contract work.
3. Mentorship opportunities with senior translators.
4. Collaborations with fellow linguists for large projects.
5. Updated insights on the translation industry’s latest trends.
6. Resources on technology tools, continuing education etc.

Cultivating networks through industry associations, alumni groups, LinkedIn, and social media channels is crucial for certified translators to sustain their careers. These connections mitigate isolation and contribute to lifelong learning.

Prioritizing Continuity

Freelance-certified translators have to independently maintain strong client retention and manage sales funnels to ensure steady work. This requires:

1. Completing continuing education courses to stay upskilled.
2. Checking in with clients periodically, even without projects.
3. Always and consistently meet tight deadlines in order to demonstrate reliability.
4. Monitoring income targets and pipelines to plan the capacity.
5. Providing post-delivery feedback to clients.
6. Rattinging and margining availability status across multiple channels.

By proactively nurturing client relationships between projects, certified translators reduce sales cycles for repeat business. They also build resilience against fluctuating demand.

Securing Business Know-How

While mastering the technical aspects of translating content, running every aspect of an independent translation business also requires certified professionals to secure general business, financial and legal skills in:

1. Drafting project contracts and confidentiality agreements.
2. Creating and presenting professional invoices.
3. Tracking expenses and understanding tax obligations.
4. Setting competitive yet profitable rates for services.
5. Evaluating risks and liabilities posed by complex projects.
6. Using online scheduling tools, invoicing software, and other systems to manage administrative tasks efficiently.

Cultivating these complementary skills or seeking expert guidance allows certified linguists to fully focus on providing excellent service while safeguarding their interests.

In addition to the above practices, there are several more:

Promoting credentials correctly, such as accurately highlighting ATA certification, builds credibility. However, overstating claims due to a lack of practical experience can lead to ethical risks.

Preventing isolation. Remote work is normal, but building professional connections and a community prevents burnout. Conferences, mentorship programs and online groups provide helpful peer support.

Embracing technology. As technology gets better, certified human translators continue to win this race by using technology judiciously. Better outcomes come from augmenting skills with tools than fighting progress.

Conclusion

ATA certification has always been earned and maintained through a determination to overcome multifaceted challenges. However, this investment in career development benefits certified translators in terms of compensation, opportunities, and reputation.

ATA-certified translators can become resilient against potential difficulties if they specialize carefully, integrate technology judiciously, network efficiently, plan finances prudently, connect regularly and maintain ethics.

These solutions, by providing the right strategic approach, help transform obstacles into opportunities for long-term translation success. They also allow certified professionals to do quality work consistently, further accelerating positive outcomes.