The Court Interpreter Job Under the Human Resources Lens

In Wisconsin, the State Court Interpreter Program and certification are turning twenty years old in the Fall of 2024. The first staff interpreter jobs in our state were created shortly after the certification became available. Recently, a few counties have advertised jobs in this category. Here are my opinions on the job descriptions and salary offerings I have seen for court interpreter positions.

Qualifications

Fortunately, it seems like people in Wisconsin have come to learn that “almost doesn’t count except in horseshoes.” The postings I have seen do require State Court certification. In contrast, the minimum education level required is high school. The people who are certified and have no college education are a minority and anyone who has become certified has invested time, money, and effort to do independent study to get certified. It would make more sense for the minimum education requirement to be State certification and the preferred qualification to be an undergraduate or graduate degree in a related area or other certifications. “High school” as a requirement is a turn-off for applicants who have had years of study beyond high school to become interpreters, whether they have degrees or not.

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Job Description

Unfortunately, my colleagues and I have had some good laughs with the Court Interpreter job descriptions. As you read some job descriptions, it becomes evident Human Resources did little or no research into what our profession entails. Most job descriptions have a slew of tasks that have little or nothing to do with court interpreting. Tasks that would be better suited for clerks, translators, language access coordinators, interpreter schedulers, and others. It almost seems as if court interpreting was not enough. When you look at other highly specialized professions, you will have a hard time finding a job description filled with duties that are unrelated to the particular job or skills. When you hire an expert, you are paying for their expertise, not their time. It seems these court interpreter job descriptions aim to fill up time with unrelated tasks. I have to wonder why this does not seem to happen with other specialized jobs. A well-thought-out job description speaks about the respect and importance a position has in an organization. For someone considering a position, this is a first impression- it will lure you, or make you walk away slowly. Wisconsin HR, you have room for improvement here.

Salary and Benefits

When a human resources professional decides how much money to offer for a job, they look at similar positions in the area to find out the corresponding salaries. In the case of counties, they are looking at other interpreter jobs in counties, but they seem to not be considering the income an independent interpreter can earn. Even when you factor in the cost of benefits a job offers, independent interpreters have the potential to earn much more money than a staff interpreter. Besides a decent income, people are also looking for work-life balance and a good work environment. An independent interpreter can take more time off, has flexibility in their schedules and the freedom of accepting out-of-court work that may be more rewarding professionally and financially. An independent interpreter sells a highly specialized service to clients. They usually do not offer to do anything outside of court interpreting. On the other hand, staff interpreters are sometimes expected to do things other than court interpreting. This does not tip the balance in favor of an HR department trying to fill a court interpreter position.

If you’re considering accepting an interpreter position, it’s important to realize the responsibilities of a job, the conditions and the salary are negotiable. It is up to the candidates for the position to accept or reject conditions or salaries that are appropriate for the unique skills court interpreters hold. It will also be up to the Human Resources departments to tailor offers that will make it more likely for a job candidate to accept the position they are attempting to fill.

The idea that there are not enough candidates for court interpreter positions in Wisconsin has been mentioned frequently in recent months. If the salaries and the conditions offered were right for the high-level skills of interpreters, would more people be interested in applying for these jobs? Even beyond the current jobs available, would more people be attracted to the profession in the future if the pay and conditions were better?

Reme Bashi has been a certified court interpreter in Wisconsin since 2008. She began her career as an interpreter and translator in Mexico, at the University of Veracruz, where she majored in pedagogy. Being bilingual in English and Spanish lead her to language teaching and then to translation and interpreting. She was a conference interpreter for several years, interpreting for the media and government events in Mexico.

 In the Midwest, Bashi has interpreted in a variety of settings – education, manufacturing, legal, and community. When she’s not interpreting, she likes to learn about new subjects, something that she considers pivotal to becoming a more proficient language access professional. Recently she has immersed herself in hospitality, urban gardening, and ancestry research. Contact: reme_sullivan@yahoo.com