Translation, Interpretation, and Localization Management Careers

Our graduates work for private business, governments, and nongovernmental organizations as employees or freelance consultants. Explore career paths in translation, interpretation, and localization management below.

Translation

Through the Translation program, you can prepare for a career in a wide variety of fields. These five subject areas are just a few of the possibilities:

Business and Economic

Translating these documents for business and government sources requires direct experience or training in the fields of economics and finance.

Court and Legal

Translators convert legal documents such as laws, foreign court orders, treaties, and evidence used in federal, state, and local courts. You must accurately translate even ambiguous or unclear statements.

Health and Medical

In addition to providing translation for documents in hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices, you might translate medical-related testimony in courts.

Literary

Done on a commission basis for publishing houses, this type of translation requires a flair for re-creating an author’s creative devices. You will work closely with the author for accuracy.

Scientific and Technical

Specializing in these types of documents requires knowledge of fields such as aerospace, auto manufacturing, biotech, computers, engineering, marine sciences, mathematics, and patents.

Interpretation

Through our Translation and Interpretation and Conference Interpretation programs, you could work in the following fields:

Community Interpretation

Interpreters convert spoken words consecutively and simultaneously into another language in medical, court, education, and social service settings. Much like their translator counterparts, medical and court interpreters must have the knowledge and skill required to interpret the nuances of legal testimony and medical terminology. You could also provide liaison interpreting services for an individual or delegation traveling personally or professionally in a foreign country.

Conference Interpretation

Interpreters convert presentations and conference events simultaneously from one language to another. Our graduates are often offered contracts at international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, and the European Union.

Localization Management

The Translation Localization Management program prepares its students for emerging careers at the intersection of business, translation, and technology. Our graduates pursue jobs with a wide variety of industries such as software manufacturing, machine translation, business to business services, and more. Potential employers include the U.S. Department of State, Microsoft, Adobe, and Oracle. You could find yourself offered opportunities as software localization engineers or project managers.

Software Localization

Not only specializing in the translation of web and software content, software localization engineers adapt the graphics, images, help files, and much more to the cultural expectations of the intended audience.

Project Management

Project managers coordinate a team of programmers, translators, and designers. They oversee the transformation of software products such as Adobe Photoshop or Grand Theft Auto III to another language while ensuring that the interface remains functional for users from different cultures and backgrounds.