Where a translator can go next
12 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a translator already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.
Translators transcribe written documents from one or more languages to another ensuring that the message and nuances therein remain in the translated material. They translate material backed up by an understanding of it, which can include commercial and industrial documentation, personal documents, journalism, novels, creative writing, and scientific texts delivering the translations in any format.
Professionals 60 skills on file 12 career moves 2 above 60% overlap Closest: localiser, 78%
- 70% and above · short step
- 50 to 70% · real move
- Below 50% · substantial retraining
Table 1 · Within reach
- localiser 78% covered · difficulty 29.8
- translation agency manager 68% covered · difficulty 41
- lawyer linguist 56% covered · difficulty 44.9
- sign language interpreter 54% covered · difficulty 45.9
- lexicographer 52% covered · difficulty 47.2
- proofreader 46% covered · difficulty 51.6
- foreign language correspondence clerk 43% covered · difficulty 51.6
Table 2 · A bigger jump
Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.
Look up another occupation
translator is filed under Professionals, ISCO major group 2. The full index lists all ten groups.
How these figures were compiled
Coverage is the share of the target role’s weighted skill requirement a translator already meets, counting required skills in full and supplementary ones at 0.35. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.