Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Interpreter to lexicographer

An interpreter already meets 36% of what the lexicographer role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From interpreter
36 % overlap
Distant match
To lexicographer
8 You already bring
6 Still to learn
28 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

60.1/ 100

1 How much of what a lexicographer is expected to do is already part of an interpreter’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the lexicographer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A lexicographer role treats 5 of its required skills as things an interpreter already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • consult information sources
  • grammar
  • linguistics
  • scientific research methodology
  • spelling

What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 8 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A lexicographer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an interpreter background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held develop technical glossaries information skills
  • already held translate language concepts communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held linguistics arts and humanities
  • already held spelling arts and humanities
  • already held use word processing software working with computers
  • already held consult information sources information skills

All 8 carried skills, including the 5 the lexicographer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 20 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn create definitions required
  • still to learn apply grammar and spelling rules required
  • optional, not held edit dictionary entries optional
  • optional, not held consult with editor optional
  • optional, not held translate foreign language optional
02 management skills 1 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn follow work schedule required
  • optional, not held manage budgets optional
  • optional, not held supervise staff optional
  • optional, not held supervise work optional
03 arts and humanities 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn practical lexicography required
  • optional, not held typology optional
  • optional, not held theoretical lexicography optional
04 business, administration and law 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn copyright legislation required
  • optional, not held project management principles optional
05 working with computers 1 required
  • still to learn search databases required
06 information skills 4 supplementary
  • optional, not held create semantic trees optional
  • optional, not held do historical research optional
  • optional, not held identify new words optional
  • optional, not held use dictionaries optional

1 further area in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a lexicographer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 8 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held consult information sources skill
  • already held grammar knowledge
  • already held linguistics knowledge
  • already held scientific research methodology knowledge
  • already held spelling knowledge
  • already held develop technical glossaries skill
  • already held translate language concepts skill
  • already held use word processing software skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held search engines optional
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held edit dictionary entries optional
  • optional, not held typology optional
  • optional, not held create semantic trees optional
  • optional, not held do historical research optional
  • optional, not held identify new words optional
  • optional, not held search engines optional
  • optional, not held consult with editor optional
  • optional, not held manage budgets optional
  • optional, not held project management principles optional
  • optional, not held supervise staff optional
  • optional, not held supervise work optional
  • optional, not held theoretical lexicography optional
  • optional, not held translate foreign language optional
  • optional, not held use dictionaries optional
46 held skills the lexicographer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role answer incoming calls skill
  • not needed by the target role body language knowledge
  • not needed by the target role chuchotage interpreting knowledge
  • not needed by the target role communicate by telephone skill
  • not needed by the target role communicate with target community skill
  • not needed by the target role conduct scholarly research skill
  • not needed by the target role court interpreting knowledge
  • not needed by the target role create subtitles skill
  • not needed by the target role develop a translation strategy skill
  • not needed by the target role follow an ethical code of conduct for translation activities skill
  • not needed by the target role follow interpreting quality standards skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret languages in conferences skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret languages in live broadcasting shows skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret spoken language between two parties skill
  • not needed by the target role interpreting modes knowledge
  • not needed by the target role liaise with government officials skill
  • not needed by the target role manage a good diction skill
  • not needed by the target role master language rules skill
  • not needed by the target role medical terminology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role memorise large amounts of information skill
  • not needed by the target role observe confidentiality skill
  • not needed by the target role operate audio equipment skill
  • not needed by the target role perceive context when interpreting skill
  • not needed by the target role perform bilateral interpretation skill
  • not needed by the target role perform sight translation skill
  • not needed by the target role perform sworn interpretations skill
  • not needed by the target role phonetics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role preserve meaning of original speech skill
  • not needed by the target role preserve original text skill
  • not needed by the target role provide advocacy interpreting services skill
  • not needed by the target role provide interpreting services in tours skill
  • not needed by the target role semantics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role show intercultural awareness skill
  • not needed by the target role speak different languages skill
  • not needed by the target role tape transcription knowledge
  • not needed by the target role technical terminology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role translate spoken language skill
  • not needed by the target role translate spoken language consecutively skill
  • not needed by the target role translate spoken language simultaneously skill
  • not needed by the target role translate texts skill

6 further entries not listed here

6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn copyright legislation required
  • still to learn practical lexicography required
  • optional, not held typology optional
  • optional, not held search engines optional
  • optional, not held project management principles optional
  • optional, not held theoretical lexicography optional
Index

Other moves recorded from interpreter

Full index of moves from interpreter

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an interpreter become a lexicographer?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. An interpreter already covers 36% of what a lexicographer is expected to do: 8 skills carry over, 5 of which the lexicographer role treats as required.

What skills does an interpreter need to become a lexicographer?

6 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is create definitions.

How hard is the move from interpreter to lexicographer?

Its learning distance is 60.1 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.