Translation agency manager to interpretation agency manager
A translation agency manager already meets 64% of what the interpretation agency manager role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.
43.1/ 100
1 How much of what an interpretation agency manager is expected to do is already part of a translation agency manager’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 interpretation agency manager role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An interpretation agency manager role treats 18 of its required skills as things a translation agency manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply grammar and spelling rules
- assess quality of services
- assume responsibility for the management of a business
- build business relationships
- customer relationship management
- develop a translation strategy
What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 23 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An interpretation agency manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a translation agency manager background worth leading with.
- already held perform sworn translations communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held follow an ethical code of conduct for translation activities communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held develop a translation strategy information skills
- already held unseen translation arts and humanities
- already held assess quality of services information skills
- already held preserve original text communication, collaboration and creativity
All 23 carried skills, including the 18 the interpretation agency manager role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 5 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.
- still to learn manage a good diction required
- still to learn perform bilateral interpretation required
- still to learn preserve meaning of original speech required
- still to learn interpret spoken language between two parties required
- still to learn translate spoken language consecutively required
- still to learn translate spoken language simultaneously required
- optional, not held perform sight translation optional
- optional, not held provide advocacy interpreting services optional
- optional, not held liaise with financiers optional
- optional, not held liaise with government officials optional
- optional, not held show intercultural awareness optional
- optional, not held write research proposals optional
- still to learn interpreting modes required
- optional, not held chuchotage interpreting optional
- optional, not held tape transcription optional
- optional, not held phonetics optional
- optional, not held scientific research methodology optional
- optional, not held motivate employees optional
- optional, not held manage office facility systems optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an interpretation agency manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 manage a good diction practise this
- 02 perform bilateral interpretation practise this
- 03 preserve meaning of original speech practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 23 skills that carry over
- already held apply grammar and spelling rules skill
- already held assess quality of services skill
- already held assume responsibility for the management of a business skill
- already held build business relationships skill
- already held customer relationship management knowledge
- already held develop a translation strategy skill
- already held follow an ethical code of conduct for translation activities skill
- already held grammar knowledge
- already held lead a team skill
- already held liaise with colleagues skill
- already held manage budgets skill
- already held master language rules skill
- already held observe confidentiality skill
- already held project management knowledge
- already held speak different languages skill
- already held spelling knowledge
- already held translate language concepts skill
- already held write work-related reports skill
- already held linguistics knowledge
- already held perform sworn translations skill
- already held preserve original text skill
- already held technical terminology knowledge
- already held unseen translation knowledge
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held chuchotage interpreting optional
- optional, not held perform sight translation optional
- optional, not held provide advocacy interpreting services optional
- optional, not held tape transcription optional
- optional, not held liaise with financiers optional
- optional, not held liaise with government officials optional
- optional, not held manage office facility systems optional
- optional, not held motivate employees optional
- optional, not held phonetics optional
- optional, not held scientific research methodology optional
- optional, not held show intercultural awareness optional
- optional, not held write research proposals optional
28 held skills the interpretation agency manager role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adapt text culturally skill
- not needed by the target role analyse text before translation skill
- not needed by the target role coach employees skill
- not needed by the target role comprehend the material to be translated skill
- not needed by the target role conduct scholarly research skill
- not needed by the target role consult information sources 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 decode handwritten texts skill
- not needed by the target role develop technical glossaries skill
- not needed by the target role follow translation quality standards skill
- not needed by the target role identify new words skill
- not needed by the target role improve translated texts skill
- not needed by the target role maintain updated professional knowledge skill
- not needed by the target role musical genres knowledge
- not needed by the target role negotiate service with providers skill
- not needed by the target role negotiate settlements skill
- not needed by the target role office software knowledge
- not needed by the target role postediting knowledge
- not needed by the target role proofread text skill
- not needed by the target role provide written content skill
- not needed by the target role quality standards knowledge
- not needed by the target role review translation works skill
- not needed by the target role semantics knowledge
- not needed by the target role transcreation knowledge
- not needed by the target role translate different types of texts skill
- not needed by the target role use computer-aided translation skill
- not needed by the target role use consulting techniques skill
5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn interpreting modes required
- optional, not held chuchotage interpreting optional
- optional, not held tape transcription optional
- optional, not held phonetics optional
- optional, not held scientific research methodology optional
Other moves recorded from translation agency manager
Common questions about this move
Can a translation agency manager become an interpretation agency manager?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A translation agency manager already covers 64% of what an interpretation agency manager is expected to do: 23 skills carry over, 18 of which the interpretation agency manager role treats as required.
What skills does a translation agency manager need to become an interpretation agency manager?
7 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is manage a good diction.
How hard is the move from translation agency manager to interpretation agency manager?
Its learning distance is 43.1 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
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.