All About Translation and Translators in 2016

With translation becoming one of the fastest growing career choices across the western world over the last few years is there anything new about this often hidden industry in 2016?

The growth in translation services in Australia is not likely to stall over the foreseeable future as the numbers of travellers, businesspeople, refugees and migrants continues to grow. This is certainly not a trend that is confined to Australia as reports from the U.S., for instance, show a massive 46% increase in the demand for translation services over the last five years and government agencies predicting that this growth is likely to continue for at least the next 10 years.

The demand for human translators rather than cheap or free machine translation tools doesn’t mean that anyone with fluency in another language other than English can become a translator. In fact, despite the growth in demand for services generally, actually getting work can be quite competitive.

In Australia, partly driven by official government policy, most translators working as freelancers or employed by translation services in Melbourne or other city in Australia are most likely to be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).  As far as many organisations in Australia are concerned using a translated document that has been translated by a NAATI translator provides peace of mind that the translation is of good quality and is an accurate copy of the original.

The importance of NAATI seems unlikely to change in the immediate future and anyone thinking about a career shift into the emerging future of translation and translation services in 2016 should be looking for training in translation techniques which will eventually lead on to a recognized certificate and accreditation.

Some people who have built up experience in another field may find that the translation service industry is appealing. If they have legal, medical, scientific or technical experience, then they may be able to use their knowledge to advantage as a translator. Many translation projects require a more specialised knowledge and are likely to be more rewarding financially than basic document translation like certificates and licenses.

What is changing the face of the translation industry across the world is the increasing use of technology. While computer aided translation tools are unlikely to completely replace human translation for years yet, they are certainly helping to lighten the workload and translate text which is highly repetitive. This is yet another example of where translation training is important if you want to get your foot on the ladder as firmly as possible.