Postautor: savant » 16 maja 2003, 13:43
The European Union institutions usually recruit their translators by means of an open competition, although different selection procedures apply to temporary and auxiliary staff.notice of competition is always published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Every competition is different, with the eligibility requirements and the content of the tests depending on current needs.
What about conditions?
you must be a national of one of the Member States of the Communities
you must have fulfilled any obligations imposed on you by the laws concerning military service
you must produce appropriate character references (extract from the judicial record)
you must have a thorough knowledge of one or two of the official languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another official language.
Other conditions:
degrees and diplomas: you must have completed a full university degree course, not necessarily in languages; alternatively, equivalent professional experience is sometimes accepted;
language knowledge: perfect command of the target language (into which you will translate) equivalent to mother tongue command; thorough knowledge of at least one other official language of the European Union; good knowledge of other official languages (these language requirements vary according to the competition);
professional experience in the language field: the length of experience required depends, in particular, on the level of the post to be filled (for the basic career grades, experience may not be required) and current requirements;
age limit: varies, but often 45 years.
These are the demands of EU.
If you don't want to work for EU a degree may not be absolutely necessary however a qualification in translation is important as it gives you a possibility to acquire formal techniques and methodology which will add integrity to your work. It will help you to be credulous when starting out as a freelance translator. Lastly it will make you confident in the quality of your work.
What's more important is that you can't become a translator or an interpreter off hand. It requires some kind of indefinite gift, and patience, you need to be patient as text translation is not for very active people, in my opinion.
If you only studied English and you are not extremely interested in English, I don't think that you may have a firm background to become a translator, but always it is worth to try.
If you want to know the prices for translations you should contact with Stowarzyszenie Tlumaczy Polskich or look them up in newspapers or on the Internet.
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