Tips For Smart Remote Intergrating

Category: Total VDO Date Published: August 01,2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has moved many American workers out of their offices. In early March, an estimated 16 million U.S workers switched to working remotely. Many experts suggest that remote work will remain long after the pandemic is over. Tech companies like Facebook, Square, and Twitter have announced that a portion of their workforce will remain working from home permanently.

The interpreting industry has seen a similar shift. CSA Research, a company that researches the language industry found that interpreters saw a 40 percent decrease in revenue from in-person interpretation due to COVID-19. Additionally, throughout the pandemic, many hospitals have quickly shifted their in-person interpreters to work as remote interpreters. This follows a decade-long trend to implement remote interpretation services in healthcare. It is uncertain what interpretation work will look like post-pandemic, but remote interpretation will likely have a larger share of the interpretation business.

BE READY FOR THE UNPREDICTABILITY

Remote interpretation comes with a larger variation in population and content. When I began working as a remote interpreter, I was accustomed to interpreting for the pool of Spanish speakers in my area. Once I began interpreting remotely, I was exposed to accents, slang, and idioms that I was unfamiliar with. Interpreting for a larger population exposes you to more variation within your language. Preparing yourself for this unpredictability is important as you’re shifting to remote interpretation work.

Besides the variation in the population, remote interpreters work in several different environments. Remote interpretation companies have a large variety of clients. As a remote interpreter, you may encounter 911 calls, home insurance claims, parent-teacher meetings, and many other types of encounters all on the same day. This variability will expose you to words and terms that you may be unfamiliar with. Remote interpretation work requires the ability to think quickly and manage conversations that may be outside of your interpretation expertise.

LEARN HOW TO MANAGE A CONVERSATION REMOTELY

One of the biggest challenges as an interpreter is to manage the flow of the conversation. To do this successfully, you must allow the speaker to get their message across fluidly and completely and still be able to interpret with accuracy. This challenge is intensified when working remotely. End-users may be unfamiliar with working with interpreters or there may be multiple people speaking at the same time.

A tip to overcome this challenge is giving a proper pre-session. A pre-session introduces you as the interpreter and sets the ground rules for the conversation. During your pre-session, you can ask end-users to speak one at a time and to only speak a few sentences at once. Setting the ground rules at the beginning of the encounter will lead to more successful interpretation sessions.