- Get a Bachelor’s Degree:
Courts and translation agencies prefer translators who have a bachelor’s degree. It will be useful for you to pick a language as your major. You should also choose legal studies as your minor. Or you can major in legal studies and do a language course on the side. In either way, a bachelor’s degree will give you a good start on your journey of becoming a legal translator.
- Get Training:
It is better to get the necessary training from a translation institute. You can also do courses related to legal translations. This will prepare you for the practical world and teach you about the complexities involved in legal translations.
- Gain Experience:
Once you have gotten your degree and your training, you will have to face the next step, which is gaining experience. If you skip this step and enter the professional world straightaway, you will make so many mistakes in your field that no one will be able to trust your skills. Practice is very important in a field like legal translation. You can work as an intern or volunteer to gain experience. You can also use documents available on the internet and practice your skills on them. Three to six months’ practice will get you ready for the world of translation.
- Fulfill Requirements:
If you plan on working in the court as a legal translator, you will have to fulfill a few requirements. It mostly involves passing a certification exam but it can vary from state to state. You can find out about the requirements first and then prepare for the exam you may have to give.
- Get Employed:
It is better to get in touch with an agency and ask them to find you clients regularly instead of working as a freelancer and looking for them yourself. Agencies have better contacts and also better pay. They are also a safe choice when it comes to legal translation and will hire you if you fulfill their requirements even if you don’t have any experience. You can also find work within the federal court system.