Hi, any interpreters here ? (Qualified or not)

What language do you speak? I am a translator. I tried to do interpretation for a bit while on mat leave (I work full time and translation/ interpretation on the side to make some extra income) to see if i could quit my job at the end of mat leave and go sole trader full time.

I had to do a level 3 community interpretation diploma. This enables you to take jobs in NHS and public services settings. However, to work in court or with the MET directly (if you are based in London), you will need a level 7 dips trans and the exams are much more difficult and exams alone cost more than £600.

My language is Vietnamese and even when I work for agencies who require a DBS (meaning one has to be based in UK), I am pretty much offered the 3rd world country rate (I know speakers of some European languages like German can have much higher rate). Also while having a baby, it was impossible for me to take on remote interpretation jobs. I could only take ones during her naps.

As she grew, she napped less which means I took fewer interpretation tasks. In person tasks are tricky for me as I don't drive. So I decided to stop doing interpretation.

I still do translation. But I can say I won't be able to do that full time and earn anywhere near what I earn on my full time job. So i still take some jobs here and there (those don't have tight deadlines and interesting topics and higher rates). I know I could just accept the lower rated jobs but I refuse to work longer hours to earn what I could earn for half the time spent.

I would say it depends on your language. If it is a rare one, there is definitely money in it. If it is common (European languages), there is fierce competition and it may boil down to who accepts the cheaper rates (some agencies don't seem to care much about quality)