Selection procedures for staff and freelance interpreters in international organ
Summary of the AIIC Staff Interpreters Committee's survey of members at 10 national and international organisations that together cover over 90% of meetings held by public institutions world-wide.
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As promised by its chairman at AIIC’s Dakar Assembly, the Staff Interpreters Committee has carried out a wide-ranging survey among its members of the selection procedures for interpreters of 10 representative national and international organisations which use the services of both staff and freelance interpreters. Between them these organisations cover over 90% of meetings held by public institutions world-wide. The information collected has been synthesized into two summary tables (see below) to succinctly present comparative data on:
- recruitment procedures for staff interpreters
- accreditation procedures for freelance interpreters
Table 1 : Staff Interpreters
The survey highlights in particular that:
- with just one exception (where the decision is based on real-life performance in the booth), all the organisations concerned recruit staff interpreters on the basis of tests or competitive examinations
- in addition to testing simultaneous interpreting, half of the organisations also test consecutive and general knowledge
- in all organisations candidates are interviewed by a panel (often a large one), a majority of which is composed of professional interpreters (including the head interpreter in half of the cases).
Table 2 : Freelancers
Among the most salient features regarding freelancers, the survey reveals that:
- half of the organisations require freelancers to pass an accreditation exam, which almost always tests consecutive as well as simultaneous
- the other half contracts freelancers who have been approved by another major organisation or recommended by experienced professional interpreters, gives a priori approval to AIIC members, or selects on the basis of real-life performance in the booth
- in almost all organisations candidates are interviewed by a panel with at least a majority of professionals and in some cases entirely composed of professional interpreters.
These findings indicate that the organisations responding to the survey apply professional and impartial selection procedures. This could be deemed to be all the more true where compulsory exams test for general knowledge and consecutive interpretation in addition to simultaneous. The Staff Interpreters Committee believes that the procedures in place are generally sound and provide a good basis for selection of professional interpreters. We are happy to present the results in the following tables.
Table1 : Recruitment procedures for staff interpreters
|
ORGANISATION |
Fed.Gov. |
NATO |
NATO |
ICAO |
OECD |
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I. |
FIXED-TERM CONTRACTS |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
yes |
yes |
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I.1 |
Duration |
3 years |
3 years with 6 month- probation period |
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I.2. |
Admission requirements for tests |
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I.2.A |
Diploma |
no |
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I.2.B |
Professional experience |
yes |
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I.3 |
Consecutive tests |
yes |
no |
||||||||||||
number |
3 per language |
||||||||||||||
duration |
|||||||||||||||
type |
General in nature |
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I.4 |
Simultaneous tests |
Not compulsory. The Head Interpreter.listens to candidate in real life booth or dummy booth |
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number |
|||||||||||||||
duration |
10 minutes |
||||||||||||||
type |
|||||||||||||||
I.5 |
Interview |
yes |
yes(40 minutes) |
||||||||||||
I.5.A |
Focus |
Prior experience and long-term motivation |
Personal qualities, interaction with colleagues, knowledge of set subjects |
||||||||||||
I.6 |
Make-up of panel |
Interpreters of the same booth and the Head Interpreter who makes a recommendation to the Administration |
2 interpreters, 2 officials of the service, the Head Interpreter, a HRM representative |
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II. |
PERMANENT CONTRACTS |
yes |
yes |
yes |
Not applicable |
see section III |
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II.1 |
Competitive examination |
yes |
no |
yes |
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II.1.A |
Admission requirements |
||||||||||||||
II.1.A.a |
Diploma |
Diploma of recognised Interpreting School |
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(preferable but not compulsory) |
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II1.A.b |
Professional experience |
yes |
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II.1.B |
Consecutive tests |
no |
yes |
non |
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number |
1 per lang.(direction) |
||||||||||||||
duration |
5 minutes each |
||||||||||||||
type |
Specialised political or military subject |
||||||||||||||
II.1.C |
Simultaneous tests |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|||||||||||
number |
2 to 3 |
1 per lang.(direction) |
1 per lang.(direction) |
||||||||||||
duration |
20 minutes each |
15 to 20 min each |
10 minutes |
||||||||||||
type |
general, political, economic ; original speeches from conferences or parliamentary debates, shown on video |
political, military or technical |
General geostrategic issues. Texts read by a NDC non-linguistic staff member |
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II.1.D |
Interview |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|||||||||||
II.1.D.a |
Focus |
General discussion |
Personal qualities and fluency in both languages |
To shed light on candidate's personality |
|||||||||||
II.1.E |
Make-up of panel |
3 staff interpreters |
NATO staff interpreters (6 to 8), half English A, half French A |
NDC officials representing the Administration, staff and Faculty (6 to 8 persons) Interpreting tests assessed by linguists |
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II.1.F |
Other tests |
Sight translation (political text) 5 minutes per language or direction |
Translation tests for translator-interpreter posts |
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II.2 |
Probation or trial period |
1-year probation period |
1 year |
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III. |
Others |
All recruitment subject to obtaining security clearance |
No document setting rules of procedure for competitive examinations, which may therefore vary |
Translation tests, the results of which are taken into account for recruitment (all interpreters also work as translators) |
Once vacancy notice has been posted, the HRM department draws up a long-list of applications, from which the Head of Department prepares a short list. Following the tests described above, successful candidates obtain a 2-year contract (probation: 6 months), normally renewed for one year, which then becomes a permanent contract |
ORGANISATION |
UNO |
Ital.Parl. |
EU/Court of Justice |
EU/Commission |
EU/Parliament |
||||||||||
I. |
FIXED TERM CONTRACT |
Yes (becomes permanent contract) |
Not applicable |
not applicable |
not applicable |
not applicable |
|||||||||
I.1 |
Duration |
Limited to trial period before permanent contract is granted |
|||||||||||||
(see section II) |
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I.2. |
Admission requirements for tests |
||||||||||||||
I.2.A |
Diploma |
||||||||||||||
I.2.B |
Professional experience |
||||||||||||||
I.3 |
Consecutive tests |
||||||||||||||
number |
|||||||||||||||
duration |
|||||||||||||||
type |
|||||||||||||||
I.4 |
Simultaneous tests |
||||||||||||||
number |
|||||||||||||||
duration |
|||||||||||||||
type |
|||||||||||||||
I.5 |
Interview |
||||||||||||||
I.5.A |
Focus |
||||||||||||||
I.6 |
Make-up of the panel |
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II. |
PERMANENT CONTRACTS |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|||||||||
II.1 |
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
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II.1.A |
Admission requirements |
||||||||||||||
II.1.A.a |
Diploma |
Univ. or recognised interpreting school diploma |
Completed university diploma or equivalent professional experience |
Completed university diploma + minimum 2 C |
University diploma or equivalent professional experience |
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II1.A.b |
Professional experience |
2 to 3 years, depending on diploma |
Recruitment as LA 7 or LA 6 depending on experience |
Not required for LA8 recruitment, 150 days required for LA7 |
Training or extensive professional experience |
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II.1.B |
Consecutive tests |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|||||||||
number |
2 per lang. (direction) |
1 per C language |
1 per C language |
1 per C language |
|||||||||||
duration |
4 minutes each |
7 to 8 minutes each |
5 minutes each |
5 minutes each |
|||||||||||
type |
Political, economic or legal subjects ; speeches read |
general, political, economic, or legal subject ; speeches oralized not read |
general, political, economic, legal or cultural speech, not read |
all subjects |
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II.1.C |
Simultaneous tests |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|||||||||
number |
4 per language |
2 per lang.(direction) |
1 per C language |
1 per C language |
1 per C language |
||||||||||
duration |
6 to 10 min each |
7 minutes each |
Approx. 20 minutes |
8 minutes each |
8 minutes each |
||||||||||
type |
Recorded tests, of increasing difficulty and speed |
Political, economic or legal subjects ; speeches read |
General subjects, optional legal test (10 minutes) |
General, political, economic, legal or cultural speech, not read |
All subjects |
||||||||||
II.1.D |
Interview |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|||||||||
II.1.D.a |
Focus |
Assessing the candidate's attitude and personality. General knowledge + knowl. of the UNO |
General culture, knowledge of the EU , motivation , aptitude, etc. |
General culture and questions about EU |
personality, general culture, knowledge of EU and EP |
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II.1.E |
Make-up of the panel |
Head of Service, 5 or 6 experienced interpreters , 5 or 6 representatives of the administration (staff, administration, recruitment, examinations, etc ) |
Officials representing administration and staff, staff interpreters/ translators, and freelance interpreters and translators with university teaching experience |
Head of Service + at least 2 interpreters from the same booth (1 of whom is appointed by the Staff Committee) or lawyer-linguists if no interpreter available and assessors depending on language combination |
Chairman from outside the Commission (often an academic) + 4 experienced staff interpreters ( 2 representing the administration + 2 the staff) + assessors where required, depending on language combination |
Chairman + 3 other members (and 1 alternate) representing administration + 1 member (et 1 alternate) representing staff. Head of booth also present |
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II.1.F |
Other tests |
2 translations per language (in both directions) ; legal and political texts. Eliminatory marks |
Optional tests : additional C language, or "retour" or legal speech |
1 non eliminatory written test of general culture, prior to oral tests |
May opt to sit non-eliminatory consecutive "retour" test |
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II.2 |
Probation period |
2 years |
1 year |
9 months |
9 months |
9 months |
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III. |
Other observations |
Interpreter/translator posts |
Table 2 : Accreditation procedures for freelance interpreters
ORGANISATION |
Fed.Gov. |
NATO |
NATO |
ICAO |
OECD |
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I. |
Admission requirements |
|||||||||||||
I.1 |
Diploma |
Diploma in interpreting or equivalent university diploma |
Diploma in interpreting from a recognised school |
Preferable but not compulsory |
no |
|||||||||
I.2 |
Professional experience |
100 days for candidates not having a diploma in interpreting |
At least 1 year |
yes (see section IV) |
AIIC member. Sound experience in other international organisations |
yes |
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II. |
Tests |
yes |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
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II.2 |
Consecutive tests |
Yes for foreign lang. |
yes |
|||||||||||
number |
2 to 3 |
1 in each language |
||||||||||||
duration |
10 minutes each |
5 minutes each |
||||||||||||
type |
general, political or economic subjects |
political or military subjects |
||||||||||||
II.3 |
Simultaneous tests |
Yes all languages |
yes |
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