Submitted anonymously:
Times have changed. Long gone are the days where interpreters fill up their diaries for four months in advance and are able to cherry pick only the most interesting assignments, filling in the gaps with short community bookings. The NRCPD now boasts over 730 fully qualified sign language interpreters in England; search again including trainees and the number jumps to over 970. Let us not forget that this is a good thing for deaf people! But, a reputation that comes with experience seems to be the only thing that differentiates one RSLI from another at the moment.
Many attribute this increase in numbers to the prevalence of NVQ interpreting courses popping up all over the country, but this mass increase in numbers has not been without its criticisms. One of which is that the rapid rate that courses are churning out RSLI’s has resulted in a lowering of standards within our profession. Combined with this, the economic downturn has led to many organisations seeking out cheaper alternatives and using people who are not only ill equipped skills wise, they are also unconsciously dangerous.
So, what do we do about it?
If you are an experienced interpreter, do you often find yourself using the phrase “back in the day…”? Were they really the golden days, or was the deaf / interpreter community just a lot smaller back then? Allowing you less intimidating access to said community and comfortable learning opportunities. Don’t forget, young deaf people don’t congregate in the local deaf club every other Tuesday in the month as they used to. Young deaf people meet up with friends from school, or those they’ve acquired on Facebook. Language acquisition and personal development is a lot more of a challenge than it used to be. There are many new, proactive trainees who are wanting to do more but are often finding that not only are the doors closed, they have a big ‘no entry’ sign painted on the front.
But, what about the trainees!? I hear you cry. Surely they have a responsibility for their own learning? It’s true. Opportunities are out there but you need to be brave about asking for support and advice; you need to take responsibility for your own learning. Did you think the yellow badge was enough? It’s not. Are you only taking on medical bookings because you’re scared you’ll be judged by other interpreters? Chances are that you are aware of areas that need development, so why not get a mentor? Set up a supervision group with a few other interpreters that you know. Supervision groups can be a surprisingly cost effective way of examining your professional practice in a challenging but non judgemental way.
I’ve heard a few things over the last six months or so that led to this blog:
“There are too many new interpreters coming in and taking our work.”
Ask yourself why. Is it because they’re undercutting? Or, is it because you haven’t undertaken any CPD for a while and it shows? Is it because you’re not very personable and now deaf people have more of a choice? Longevity does not automatically give you the advantage, and nor should it.
“Agencies keep asking me to lower my fees. Is it because I’m new?”
Yes. The fear you have about not getting work causes you to lower and accept a lesser fee. You get the job, once, but then you set a precedent and the agency expects you to keep your fee at that level. If you are accepting £85 for a job in London, then you are accepting roughly 30% less than the industry standard for the area. The agency has not lowered their fee. You are just making them more profit. Why would you voluntarily give an agency 30% of your salary? If you were in house, would you walk over to the HR department and offer the finance lady 30% of your take home pay because they processed the payment for you?
“Oh, I didn’t know that… I guess it doesn’t really affect me.”
If we are not careful, apathy will destroy the profession that many interpreters and deaf people worked hard to establish. You don’t have to be a part of a professional association, but if you choose not to, how do you engage with the profession and keep up to date with current happenings? There are public interpreting forums, but they often descend into sniping and personal grudge matches, so not only does it leave you feeling like you need to hide because the bully in the playground is throwing their weight about, it can actually be difficult to get your own voice heard.
The thing is, at the moment the issues surrounding fees have put the profession on the road to a self-fulfilling prophecy. We are not sticking together and that means attacks from the outside are slipping through the cracks leading to an erosion of standards, a lowering of fees and a constant battle over terms and conditions. If you are an experienced interpreter and you want newer interpreters to stop accepting low fees, which is in turn making it difficult for you to advocate for your worth, do something to help the new interpreters feel worthy about themselves.
ASLI celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. As a new interpreter, I’d really like to look back on this era in another 25 years and say that I was able to attend ASLI’s 50th anniversary conference because I was part of a profession that stood firm and supported its colleagues to make sign language interpreting in the UK a valid and viable profession to be a part of.
“Be excellent to each other…” Bill & Ted said it, so it must be true.
profession
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CPD: Avoiding the Expense
In the previous post the importance of CPD was discussed and it was alluded to that they were many other types of CPD not just the high expense, potential low value, sometimes dubious quality training courses. There are of course quality training courses led by experienced trainers who have had years of interpreting experience or for relevant subjects that cover important topics for interpreters and have high value.
It should also be noted that going on a training course about a specific domain such as police work does not automatically mean one is ready to start interpreting at the police station. The level of skill is important and asking for feedback from an experienced peer will give you a better barometer of readiness.
There exists a plethora of inexpensive or alternative ways of collecting and proving your CPD. Most interpreters are aware of these but here follows a small selection:
a) Self-reflective practice – keep a journal on your professional practice. Note down patterns, possible weaknesses or areas for improvement. There used to be a phrase: if you think you’ve stopped learning it’s time to get out. As interpreters we never stop.
b) Study – read some articles on a particular subject and write up what you have learnt. Material never runs out with new research published continuously.
c) Take part in an interpreters’ meetings – either present, attend or, again, write up what you have learnt. This could be an ASLI meeting, peer-to-peer supervision, informal meetings with other interpreters discussing subjects of choice. It is simply about your learning and keeping a record as evidence.
d) Attend a conference – or even deliver a paper or a training course.
e) Attend the Deaf club or a different Deaf event such as a BSL gallery talk, a Healthy Deaf Minds or an Our Space meeting. Or something similar in your area.
f) Volunteer – to do some interpreting, give time to ASLI or the Deaf community for a specific task of interest to you. Campaign work and raising awareness is hot on the agenda with budget cuts affecting everyone.
g) Write – a blogpost, a paper, an article.
h) Mentoring – get a mentor or mentor someone if you are trained to do so.
i) Supervision – slightly different from mentoring in that there is more of a focus on discussion of issues that arise form work.
j) Record yourself interpreting – whether at home or on a live assignment. You can record yourself then watch it back to see if you can pick out anything in particular. After we finish our training we stop doing this as much as we should. Go one step further and do some analysis using some of the tools available such as Cokely’s miscue analysis or use another tool.
k) Use the Internet – to keep up with news, learn new signs, another sign language or brush up on International Sign skills. YouTube is obviously a great resource. There are some existing websites aimed at CPD such as PD4Me and eCPD webinars, some of which may apply to SLIs.
l) Watch someone else interpret – and make notes on your learning. BBC news or Sign Zone can be useful.
m) Learn or research possible different ways of interpreting concepts or phrases. Watching Deaf translators interpret from a script can be insightful and can provide us with more economical ways to interpret a concept or a different way of representing something more visually.
n) Watch or participate in an e-learning seminar which, in comparison to training courses, are often cheaper and sometimes free.
o) BSL coaching – improve your BSL skills by working one-to-one with a coach.
p) Research a new domain and shadow an interpreter working to gain the necessary skills before you start to interpret in the new setting.
There are many more suggestions and the above categories could be infinitely expanded upon.
Some activites can also cover different types of CPD. For example, volunteer to interpret (points), for a talk for which you have to prepare (points), that you can record and use to complete a further analysis (points), and discuss with collegues (points) or use in supervision or mentoring (again, points).
Really the only limit is your imagination so you can steer clear of expensive CPD if you wish. Please leave a comment if you have more ideas to access free or cheaper resources or ways to collect CPD.