Conference interpreting is a demanding profession. It requires constant professional development and gives plenty of opportunities to improve.
As soon as you complete one complicated job, another is already around the corner (hopefully).
There are plenty of possible challenges that await the interpreter. Quite often, we do not even know what to expect on the job site. Our work environment is different for every assignment. It happens to be surprising, and, unfortunately, now and then it is far from ideal.
The perfect customer provides the information on the subject of the conference in advance, but there are very few perfect customers. It is quite common that we have no clue what we are about to be interpreting, no chance to prepare the vocabulary and sometimes do not even know what language is to be spoken.
So, conference interpreters constantly learn to adapt and expand their horizons. In this job, there is no better training than the work itself. It hardens the body and sharpens the mind. It makes us eager to learn and strive for excellence.
Formal training is essential to become a professional interpreter, gaining new language skills is a must in this profession, keeping up to date and having an extended general knowledge definitely helps, and learning new languages is a common hobby among interpreters.
Nevertheless, the key to succeed as an interpreter is through continuous reflective practice. Drawing conclusions from previous professional experiences is probably the only way to become better and more professional in what we do.
Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, in the last couple of months all of my interpreting assignments have been cancelled. Fortunately, being an interpreter, more than a profession is a way of life. At times, I catch myself interpreting some interview that I hear on the radio or translating a vista an article from the paper. We are surrounded by opportunities to grow.
I guess, writing a blog is another form of reflection, to keep the mind going, to keep the words flowing.
