Need your opinion about ATA vs. IoL certification Thread poster: Ángel Domínguez
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Ángel Domínguez 
Spain
Local time: 16:36
Member (2008)
English to Spanish
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Greetings,
I work mainly in the English to Spanish pair (besides doing DTP work), and I've been interested for a while in getting a certification from either the ATA or the IoL. The main reason behind my pursuit of such certification is that I have no formal university training as a translator, although I've done translation work since 2001.
As much as I'd like to do it, going to the university is out of the question right now, so I see this certification as yet anoth... See more Greetings,
I work mainly in the English to Spanish pair (besides doing DTP work), and I've been interested for a while in getting a certification from either the ATA or the IoL. The main reason behind my pursuit of such certification is that I have no formal university training as a translator, although I've done translation work since 2001.
As much as I'd like to do it, going to the university is out of the question right now, so I see this certification as yet another way to lend credence to my profile—besides my translation experience, that is.
I know of a couple of translators certified by the IoL, but the ATA seems like a higher profile option, and if I can take the examination in Spain I'd probably go for it.
I'd love to hear your ideas and/experiences about it.
Thanks in advance,
Ángel. ▲ Collapse
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It depends where most of your work comes from.
ATA certainly doesn't carry greater weight this side of the pond (i.e. UK and the rest of Europe). At least not in my language pairs. ES/EN/ES may be different, given ES is such a major language in the US.
Lack of ATA certification doesn't affect me as I made a decision a few years ago -- for various reasons -- only to work within the EU. However, if I ever decided to work with US agencies again, then I might conside... See more It depends where most of your work comes from.
ATA certainly doesn't carry greater weight this side of the pond (i.e. UK and the rest of Europe). At least not in my language pairs. ES/EN/ES may be different, given ES is such a major language in the US.
Lack of ATA certification doesn't affect me as I made a decision a few years ago -- for various reasons -- only to work within the EU. However, if I ever decided to work with US agencies again, then I might consider getting ATA as well.
[Edited at 2009-08-24 07:57 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Go for both!! | Aug 24, 2009 |
Hello Ángel. Your concerns match mine a couple of years ago: I lack university education and was looking for a way of proving that I am able to translate adequately in my fields.
I did the ATA certification exams in 2008 (I had to travel to the US though as they did not hold a European venue in 2008) and passed in the first go. The experience was/is so tremendously positive that I decided to go for IoL's DipTrans next January. I will be doing an online course with the City Univers... See more Hello Ángel. Your concerns match mine a couple of years ago: I lack university education and was looking for a way of proving that I am able to translate adequately in my fields.
I did the ATA certification exams in 2008 (I had to travel to the US though as they did not hold a European venue in 2008) and passed in the first go. The experience was/is so tremendously positive that I decided to go for IoL's DipTrans next January. I will be doing an online course with the City University of London to prepare for the exam.
If you can, try to go for both certifications, as ATA's certification is well-known in the Americas but not as much in Europe, and the opposite happens to the DipTrans. If you have both American and European customers, your best bet is to try to obtain both certifications.
The ATA certification has a rather low pass rate. From the ATA Chronicle (their magazine, which publishes the names of the newly certified people and their language pair), I see that only some 7-8 people have passed so far this year. In my venue in Michigan, I reckon other 5/6 people did the exam in my pair (I did not ask, but I could tell from the dictionaries they brought with them), and I was the only one who passed. However, it should not pose a big problem to you. You should prepare properly, however, by doing practice exams mimicking the situation of the actual exam (two tricky 300-word texts, each 1.5 hours time, no computer, as any dictionaries and reference materials you wish, handwritten) corrected by some very experienced translator or another ATA-certified person. Doing the ATA-exam with no preparation could prove to be throwing your money down the drain as their exams are packed with little pitfalls you should be able to identify and that don't happen every day in our usual work.
I sincerely encourage you to go for these certifications. They will be good for you externally (towards your customers and prospects) and internally (it will prove to yourself that you are a translator en toda regla). Please do not hesitate to ask for any advice you may need in the process. My email is completely open for you on this matter!!
(As for dates, please note that you can only register for the IoL DipTrans until August 31st!!!.)
[Edited at 2009-08-24 08:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | ATA elegibility requirements | Aug 24, 2009 |
Ángel, you might want to double check ATA's eligibility requirements for the exam. I see a potential issue with your years of experience as stated in your profile. They need proof (either via customer letters or with invoices and similar documents) that you have been translating for 5 years or more...
[Edited at 2009-08-24 10:59 GMT]
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sokolniki
United States
Local time: 09:36
English to Russian
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| ATA certification.. | Aug 24, 2009 |
.. to get (more) work from US agencies and direct clients is not really a pre-requisite. Out of several years experience as a freelancer in the US, I had only a couple of occasions when a potential employer asked about my ATA certification. Besides the eligibility requirements properly mentioned by Tomas, you should be aware of a very high price and 50% exams' failure stats (as some translators say) - and to see your own errors, you have to pay extra! You will have to travel to the US to take th... See more .. to get (more) work from US agencies and direct clients is not really a pre-requisite. Out of several years experience as a freelancer in the US, I had only a couple of occasions when a potential employer asked about my ATA certification. Besides the eligibility requirements properly mentioned by Tomas, you should be aware of a very high price and 50% exams' failure stats (as some translators say) - and to see your own errors, you have to pay extra! You will have to travel to the US to take the exam in person. Still want it? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Very high price?? | Aug 24, 2009 |
sokolniki wrote:
Besides the eligibility requirements properly mentioned by Tomas, you should be aware of a very high price and 50% exams' failure stats (as some translators say) - and to see your own errors, you have to pay extra! You will have to travel to the US to take the exam in person. Still want it?
Honestly I think you are misleading Ángel. Is US$ 300 (Eur 210) a "very high price"?? Not at all if you look at the fees from other certifying organisations (IoL's DipTrans costs twice as much!). And it is obvious that you should pay to get a second review of your exam, as it will involve the review by people who are also translators and must be compensated for their time.
As for travelling to the US: indeed it is a must in years in which ATA does not do exams in Europe. It does not happen every year. But with today's flight prices... getting to the US (every year there are exams in cities to which you can fly direct from Madrid, for instance), one night's accommodation, the exam fees, transportation (taxis for instance) and food will cost roughly Eur 800-1,000... well under the price of many plasma TV sets.
| | | | sokolniki
United States
Local time: 09:36
English to Russian
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| Tomas, you might be right.. | Aug 24, 2009 |
.. however, you forgot to mention one needs to pay for ATA membership to be able to fill in an exam application. And the review with your mistakes is the first one that you have to pay for - they just send you the exam results at the beginning, no mistakes shown. AS for the total price, I remember making the total estimate a while ago and it was much more than $300, but again, I might be wrong.
Angel, I also forgot to mention the requirement for Continued Education to maintain your... See more .. however, you forgot to mention one needs to pay for ATA membership to be able to fill in an exam application. And the review with your mistakes is the first one that you have to pay for - they just send you the exam results at the beginning, no mistakes shown. AS for the total price, I remember making the total estimate a while ago and it was much more than $300, but again, I might be wrong.
Angel, I also forgot to mention the requirement for Continued Education to maintain your certification - various training courses (held in the US) on an annual basis which you pay for yourself. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Correct and incorrect | Aug 24, 2009 |
sokolniki wrote:
.. however, you forgot to mention one needs to pay for ATA membership to be able to fill in an exam application.
Indeed. In this you are completely correct. Membership fee is US$ 217 p.a. at this moment.
sokolniki wrote:
Angel, I also forgot to mention the requirement for Continued Education to maintain your certification - various training courses (held in the US) on an annual basis which you pay for yourself.
This is correct: you must do a minimum of 20 hours of training or attend one ATA conference every three-year period. But additional training is completely good if you think about it. We are so often a bit lazy to improve our education and training...
The incorrect point is the requirement to do the courses in the US: not correct. They don't need to be held in the US or be organised by ATA. I have already gathered my continuing education points for the current three-year term via two 15-hour translation seminars (10 hours would have been enough) offered by an independent translation/linguistics training centre in Madrid (not at all related to ATA). You do have to request to have the seminar approved for continuing education points before it takes place, but I think they will easily approve any training on translation/editing/interpreting offered by a training center.
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My experience with ATA was good: I took the ATA (Eng>Spa) exam on March, received the great news that I passed on July, and less than two weeks later, I got my first contact throught my ATA profile. No job confirmed yet, but it seems my visibility has gotten much better.
As per my last search, there are less than 500 ATA certified translators in the Eng>Spa direction, and less than 40 in my speciality (petroleum eng). I'm glad I could be among such group, and I was happy to invest... See more My experience with ATA was good: I took the ATA (Eng>Spa) exam on March, received the great news that I passed on July, and less than two weeks later, I got my first contact throught my ATA profile. No job confirmed yet, but it seems my visibility has gotten much better.
As per my last search, there are less than 500 ATA certified translators in the Eng>Spa direction, and less than 40 in my speciality (petroleum eng). I'm glad I could be among such group, and I was happy to invest on education (since I studied with a mentor a few months before the test). The total cost for me was close to $900 USD (ATA membership: $180, exam: 300, and the rest for mentoring, some books and a trip to Buenos Aires).
And personally, I actually like the requirement for Continued Education. I'm sure it is not flawless, but I think it's doable (even from outside the U.S.), and it gives a sense of seriousness to the certification.
As per the requirements, if you have a bachelor's degree, you will only need to prove two years of translation experience.
Good luck,
Andrés ▲ Collapse
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Andres & Leticia Enjuto wrote:
As per the requirements, if you have a bachelor's degree, you will only need to prove two years of translation experience.
Indeed! Sorry I did not mention it.
| | | | Ángel Domínguez
Spain
Local time: 16:36
Member (2008)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks everyone for your replies,
after careful consideration, I have decided to go for the IoL DipTrans certification exam.
I still have some research to do; the IoL website has extensive information about the DipTrans, but there are still some issues to be clarified: which locations allow the use of a computer, are the sample exams a true representation of the level of difficulty, etc...
Preparation for the exam is another thing I have to consider, although t... See more Thanks everyone for your replies,
after careful consideration, I have decided to go for the IoL DipTrans certification exam.
I still have some research to do; the IoL website has extensive information about the DipTrans, but there are still some issues to be clarified: which locations allow the use of a computer, are the sample exams a true representation of the level of difficulty, etc...
Preparation for the exam is another thing I have to consider, although the level of the sample test provided seems pretty adequate to me.
Well, I better fill in the entry card ASAP, I don't want to miss that deadline!
As for the ATA certification, I will really consider it if I the circumstances are right: if I can afford to pay for it (and membership and other endless fees), and if there is a sitting in Spain.
Thank you all for your help,
Ángel. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Locations in Spain and practice | Aug 25, 2009 |
Ángel Domínguez wrote:
I still have some research to do; the IoL website has extensive information about the DipTrans, but there are still some issues to be clarified: which locations allow the use of a computer, are the sample exams a true representation of the level of difficulty, etc...
As far as I am aware, you can do the exam at a few locations in Spain, none of them in Andalusia. I only know of Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao. In Madrid, Estudio Sampere does not (currently) offer a computer to do the exam and you have to handwrite. A colleague here in Proz mentioned that she had done the exam with a computer in Bilbao. I don't know about Barcelona. In my case, as I am some 60 km away from Madrid, it was the best location. I will however do the exam at the British Council which, despite the rather high fees, lets you use a computer. It would have probably cost me more to fly to Bilbao or Barcelona and spend the night at a hotel to be well relaxed before the venue.
Ángel Domínguez wrote:
Preparation for the exam is another thing I have to consider, although the level of the sample test provided seems pretty adequate to me.
I don't really know about the DipTrans yet, but the texts for the ATA certification were full of little pitfalls (or that was my feeling). A proper preparation for the DipTrans is bound to require a number (half a dozen at least) of sample translations corrected by another certified person or by a learning center who works in line with the exam. I sincerely encourage you to A) do a specific preparation course on the DipTrans (for instance that of the City University of London) or to look for some very experienced, DipTrans-certified translator who can choose the exercises and correct them for you at a reasonable price.
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Louise Souter (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:36
Spanish to English
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| A word of warning | Aug 28, 2009 |
Tomas has given good advice about the IoL DipTrans but if you are planning to do a preparatory course you will need to arrange it asap. I booked my Sp-Eng course with City University in May and was told there weren't many places left.
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