What is certification? What are the requirements for becoming a certified translator or interpreter? Who offers certification programs and tests? Who requires translators and interpreters to be certified? Who can I (or can’t I) work for if I am not certified? What are the benefits, or what is the added value, of becoming certified? These are the types of questions we ask ourselves as translators and interpreters.

Not having taken a certification exam does not mean you cannot work as a translator or interpreter. However, having taken a certification exam greatly increases the number of companies, organizations, and agencies you may be able to work for in the USA and other countries, even while based in Bolivia. Most of the following websites are US-based, and certification standards and entities may differ in other countries. Even so, they provide great insight on this issue.