Department of Linguistics
T&I Labour Market in France
By Violaine SANTIN
Purpose of the research:
This research was designed to provide the reader with some help at knowing and understanding the French market for translation and interpreting, in order to know better how to find a job. Thus, the results intend to show a broad variety of choices available on the French market, as well as enough advice to help future translators and interpreters make their first step and best decision for themselves. As it is a very vast topic and the market changes in time, a lot more research could be conducted on it, notably since the markets might be greatly different outside the metropolitan part of France which was targeted by the present research. But hopefully, with these results, the reader should find the most common and up-to-date information. To help the reader in his/her search for an idea or even a vocation, the results are organised in a logical order, trying to provide enough information on the significance and particularities of each; and sources are indicated at the end of each, to help the reader find information only on the items he/she is interested in.
The research was mainly led over the internet and a very helpful book by Daniel Gouadec. Consequently, various types of documents were exploited, reports from previous researches on some of the topics mentionned, associations and unions' websites containing figures, interviews, etc...
Introduction: French market's particularities
Professional status
As you might know already, there is no official professional status for a translator, in France. Only a few countries in Europe do have some national evaluation of translators and interpreters, and the European institutions have begun to work on the subject, to decide on regulations which would concern all European members.
In France, there is no national evaluation/accreditation such as NAATI in Australia, and although NAATI and Macquarie University are not very well known there –given the highly recognized schools of translation and intertreting that can be found in Europe-, a Master of T&I done in the country of your language B will always be an asset on your resume. Nevertheless, given this situation, nearly any so-called "bilingual" can become a translator and the profession is not exactly said to be well-paid, considering the amount of work, and sometimes risks, it involves. This is due to the lack of credibility given to this profession and the lack of legal statuses and national accreditation that would ideally lead to a standardization of translation rates, and to a better recognition of this really not well-known profession. To give you an idea, in France, the average salary of a translator is roughly the same as that of a cobbler or a magician1; not that these jobs are less noble, but when one considers the number of years and the price of the studies that a translator spends before practising, I could understand the ones it discourages. But with the results of this research, hopefully, you should find some ideas and clear help with what to do and where to go on the French market.
Specialization
As a beginner, you might want to start as a "traducteur généraliste" (French term for a translator who is not specialized in one specific field) to see towards which type of texts your preference is taking you, but it won't take you long to realize that the profession of translator in France is divided in specialties, and that consequently, you need to make this choice quickly. Indeed, as a translator specialized in an area, -for whatever reason, whether you have a degree in marketing, or you did an internship in a newspaper's publishing department, or you have a certain talent for arts...-, clients see you more as what they need, as someone who knows what he/she is doing. As a matter of fact, this trend is becoming true for other countries than France. However, The specialization into a specific field requires skills and knowledge that cannot be improvised. This is why it might take a few months of experience on the market, or further studies at university or schools of T&I, to acquire these skills of handling a specific terminology, register and style, proper to each field.
Community interpreting
The other particularity of the French market is that there is no community interpreting, i.e. not as a paid and legal profession. This is due to the French laws which consider everyone equal... as long as you can speak French! As opposed to the United States or Australia for example, France has an official language, and as a result, no legal text entitles one to a free interpreter if this person does not speak French. Yet, interpreters are needed everywhere in France, for medical and administrative help in particular, and this is why if one has the opportunity, benevolent help is always greatly welcome in "missions locales"2.
Languages
In terms of languages, of course the French market is leaning towards English first, and all European languages then, especially German, followed by Spanish and Italian. Obviously this all depends on which market you work on; for instance, consider Arabic languages (Moroccan and Algerian dialects in particular) that are the second most spoken languages after French, but do not conquer the business world eventhough they might be very useful in court interpreting, or benevolent interpreting for cullunities as mentionned previously. One does not want to limit his/her language span of action to French and English in Europe; so any other language you already speak you might want to work on after your degree at Macquarie University.
Your possibilities as a translator or an interpreter on the French market
In-house translator
An in-house translator is called "traducteur salarié" in France, and by definition, has an employer, a fixed salary, and is not totally independent in the choice of texts.
As an in-house translator, you can:
- be working for the translation services of national and international institutions, or of a company. This situation ensures that you receive a monthly payment, and might be considered as the most secure job which can be found for a translator. Nevertheless, experience shows that in most cases, this type of translator was in fact a former employee of that same company, who happened to speak another language "correctly", and was given translation jobs. But there is still hope, as this trend changes and big companies tend now to realize the importance of hiring qualified workers for translation jobs. One should know though, that it might imply other types of work, on top of translation jobs, (such as marketing, finance, filing or other qualifications you might have), which might be asked by your company. As far as government bodies and international organizations are concerned, the profession of translator is fully respected as such, and you will be hired as a translator only, and have the status of civil servant.
- be enlisted in a temporary work agency. The advantage is that you are not looking for the job yourself and still obtain work contracts (mostly Contrats à Durée Determinée3) that ensure you a steady salary for the length of your contract. I was not expecting to discover that this solution was slowly becoming popular, as more and more workers (of many different skills and backgrounds) choose to subscribe in one or more "Agences d'interim" to find them a job. As this situation still is considered precarious, in France you receive a "prime de précarité"4 for every contract (CDD).
- be working for a translation agency ("société/agence de traduction"), where you are guaranteed with a salary every month, and a certain number of translations, on subjects that are part of your skills, normally. You can find many of these on the internet and their hiring requirements remain quite unclear, but for sure you will be put in a "category", a specialization, since it is the way these agencies attract their clients, by showing them the types of texts they can carry with great professionalism (financial, legal, scientific, trade and marketing, etc...). Also, you should remain very careful as some of them might not pay enough; as a translator for these agencies, your word rates will be lower than a freelancer's but your pay should never be under 8 Euro cents (~$13 cents) per word.
To give a rough idea, an in-house translator can earn between €1050 (~$1770) and €2200 ($3705) as a beginner, and €1830 ($3080) to €2440 ($4110) after about two years of experience.
There are other possibilities as an in-house translator (for a "société de courtage", or "de portage") but you have above the most common ones. There are an estimated 4000 in-house translators in France, whether in translation services of companies, civil servants, or translation agencies. These figures are rising and more and more job opportunities for these can be found.
Tips and advice on how to find a position of in-house translator
- First, you should know that at least one DESS5 internship in three ends with a work contract (CDI). So if you plan on specializing with further studies, this might be your first opportunity of getting an in-house position.
- Keep responding to job offers and sending spontaneously your resume as much as you can.
- Keep contact with former relations like your university classmates or professors, as they might one day turn to you for a job they do not want to carry.
- Take the governmental or international recruiting tests regularly, as they usually lead to a steady position of civil servant.
Sources and further information: Daniel Gouadec, Profession: Traducteur, La Maison du Dictionnaire, 2002; http://www.exporter.fr/traduction.htm (for a non-exhaustive list of translation agencies); http://traductions.svp.fr (translation agency); http://aquarius.net (newsletter helps you follow the translation market evolution); http://www.apec.asso.fr (Association Pour l'Emploi des Cadres often contains many translation job offers)
Free-lance translator
As a freelancer ("traducteur libéral/indépendant"), your career might be a bit slow to start but it is the choice that a large majority of translators make in France. The advantages are that you can accept the jobs you want and, in the end, earn a bit more than an in-house translator – in a company, as it is a bit different in governmental or international institutions).
As this study introduced above, the wisest choice might be for a new-comer on the French translation market, to specialize right away. To that extent, here follows a list of specializations as they were found most commonly on the French market:
- translation of literay works (see part 2.5 for details on this specific field)
- translation of commercial documents such as used in the business world: correspondance, company accounts, reports, etc...
- translation of legal texts such as laws and bills, statutes, treaties and diverse types of contracts. This should be your choice only if you have studied law, as the mistranslation of a passage, in a contract for example, could have disastrous consequences. The other particularity, that one should keep in mind, is that the translator of legal texts should be familiar with the laws and legal systems of both languages' cultures. Nevertheless, it is considered as one of the best remunerated specializations in translation.
- Translation of medical, biomedical and pharmaceutical texts covers anything from the packaging of medicines to manuals for medical equipments, to
medical books and research reports. After years of experience, you could also be joining the translating teams of international congresses of medicine.
- Translation of scientific texts such as theses, monographs, speeches and presentations for congresses. As a result, you would usually work for individual researchers, laboratories or scientific publications (newspapers, journals)
- Translation of technical texts. "Technical" might sound like a broad term, so we can consider that it usually refers to fields such as IT or manufacuring, and deals with texts such as manuals and instructions, or softwares in the case of IT.
- "localisation" is a growing field, as it concerns the translation of websites, concerns a type of translation resulting in a material that is clear for the target language culture and context. The term "cybertraducteur" has emerged from this, a translation specialized in websites, their translation as well as their structure, which requires some at least basic IT skills, accessible to anyone.
- Translation of audiovisual materials, which includes subtitling (see part 2.6), dubbing for TV, cinema, DVDs, CDROMs, etc... This field, just like the others, require a bit of technique although experience shows that most translator entered these through on-the-job training.
There are an estimated 8000 free-lance translators in France, 3000 of whom are working part time only. Their earnings vary greatly depending on the specialization, with the ones in media and softwares at the top, on geography (rates higher in Paris), or on the relation between the translator and the client (if a third party is involved in the contract, there is a commission), and the least important factor for that variation is competence... It is estimated that a technical or specialized translation is paid about €0,12 per word, but of course this all depends on the number of words.
2.2.1 Tips and advice to settle as a free-lance translator
- Post an ad or your resume on websites dedicated to translation and interpreting, and contact translation agencies to propose your collaboration. Do not forget to put your ad in the phonebook too, as most clients declare having found their translator for a job simply in the regional phonebook. You can even post this same ad in the local newspaper and professional publications.
- Always be checking newspapers, websites and employment agencies for new jobs. Always follow the news, be aware of the technologies that could mean new jobs in a near future, i.e. the globalisation of a French company, etc...
- You could enlist in a translation association of your specialization, as it does not cost much, allows you to meet colleagues, who could one day advise you to a client, but also allows you to be somewhat recognized and considered by clients. Also, most of these associations/unions advertise a few jobs on their website.
- Create your personal website to advertise yourself or have someone create it for you, as the internet is becoming the new phonebook.
- Once you decide to settle as a freelancer, do not forget that you should subscribe at U.R.S.S.A.F just to fill in a few forms, get an immatriculation number to facilitate your tax declarations. To help you in settling as a freelancer, various websites are giving useful advice, and you should definitely have a look at the magazine Entreprise en Solo.
- Specialize in one area after your Master of T&I at Macquarie; this is what will make your particularity among many translators, and will eventually bring permanent and recurring clients. Many different specializations in translation and conference interpreting are available in European Universities and Schools, most in one year or two only (after a Master); and having a greatly recognized European degree will offer you many more opportunities. For that reason, do not forget that the degree you need might also be found in Belgium or Switzerland, as they have some of the translation schools with the best reputations.
Sources and further information: Daniel Gouadec, Profession: Traducteur, La Maison du Dictionnaire, 2002;
http://www.sft.fr (Société Française des Traducteurs), http://www.translatorstips.com (help to settle as freelancer); http://www.proz.com (classifies translation job offers by languages); http://aquarius.net (newsletter helps you follow the translation market evolution); http://www.motamot.com (giving multitude of tips to settle as a freelancer in any profession); http://www.ccim.be/ccim328/html.index.htm (to help you create your website yourself); http://www.annuairedestraducteurs.com/liste.php (to advertize yourself and your website in a few lines)
Conference interpreter (in-house/free lance)
The focus will be placed on Conference interpreters since, as mentionned above, there are no community interpreting on the French market.
In France, most conference interpreters work with three languages, as most of the existing conference interpreting degrees in Europe compel their students to speak three languages to enter their schools. Moreover, simultaneous interpreting is the most largely used method (if you have only studied consecutive interpreting, you will need further studies to acquire these techniques), except in a few cases of small company meetings and any small jobs often offered in the private sector for the needs of a European or international company' small meetings and events.
The vast majority of conference interpreters are freelancers or "Interprètes indépendants" in French (freelancers outnumber staff interpreters by nearly 9-to-1, according to a survey conducted by AIIC), and work about 100-150 days per year to make a decent living, as a day is paid between €400 and 700 (~$670/1,175) in the private organizations; and around €400 (~$670) in the public sector.
A staff interpreter (in-house) is usually paid an average of €2300 (~$3,870) per month, as a beginner. The main chances ona has of becoming a staff interpreter are in European institutions, as these organizations keep a permanent team of interpreters, that is completed when needed by freelancers called just for a specific job.
As a conference interpreter in France, you have a multitude of possibilities of where to work. The European institutions remain the main employer for all interpreters in Europe -cf next part: 2.4, but also international organizations such as the OECD, NATO, Western European Union, UNESCO, International Labour Office, Food and Agricultue Organization, WHO, WTO and many more United Nations Organizations.
In France, the main employer of interpreters are Ministères (French for Government administrations and departments), the Ministère des Affaire Etrangères in particular, but also the Ministère de la Défense, Ministère des Finances, and various regional institutions. Other organizations in the public and private sector also need interpreters on many occasions, such as EDF-GDF and Renault Regie. In the private sector, a conference interpreter will mainly be hired for big congresses (medicine, IT, etc...), administrative councils' meetings, meetings held by unions and workers councils, and any other little meetings help by a European company.
For further information about pretty much everything concerning conference interpreting, go to the AIIC website (surveys, studies, languages...)
Sources and further information: http://www.aiic.net (Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conférence); http://www.uni-paris3.fr/esit/ (Ecole Supérieure d'Interprètes et Traducteurs); http://www.aaeesit.com (former students from ESIT); http://www.isit.icp.fr (Institut Supérieur d'Interprétation et de Traduction); http://www.sics-unsa.org (Syndicat français des Interprètes de Conférence Salariés); http://www.lemoneymag.fr (go to "guide interprète" for information about interpreters for touristic purposes: description, geographical availabilities on the market and rates)
Conference interpreter and translator for the European Union
The European Union is the most important employer of conference interpreters and translators in the World, before the United Nations. As it is the dream of almost every beginner in the profession to be one day working for the "big institutions" in Europe, a European Master was even launched for conference interpreting students (EMCI).
The first thing you might want to hear if you are interested in this career path, is that the Directorate General for Interpretation will have to face a major shortage of interpreters (especially with English as A or B language) in the next 10-15 years, when baby-boomers retire; and that this same Directorate offers scholarships for interpreting studies.
The European Union hire its permanent as well as its occasional translators and conference interpreters through its European Personal Selection Office (EPSO), which organizes entrance tests. You can then be working for many European bodies, the Parliament, the Commission, the Council and the Court of Justice being the most common ones. In the case of the European Parliament for instance, the total of their activities over the year 2005 involved the intervention of freelancers and permanent staff in equal numbers.
Many different things are required by EPSO of a candidate for its entrance exams, including that you are a citizen of the European Union, that you work with three of the twenty official languages in Europe, with at least English and French or German as two of your languages. These jobs at the European Union are well-paid and involve some social and fiscal advantages. At the bottom of the scale of salaries for permanent staff, one can earn €3837 (~$6450) per month; it is possible to obtain most remuneration information on these institutions' websites, but they are quite insignificant as they are often not associated with the conditions which depend on the languages, the years of experience, the nature of the job (translation or interpretation) and the institution. They also hire temporary staff for two years contracts. Job offers are published on the EPSO website, http://europa.eu/epso/.
Working for the European institutions, you will mainly encouter translations and interpreting in economic, political, law, commercial, administrative, but also other technical fields.
Sources and further information: http://europa.eu/epso/ (European Personal Selection Office); www.sics-unsa.org (Syndicat français des Interprètes de Conférence Salariés); http://www.aiic.net (Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conférence); http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ (European Parliament); http://curia.europa.eu/ (European Court of Justice)
Focus on: literary translator
The main particularity of the literary translator is that he/she has the status of an author, and consequently receives royalties and tax reductions (5,5% TVA6); for their status to be recognized they must register as members of the organization in charge, AGESSA. Previous surveys showed that there were about 2500 literary translators in France, and that it was not the best paid job since most of them had to take other translation jobs (technical) 30% of the time to earn enough, -some having chosen to make literary translating only a part time job.
Indeed, a literary translator usually gets paid about €20 (~$33) per page of 250 words, plus 1 or 2% of the translated version’s receipts, and only 0,5% for paperback collections. If you choose this option, remember that a literary translator always translates into his/her mother tongue, and that, although pretty much on his own most of the time, he/she must cooperate with the authors and editors of the books to be translated. Literary translation of course is a huge market, but experience shows that it is a path translators choose after quite a few years of practice on other types of translation jobs.
Sources and further information: http://www.atlf.org (Association des Traducteurs Littéraires de France); http://www.agessa.org (Association pour la Gestion de la Sécurité Sociale des Auteurs; and Daniel Gouadec, Profession: Traducteur, La Maison du Dictionnaire, 2002
Focus on: subtitling
A translator for subtitles (different from dubbing) is another of these jobs which have a specific status; depending on his/her exact role, a subtitler is an “intermittent du spectacle” (=workers in the entertainment industry without steady employment) and/or considered as an author as he/she receives royalties in some cases. It is supposed to be a field in full expansion because of the globalization of the film industry, but the jobs are not that easy to find in France. This profession is not always well-payed and it is easier to find a job when you know the right persons in this area... The global market is dominated at about 60% by one company called Subtitling and Dubbing International Media, that has branches in many countries, and usually pays his workers around €0,35 (~$0,60) per subtitle; according to one of them, at that rate, they would need to make 500-700 subtitles a day for a living when they can actually make about 250 a day if they want to do a quality job. According to the information I could gather, the range of payments goes from €0,35 (~$0,56) per subtitle (mainly for DVDs) to 2 or 3 Euros (~$3,30-5) per subtitle for a movie to be released in cinemas, and around €1,50-2 (~$2-3,30) for TV documentaries and movies. A subtitler is almost never an employee and gets paid when receives a contract from his/her company; a subtitler always translates from his/her mother-tongue because of cultural understanding.
Sources and further information: http://www.lemoneymag.fr; http://www.ecrannoir.fr; http://www.sdi-media.com (Subtitling and Dubbing International Media)
Focus on: court interpreter-translator
In France, there is a very specific translating job called "Expert traducteur interprète près les Cours d'Appel". A court interpreter-translator must translate written works as well as interpret both in consecutive and simultaneous. On top of this, he/she must be highly specialized in Law, and quick to learn in order to be able to handle cases referring to any type of subject, as well as able to translate and interpret from and into the two languages involved. In France, this is the only translating & interpreting job that has a legal status and therefore, specific employment standards (in terms of requirements, taxes, salaries, paid holidays, etc...). He/She must be available 24/7 as he/she can be called to intervene at any time for a Court, a Police station, in preliminary investigations as well as during the process of a trial. The salary is officially declared in the Penal Code and has been recently changed to €11 (~$18,50) per page to be translated, approx. €13 (~$22) per first hour of interpreting and €6.60 (~$11) from the second hour, -except for Paris and its surroundings where an hour is paid €14,70/7,30 (~$24,70/12,30). This refers to the "most common" languages –English, Ferman, Spanish and Italian-, and these activities are paid 25% more for any other language. Any interested translator-interpreter should send an application to the Procureur de la République of the Tribunal de Grande instance of the region where he/she lives, before the 1st of March of every year. The application is then studied by the judicial authories who give their decision in November, that same year. The criterias of course include the needs for certain languages, as well as the skills and experience of the candidate. For further information, the national association for court translators-interpreters, UNETICA (Union Nationale des Experts Traducteurs-Interprètes près des Cours d'Appel) can be contacted.
Sources and further information: http://www.aaeesit.com (association des anciens élèves de l'ESIT);
http://www.unetica.fr (Union Nationale des Experts Traducteurs-Interprètes près des Cours d'Appel)
Conclusions
This research went through many difficulties and the information was really not easy to access. There is a need for organizations to track this profession better in order to provide enough useful information to new-comers. Nevertheless, this research led to many interesting results, making the French market for translation and interpreting a particular one, greatly different from the Australian one you might have experienced already. In a strictly national point of view, the French market is bigger than the Australian's, pretty much equal to the German's, but one should see it with a broader perspective: Europe. It is the "Europeanization" of our institutions and respect of all official languages in the European Union, that will broaden the labour market for translators and interpreters. European regulations will probably be decided before any French's and should provide French and all European markets for translators and interpreters, with better recognition of the profession and its indispensible aspect, and greater respect by hiring only qualified translators and interpreters and raising their remuneration.
1 Source: http://www.management.journeldunet.com
2 In France, non-governmental and benevolent associations, giving all kinds of social help to the local community.
3 In France, there are two main types of work contracts with which a company/employer can hire a person: one does not stipulate the duration of the contract (Contrat à durée indéterminée) and the other does, the Contrat à Durée Déterminé (commonly called CDD) mentionned here.
4 In France, according to the Code du Travail, an employee hired for a determined duration contract, receives a bonus from his/her employer, of 10% of the salary.
5 Fifth year of University in France.
6 Valued-Added Tax