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SOC 27-3091
Interpreters and translators convert spoken, signed, or written information from one language into another, preserving content, context, register, and purpose as far as possible. Interpreting conveys content in real or near-real time; translation delivers reviewable text. Work includes confirming the language pair and purpose, collecting background and terminology, converting and drafting content, reviewing and standardizing terminology, and delivering for the intended purpose while observing confidentiality. U.S. wages and employment use the precise O*NET / BLS 27-3091.00 occupational category (2025 median annual pay of $60,170; approximately 75,300 employed in 2024, 2% growth for 2024—2034, and approximately 6,900 average annual openings). Exact occupational wages for mainland China were not obtained and are recorded as a visible evidence gap.
Model impact index for three equally weighted representative core tasks; not a measured share of working time or a job-loss probability. floor((75+75+50)/3+0.5)=67; fermatmind-ai-impact-v1; 2026-10-18.
Taking responsibility for judgments | Fit depends on whether you can do three things within the same assignment: perform sound language conversion (confirm the language pair and field, prepare terminology and background materials, accurately convey content, context, and register, review and standardize terminology, deliver for the intended purpose, and produce reviewable translations or interpreting records); manage standards and professional ethics (follow industry codes and contracts for confidentiality and information handling, role and authority boundaries, avoiding unauthorized legal or medical advice, and declaring inability to convey content accurately when necessary); and accept clearly defined job responsibilities (take responsibility for your translation and interpreting quality, and seek guidance or refer legal effect, professional conclusions, and external publication through the required process). Test this through a verifiable exercise, such as preparing a translation and review explanation using entirely fictional text and a glossary, rather than relying only on an interest questionnaire.
Caution signals | This page corresponds to O*NET-SOC 27-3091.00, Interpreters and Translators. The official scope is to interpret spoken language or sign language, or translate written text from one language into another. The core deliverable is accurate, usable language conversion suited to context and purpose, rather than word-for-word correspondence. Risks include distorted meaning and context, inconsistent terminology, unauthorized legal or medical advice, and confidentiality requirements for client and participant information. U.S. wages and employment use the precise O*NET / BLS occupational category (median annual pay of $60,170; approximately 75,300 employed in 2024, 2% growth for 2024—2034, and approximately 6,900 average annual openings). Exact occupational wages for mainland China were not obtained and are recorded as a visible evidence gap. If intense concentration, time pressure, and responsibility pressure are difficult for you to tolerate, treat them as practical costs requiring serious consideration.
Interpreters and translators correspond to O*NET-SOC 27-3091.00, Interpreters and Translators. The official scope is to interpret spoken language or sign language, or translate written text from one language into another. A typical complete workflow is to confirm the language pair and purpose, collect background and terminology, convert and draft content, review and standardize terminology, and deliver for the intended purpose while observing confidentiality. Current U.S. national pay: a 2025 median of $60,170 per year; employment of 73,900 in 2025, 1%—2% growth for 2025—2035 (a grouped label), and 6,000 average annual openings (an overall projection, not attributed to AI). The exact occupational wage gap for China remains; industry averages are broad references only.
Career direction comparison
Compare core outputs, responsibility boundaries, and working patterns; do not interchange roles based on names.
| Career direction | Core work and output | Key differences | Best-fit choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Science Research Assistants | Social science research assistance | Core outputs support research data collection, organization, and analysis. This occupation delivers language conversion; research objects and responsibility for conclusions differ, and shared language ability does not imply identical responsibilities. | Core outputs support research data collection, organization, and analysis. | Compare if you wish to support research. |
| English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | Postsecondary English language and literature teaching | Core outputs are teaching and academic research. This occupation focuses on language conversion services; teaching and research duties and job qualifications differ, so roles cannot be interchanged based only on titles. |
AI impact on this career
Direct answer | Machine translation and speech recognition can assist with drafts and subtitle drafts, terminology extraction and consistency checks, reference searches, and efficiency tips. People remain responsible for meaning and context judgments, register and audience fit, terminology decisions, subject-matter accuracy, confidentiality, and role boundaries. Task exposure does not mean job replacement or widespread adoption; formal use requires authorization, human review, and an audit trail. This page provides no replacement probability or timetable. AI Impact Score 67% is an editorial estimate. Model impact index for three equally weighted representative core tasks; not a measured share of working time or a job-loss probability. floor((75+75+50)/3+0.5)=67; fermatmind-ai-impact-v1; 2026-10-18.The three tasks, ratings and sources are listed in the FermatMind method source record on this page.
FermatMind AI Impact Score estimation method v1
FermatMind / 费马测试 · 2026-10-18
Chinese mainland salary reference
Broad reference | Language service and business project duties relate to leasing and business services. National Bureau of Statistics Tables 2 / 5: average annual wages of employees in urban leasing and business service entities in China in 2025 were CNY 110,162 in non-private entities and CNY 68,919 in private entities. These figures are not this occupation's wage range, median, or take-home income. Source: https://www.stats.gov.cn/zwfwck/sjfb/202605/t20260515_1963707.html.
Insufficient evidence: no national single-occupation wage median or percentiles for mainland China interpreters and translators were established. Average wages in information transmission, culture, or professional services cannot account for differences in language pairs, fields, employment or project arrangements, and individual quotes. This page provides no Chinese wage figures.
No reliable figure currently available
U.S. salary reference
U.S. wages in 2025 | Annual wages at the 10 / 25 / 50 / 75 / 90 percentiles were $37,070 / 46,530 / 60,170 / 80,830 / 103,660 respectively, with a median of $60,170 per year. Percentiles are neither minimum wages nor experience levels; the data do not represent individual take-home income.
| Percentile | Annual reference | Monthly equivalent | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower percentiles | $37,070 per year | — | 2025 U.S. national wage percentiles; not individual quotes or experience levels. |
Fit signals
Direct answer | Fit signals include maintaining accuracy under intense concentration and time pressure, continually studying language and terminology, reviewing your own work, and declaring when you cannot convey content accurately. Personality labels do not establish fit. Interest and personality tools can only help design trials; they cannot determine hiring eligibility, authorization, or performance.
Positive signals： Positive signals | You can follow procedures for terminology preparation, conversion and review, and terminology consistency checks; identify meaning and register issues and explain limitations to clients when necessary; and preserve reviewable process records while observing confidentiality and role boundaries.
Caution conditions： Caution conditions | Risk signals include delivering machine drafts directly, inconsistent terminology, register mismatched to the audience, unauthorized legal or medical advice, and inadequate confidentiality of client and participant information. If intense concentration, time pressure, and responsibility pressure are difficult for you to tolerate, treat them as practical costs requiring serious consideration.
Trial actions： Trial action | Practice with entirely fictional text and a glossary: produce a draft or interpret, review your work and check terminology consistency, and explain your handling of meaning and register. Test through observable deliverables rather than relying only on an interest questionnaire.
Risks and boundaries
Risks must be handled through their triggers, consequences, controls, and escalation boundaries.
Risk scenarios are editorial analyses based on occupational tasks; sources support task context, not accident rates or statutory permission. Check local rules for specific qualifications and authorization.
Typical scenario：Literal correspondence that loses meaning, context, or register.
Roles most affected：Interpreters and Translators
Possible consequence：May cause misunderstandings and communication incidents.
Entry paths
Entry preparation | BLS typically specifies a bachelor's degree, proficiency in at least two languages, and interpreting and translation skills. Check each role's language pair, domain, review, and ethics requirements. General certification is usually not required; verify qualifications for specific settings such as courts separately. O*NET education percentages describe respondents' information, not a uniform license. Source: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/interpreters-and-translators.htm.
Market signals
Overall U.S. employment projection, not attributed to AI | O*NET 27-3091.00: employment of 73,900 in 2025, 1%—2% growth for 2025—2035 (a grouped label), and 6,000 projected average annual openings (including growth and replacement needs). Insufficient evidence: a national employment projection and a standardized recruitment sample for this occupation in China were not obtained; these figures cannot be converted into individual hiring probabilities.
Source coverage · Interpreters and Translators
Overall U.S. employment projection, not attributed to AI | O*NET 27-3091.00: employment of 73,900 in 2025, 1%—2% growth for 2025—2035 (a grouped label), and 6,000 projected average annual openings (including growth and replacement needs). Insufficient evidence: a national employment projection and a standardized recruitment sample for this occupation in China were not obtained; these figures cannot be converted into individual hiring probabilities.
Market signals
Work in O*NET 27-3091.00 combines on-site interpreting and desk-based translation: exactness or accuracy extremely important, 92%; working with others extremely important, 88%; face-to-face discussions daily, 80%; constant contact with others, 71%; time pressure daily, 72%; consequences of error extremely serious, 51%; indoors in a controlled environment daily, 72%; sitting continually or almost continually, 39%; and extremely high competition, 35%.
Choose a real task from this page for a small practice project or a conversation with someone in the field. Use the planning guides to set a date, an output and feedback questions before deciding whether to continue.
Fit signals | Work activities in O*NET 27-3091.00 primarily involve interpreting information's meaning for others, establishing and maintaining relationships, communicating with supervisors and colleagues, updating and using relevant knowledge, and identifying information. If you are willing to continually study language, context, and terminology, maintain accuracy under intense concentration and time pressure, and observe confidentiality and role boundaries, these daily requirements may align with your working style. Interest and personality tools are only for designing trials; they cannot determine hiring eligibility or performance.
This is a work sample check, not a personality diagnosis or hiring conclusion.
To assess whether interpreting and translation suit you, first conduct a verifiable exercise using public or simulated materials: create an entirely fictional translation assignment, and outline the process from confirming the language pair and purpose, collecting background and terminology, producing a draft or interpreting, and reviewing your work and checking terminology consistency to delivering for the intended purpose and handling confidentiality. Mark checks and possible problems at each step (distorted meaning or context, inconsistent terminology, register mismatched to the audience, unauthorized professional advice, and inadequate confidentiality of client and participant information). Afterwards, check whether the language pair and purpose, terminology consistency, confidentiality, and role boundaries are indispensable; professional conclusions or external publication beyond your authority are referred or submitted for guidance; and the process leaves reviewable records. All materials must be entirely fictional texts and scenarios.
The first checks concern the objects (language pairs and domain terminology, original texts or speech and context, audiences and purposes), inputs (source texts or speech, glossary and reference versions, service scope and confidentiality requirements), and deliverables (translations or interpreting records, terminology consistency and review explanations, and delivery and confidentiality records). Anything unverified must remain pending verification; machine drafts or intuition based on experience cannot replace terminology and confidentiality requirements.
Assess the complete workflow in four steps: check inputs (confirm the language pair, purpose, terminology, and confidentiality boundaries) → define the task (convert only within the agreed scope, without unauthorized professional advice) → execute and document (convert and review to standard with an audit trail) → review and escalate (immediately disclose ambiguity, terminology conflicts, or inability to convey content accurately and seek guidance). A complete workflow requires verifiable originals, terminology, and scope, rather than merely fluent output.
| Dimension | Primary track | Comparison track |
|---|---|---|
| Complete workflow | Scope, terminology, conversion, and review | |
| Step one | Confirm the language pair and purpose | |
| Step two | Collect background and terminology | |
| Step three | Convey content, context, and register | |
| Step four | Review and standardize terminology | |
| Step five | Deliver for the intended purpose | |
| Step six | Confidentiality and retrospective review |
Objects of work | Convert language within professional ethics and contractual boundaries, working with source and target languages, fields and technical terminology, original texts or speech and their context and register, and client and audience requirements.
Checkable outputs | Reviewable translations or interpreting records, glossaries and consistency explanations, review and revision records, background and purpose explanations, and confidentiality and authorization records. Results must be traceable to the original, terminology versions, and service scope.
Complete workflow | Confirm the language pair and purpose → collect background and terminology → convey content, context, and register → review and standardize terminology → deliver for the intended purpose and observe confidentiality.
Qualifications, certification, and authority in professional settings must still be verified by the specific jurisdiction, organization, or employer. Training or certificates do not automatically confer professional authority such as court or medical interpreting.
The objects of interpreting and translation work and AI boundaries AI can assist with organizing records and summarizing information, but cannot replace authorized judgments or ultimate responsibility.
| Core outputs are postsecondary teaching and academic research. |
| Compare if you wish to teach and conduct research in higher education. |
| Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | Postsecondary foreign language and literature teaching | Core outputs are foreign language teaching and literary research. This occupation focuses on interpreting and translation deliverables; academic evaluation and job requirements differ and must be checked separately. | Core outputs are foreign language teaching and literary research. | Compare if you wish to teach and research foreign languages. |
|---|
| Elementary School Teachers | Elementary school teaching | Core outputs are curriculum instruction and student development. This occupation focuses on language conversion; teaching settings, licenses, and care responsibilities differ and cannot be applied interchangeably. | Core outputs are curriculum instruction and student development. | Compare if you wish to take on teaching and care responsibilities. |
|---|
Neighboring occupations require their own tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Next, test the direction through observable deliverables.
Editorial ratings use the existing occupational responsibilities and AI task analysis on this page. They are not adoption rates, measured effects, job-disappearance or personal-unemployment probabilities, or official scores from Stanford or another external institution. No measured time weights or future robot deployment are assumed.
First distinguish tasks that can be assisted from ultimate responsibility.
A technical demonstration does not establish organizational adoption.
Task exposure cannot establish when jobs will be eliminated.
| Work area | Task | Current change | Human control point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drafting and searching | Language pair, original purpose, and terminology preparation | Possible assistance: machine translation drafts, speech recognition and subtitle drafts, terminology extraction and consistency checks, and reference searches. These outputs can be checked afterwards, but the original, terminology versions, and domain context must still be revisited. | Revisit the original, checking confidentiality authorization and context |
| Terminology and consistency | Terminology extraction and version alignment | Consistency checks may be trialed | Human control points: revisit the original and context, review key judgments, and take responsibility for meaning and register, terminology consistency, subject-matter accuracy, confidentiality, and role boundaries. |
| Review and delivery | Check omissions, meaning, and register | No automatic confirmation of delivery quality | Review for the intended purpose and clarify when accurate conveyance is impossible |
| On-site work and confidentiality | Live expression and restricted material handling | Record organization may be trialed | Do not make medical or legal judgments or send information beyond authorization |
Use of evidence | O*NET27-3091.00 supports the language conversion task context; AI drafts and checks are conditional editorial suggestions. ILO exposure does not measure adoption or unemployment probability in this role. The public ISO17100 summary is a translation service framework; it does not cover interpreting or machine translation post-editing outside that edition's scope. The CATTI examination provides neither pay data nor authorization for every setting; the Chinese proficiency test is not a translation professional qualification.
Differences in impact | Different steps within the same occupation may be affected differently. Steps more readily represented in text and checked afterwards (drafts, subtitle drafts, terminology extraction, and consistency checks) are candidates for tool trials; actual efficiency must be tested using samples from the role. Steps involving context and register judgments, terminology decisions, subject-matter accuracy, confidentiality, and live interpreting require greater human responsibility.
AI primarily changesEditorial recommendation: trial information organization; actual effects remain to be verified
Human responsibility remainsResponsibility and authorization
AI primarily changesEditorial recommendation: trial information organization; actual effects remain to be verified
Human responsibility remainsOriginal record checks
Responsibility chain | From confirming tasks and scope through tool processing, human review and revision, delivery sign-off, and confidentiality and recordkeeping, every step must have a clear responsible person and traceable evidence. Accuracy judgments for legal, medical, and other specialist content must not rely solely on a model.
Confirm sources, permissions, and versions.
Assist only within the known scope.
The responsible person reviews outputs.
Stop immediately and report anomalies.
Will amplify incorrect conclusions.
Control: Check original materials.
Will change responsibility boundaries.
Control: Follow the authorization chain.
May overlook exceptions.
Control: Retain human judgment.
Practice reviewable work samples.
Retain process and failure records.
Define permissions and stopping conditions first.
Task exposure cannot establish a date for job elimination; this page provides no replacement probability or timetable.
Source: Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook HandbookOriginal source ↗
No. Task exposure, organizational adoption, productivity changes, and job numbers are four distinct measurement objects; none can be inferred from another.
Source: Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global IndexOriginal source ↗
No. People must take responsibility for meaning and register judgments, terminology decisions, subject-matter accuracy, and confidentiality boundaries.
Source: 27-3091.00 Interpreters and TranslatorsOriginal source ↗
Turning point | Editorial judgment: tools may help improve drafting and searching, but do not change who is responsible for meaning and context judgments, terminology decisions, subject-matter accuracy, or confidentiality boundaries. A practical approach is to build strong language and domain skills first, then introduce tools into low-risk steps that can be reviewed and traced.
No reliable figure currently available
No reliable figure currently available
A bounded search did not establish a reliable figure; this item is not a starting salary, take-home income, or individual quote.
| Job scope | Reference value | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Insufficient evidence: no reliable mapping established (high school / secondary vocational school) | Verify against organizational announcements | Do not use proxy figures. |
| Insufficient evidence: no reliable mapping established (junior college) | Verify against organizational announcements | Do not use proxy figures. |
| Insufficient evidence: no reliable mapping established (bachelor's degree) | Verify against organizational announcements | Do not use proxy figures. |
| Insufficient evidence: no reliable mapping established (other) | Verify for the specific jurisdiction | Do not use proxy figures. |
No reliable figure currently available
No reliable figure currently available
No reliable figure currently available
AI and pay boundaries | Tools may be considered for information organization trials when authorized. Insufficient evidence: data on AI adoption, actual efficiency, and causal effects on pay in this occupation were not obtained; wages are not inferred from task exposure.
| Median | $60,170 per year | — | 2025 U.S. national wage percentiles; not individual quotes or experience levels. |
|---|
| Higher percentiles | $103,660 per year | — | 2025 U.S. national wage percentiles; not individual quotes or experience levels. |
|---|
Pay · 10th percentile：$37,070 per year；National Wages: 27-3091.00 - Interpreters and Translators
Pay · 25th percentile：$46,530 per year；National Wages: 27-3091.00 - Interpreters and Translators
Pay · Median：$60,170 per year；National Wages: 27-3091.00 - Interpreters and Translators
Pay · 75th percentile：$80,830 per year；National Wages: 27-3091.00 - Interpreters and Translators
Pay · 90th percentile：$103,660 per year；National Wages: 27-3091.00 - Interpreters and Translators
No.
The coverage must be checked.
Follow the source period.
They cannot be combined directly.
| Industry | Industry value | How to interpret |
|---|---|---|
| Government (excluding state and local education and hospitals) | $74,320 per year | 2025 U.S. industry median for this occupation, not a Chinese / self-employed rate |
| Hospitals (state, local, and private) | $63,000 per year | 2025 U.S. industry median for this occupation, not an individual quote |
| Educational services (state, local, and private) | $61,230 per year | 2025 U.S. industry median for this occupation, not an individual quote |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | $60,850 per year | 2025 U.S. industry median for this occupation, not an individual quote |
Verify for the specific jurisdiction.
Verify against job responsibilities.
Do not extrapolate across regions.
Overall employment projection for the precise U.S. occupation, not attributed to AI； does not represent a real-time recruitment sample or individual hiring probability.
Overall employment projection for the precise U.S. occupation, not attributed to AI； does not represent a real-time recruitment sample or individual hiring probability.
Overall employment projection for the precise U.S. occupation, not attributed to AI； does not represent a real-time recruitment sample or individual hiring probability.
Check using work samples rather than substituting labels for judgment.
Conclusion | Activity preferences align more closely with a combination of following procedures, language arts, and social service (O*NET interest code CAS). However, interest codes can only help design trials; they cannot determine hiring eligibility or performance.
Do not use it this way: This cannot establish hiring, qualifications, or performance.
Start a career interest trialCheck using work samples rather than substituting labels for judgment.
Conclusion | This page provides no validation evidence that personality tests predict performance in this occupation. Continue checking against real tasks, responsibility boundaries, and reviewable deliverables rather than drawing conclusions from a single label.
Do not use it this way: This cannot establish hiring, qualifications, or performance.
Start a career interest trialCheck using work samples rather than substituting labels for judgment.
Conclusion | RIASEC or personality frameworks can only help formulate questions; they cannot replace work samples, learning ability, qualifications, and actual performance evidence for this occupation. No tool conclusion constitutes a hiring, authorization, or appointment decision.
Do not use it this way: This cannot establish hiring, qualifications, or performance.
Start a career interest trialCheck using work samples rather than substituting labels for judgment.
Continue checking against real tasks, responsibility boundaries, and reviewable deliverables.
Do not use it this way: This cannot establish hiring, qualifications, or performance.
Start a career interest trialCheck using work samples rather than substituting labels for judgment.
Continue checking against real tasks, responsibility boundaries, and reviewable deliverables.
Do not use it this way: This cannot establish hiring, qualifications, or performance.
Start a career interest trialCheck using work samples rather than substituting labels for judgment.
Continue checking against real tasks, responsibility boundaries, and reviewable deliverables.
Do not use it this way: This cannot establish hiring, qualifications, or performance.
Start a career interest trialFits better when: Enjoy repeatedly refining translations and standardizing terminology.
Watch for: Machine drafts cannot be delivered directly.
Fits better when: Able to remain accurate and adapt in the moment under pressure.
Watch for: Declare situations in which accurate conveyance is impossible.
Fits better when: Willing to establish glossaries and check consistency.
Watch for: Terminology decisions follow client and industry standards.
Fits better when: Good at handling differences in register, audiences, and cultures.
Watch for: Do not substitute for professional conclusions.
Fits better when: Willing to adapt software and documents linguistically and culturally.
Watch for: Technical documentation accuracy requires checking.
Fits better when: Willing to protect client and participant information according to codes.
Watch for: Confidentiality requirements follow codes, regulations, and contracts.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
Continue checking with safe work samples and responsibility boundaries.
How to reduce risk：Check the original and background materials, clarify with speakers or authors when necessary, and retain revision records.
Evidence：Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook Handbook
Typical scenario：Missing glossaries, inconsistent versions, or uncoordinated parallel translators.
Roles most affected：Interpreters and Translators
Possible consequence：May cause quality defects and rework.
How to reduce risk：Establish a glossary and a common version and check consistency before delivery.
Evidence：Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook Handbook
Typical scenario：Substituting for professionals to draw legal, medical, or other professional conclusions while interpreting or translating.
Roles most affected：Interpreters and Translators
Possible consequence：May harm participants' rights and interests and create liability risks.
How to reduce risk：Remain strictly within the language conversion role, state inability to convey content accurately when necessary, and recommend consulting professionals.
Evidence：Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook Handbook
Typical scenario：Processing, storing, or sending client or participant information or protected materials beyond authorization.
Roles most affected：Interpreters and Translators
Possible consequence：May create compliance risks and harm rights and interests.
How to reduce risk：Handle information within the minimum necessary and authorized scope, encrypt or destroy as required, and retain processing records.
Evidence：Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook Handbook
Typical scenario：Skipping self-checks or review under delivery deadline pressure.
Roles most affected：Interpreters and Translators
Possible consequence：May cause quality defects and rework.
How to reduce risk：Complete self-checks and review through the required process and retain records.
Evidence：Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook Handbook
Typical scenario：Continuing despite ambiguous meaning, terminology conflicts, or insufficient authorization conditions.
Roles most affected：Interpreters and Translators
Possible consequence：May override professional boundaries, industry codes, or contractual authorization.
How to reduce risk：First stop and explain the limitations, then hand over facts, impacts, and unresolved issues to an authorized responsible person.
Evidence：Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook Handbook
Typical scope：Responsibilities by stage | At entry and trial stages, convert and deliver with review and supervision. At later stages, independently translate or interpret within authorization, taking responsibility for accuracy, terminology, and confidentiality.
Readiness evidence：Reviewable evidence | Demonstrate ability with entirely fictional text and a glossary: translations or interpreting records, glossaries and consistency explanations, review and revision records, and explanations of meaning and register decisions. Do not use real clients, participants, or protected materials; state the basis and assumptions.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Next action | Complete a fictional translation task package and review explanation. Ask an experienced person to challenge your meaning judgments, terminology decisions, confidentiality, and role boundaries, then use the feedback to decide whether to invest further in this direction. Demonstrate ability through observable deliverables rather than course names.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Transfer paths | Before changing careers, list transferable skills (language and domain skills, terminology and quality control, review and consistency, intercultural communication, and confidentiality and compliance), then specify the tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility required for the new role. Moving into research assistance, language teaching, or technical writing requires the corresponding research, teaching, or writing evidence.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Confirm sources, permissions, and versions.
Observe stopping and escalation conditions.
Create reviewable records.
Expand within the authorized scope.
Recruitment samples, employment size, and openings must be interpreted separately.
Does not establish：Cannot serve as an individual employment guarantee.
Source coverage · Interpreters and Translators
No reliable figure currently available
Market signals
Recruitment samples, employment size, and openings must be interpreted separately.
Does not establish：Cannot serve as an individual employment guarantee.
Source coverage · Interpreters and Translators
No reliable figure currently available
Market signals
Recruitment samples, employment size, and openings must be interpreted separately.
Does not establish：Cannot serve as an individual employment guarantee.
These are capability relationships, not automatic promotions or credential waivers.
Transfers：Transferable skills | Shared foundations in related directions include language and intercultural understanding, terminology and quality control, review and consistency, communication across parties, and confidentiality and compliance. Each path still requires the tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility corresponding to its new outputs and obligations.
Build next：Skill gaps | Moving into neighboring fields such as social science research assistance, postsecondary language and literature teaching, primary or secondary teaching, or technical writing requires the corresponding research methods, teaching qualifications, curriculum and assessment, or information design evidence. Proximity supports comparison of directions; it does not mean automatic job transfer or mutual recognition of qualifications.
View career profileTransfers：Language and text analysis ability
Build next：Teaching and academic research training
View career profileTransfers：Foreign language expression, text comprehension, and intercultural communication
Build next：Postsecondary teaching and research evaluation requirements
View career profileTransfers：Language and cultural understanding
Build next：Teaching qualifications and classroom management
View career profileTransfers：Understanding language and curriculum content
Build next：Subject teaching and student development assessment
View career profileTransfers：Research reading and information organization
Build next：Research methods and data collection and analysis
View career profileThis occupation converts spoken, signed, or written information from one language into another, delivering reviewable text or interpreting records. Social science research assistants collect and analyze research data; postsecondary language and literature teachers teach and conduct academic research; primary and secondary teachers provide curriculum instruction and support student development; and technical writers design information. Compare core outputs, job qualifications, and responsibility boundaries rather than interchanging titles.
Fit signals include maintaining accuracy under intense concentration and time pressure, continually studying language and terminology, reviewing your own work, and declaring when you cannot convey content accurately. Personality labels do not establish fit. Interest and personality tools can only help design trials; they cannot determine hiring eligibility or performance.
Machine translation and speech recognition can assist with drafts and subtitle drafts, terminology extraction and consistency checks, and reference searches. People remain responsible for meaning and context judgments, register and audience fit, terminology decisions, subject-matter accuracy, confidentiality, and role boundaries. Task exposure does not mean job replacement or widespread adoption; this page provides no replacement probability or timetable.
Tool output cannot replace language judgments and professional boundaries. People must revisit the original and context, review key judgments, and take responsibility for meaning and register, terminology consistency, subject-matter accuracy, confidentiality, and role boundaries. Qualified professionals are responsible for legal, medical, and other professional conclusions.
Insufficient evidence: no national single-occupation wage median or percentiles for mainland China interpreters and translators were established. Average wages in information transmission, culture, or professional services cannot account for differences in language pairs, fields, employment or project arrangements, and individual quotes. This page shows the gap rather than filling it with industry averages or U.S. data.
According to O*NET / BLS 2025 data (the precise occupation 27-3091.00): median hourly pay is $28.93, median annual pay is $60,170, the 10th percentile is $37,070, and the 90th percentile is $103,660. The O*NET summary page does not list the 25 / 75 percentiles, so this page does not publish them. OEWS covers employer-reported wages, excluding benefits and bonuses; percentiles are not starting salaries or individual take-home income.
O*NET preparation information places this occupation in Job Zone Four: most require a four-year bachelor's degree, while some roles require a master's degree (55% report a bachelor's degree, 28% a master's degree, and 8% a high school diploma); registered apprenticeship routes also exist. Entry should combine language and domain training with verifiable work samples; education, certificates, professional certification, hiring, organizational authorization, and professional authority must be checked separately.
The main risks fall into four categories: meaning and context, inconsistent terminology, unauthorized professional advice, and confidentiality and information security. Key controls are to document original and background materials, glossary and version consistency, role and professional boundaries, and confidentiality and handling requirements for client and participant information, and immediately disclose and report ambiguity, terminology conflicts, or insufficient authorization.
For the United States, the precise O*NET / BLS occupational category shows approximately 75,300 employed in 2024, approximately 76,600 projected in 2034, 2% growth for 2024—2034, and approximately 6,900 average annual openings. Openings include growth and replacement needs; they are not net new jobs and cannot be converted directly into recruitment volume or individual hiring probabilities.
This page does not draw employment or hiring conclusions. It provides a verifiable trial route: use entirely fictional text and a glossary to complete a translation or interpreting record, a terminology consistency explanation, and review records. Decide whether to continue based on observable deliverables rather than only an interest questionnaire or promotional claims.
Evidence for China, the United States, global contexts, and specific jurisdictions is stated separately; conclusions about pay, employment, qualifications, safety, and AI must not be combined across scopes. The interpreters and translators page provides career decision and safe trial information; it does not replace local legal, medical, financial, safety, professional practice, or other professional advice. Any statement of insufficient evidence means only that a bounded search did not establish reliable data; proxies or model memory must not be used to fabricate figures. This page covers only the precise O*NET / SOC occupation 27-3091.00, Interpreters and Translators.
FermatMind research workflow
current; accessed 2026-08-30
Interpreters and Translators Occupational Outlook Handbook
Limitations：Combined U.S. occupation; OEWS excludes self-employment.
Limitations：Applies only to Section 1557 covered entities and specified situations.
Limitations：Not an adoption rate, quality measure, or unemployment projection for this occupation.
Limitations：Public summary; does not apply to interpreting, and post-editing of raw machine translation is outside that edition's scope.
Limitations：The examination plan does not establish authorization or employer requirements for every role.
Limitations：Industry average wages are not interpreting or translation wages or project rates.
Limitations：Combined U.S. interpreting and translation occupational category.
Limitations：Applies only to this O*NET occupation and the U.S. market; does not establish a Chinese mapping, Chinese wages, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Applies only to this O*NET occupation and the U.S. market; does not establish a Chinese mapping, Chinese wages, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Applies only to this O*NET occupation and the U.S. market; does not establish a Chinese mapping, Chinese wages, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Applies only to this O*NET occupation and the U.S. market; does not establish a Chinese mapping, Chinese wages, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Applies only to this O*NET occupation and the U.S. market; does not establish a Chinese mapping, Chinese wages, or legal authorization.
Limitations：BLS OEWS wage data presented by O*NET OnLine; retains the period, employed population, geography, and units.
Limitations：Applies only to this O*NET occupation and the U.S. market; does not establish a Chinese mapping, Chinese wages, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Applies only to U.S. federal courts; does not replace rules in other jurisdictions.
Limitations：Editorial ratings use the existing occupational responsibilities and AI task analysis on this page. They are not adoption rates, measured effects, job-disappearance or personal-unemployment probabilities, or official scores from Stanford or another external institution. No measured time weights or future robot deployment are assumed.
Author check on 2026-10-11 | O*NET 27-3091.00 provides occupational task and preparation context. The national wage page's 2025 percentiles are $37,070 / 46,530 / 60,170 / 80,830 / 103,660 per year; employment uses a 2025 base year and 2025—2035 projections. NBS Tables 2 / 5 support only average annual wages for China's leasing and business services industry, not this occupation. AI analysis is task-level editorial judgment. The shared registry, Hero, and FAQ retain their original definitions; no claim of page-wide consistency is made.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
Typical scope：Perform responsibilities within job authorization.
Readiness evidence：Retain reviewable deliverables.
Credential boundary：Verify under specific jurisdictional and employer rules.
Next moves：Obtain the necessary tools, qualifications, and evidence of responsibility.
