The contribution of institutional recruiters to interpreter training
Getting the balance right
Conference interpreting has come into its own as a profession since the 1940s, with the emergence of a rich, often multilingual institutional framework as a source of employment and of university-based training programs. Direct recruiters in the major international and regional organizations are usually interpreters. These organizations often engage in training: the two communities overlap to a large extent. From the outset there has been close cooperation which has tended to take on more diversified forms since the 1990s. This model has shaped the profession’s self-perception, structure and management. It has contributed to training autonomy within university structures and has given recruiters a significant role.
Article outline
- Introduction
- The early days
- Training and power
- Training in the post-war institutional framework
- Training for the new profession
- The shift to universities
- Institutional recruiters step up
- New forms of involvement
- Intensification of university training
- Closing the gap
- Recruiter-sponsored networks and consortia
- The case for (or against) recruiter involvement: Reasons and tensions
- A highly fragmented profession
- The vulnerabilities of university training
- Motivating staff interpreters
- Tensions
- Conclusions
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Notes
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References