2022 Professional Development Survey Results
Artemisa Valle*
2022 Survey results
A recent survey of the ATISDA membership found that half of those who participated identify themselves as translators (52%). Interestingly enough, nearly one quarter consider themselves as interpreters (22%) and the other quarter are working from home performing the task of either translator or interpreter (26%).
The most common language pair was English/Spanish. Other languages identified were French, Farsi, Dari, Persian, Tajik, Mexican Sign Language (LSM), Portuguese, and Italian. English was the common language among all participants.
The most represented fields amongst the participants were Medical (52%), Legal (48%), Education (52%), and Community (48%). The Technical (30%), Business, and Marketing (26%) sectors were also well represented. The Literary (17%), Localization (13%) and Audiovisual/Subtitling (4%) fields had a strong share. A very significant 26% of participants indicated “Other” for their field of expertise such as Social, Environmental, Academia, Government Documents, Dentistry, Art, and/or Conference.
Out of the 22 participants who responded to the question regarding whether they had worked in a different field during 2021 as opposed to 2020, only one participant answered in the affirmative. The rest had worked in the same fields.
As expected, the type of educational opportunities sought are predominantly about topics within their areas of expertise (77%). Naturally, enough interest was shown in the general skills of Translation (59%) and Interpreting (41%). Great interest in gaining knowledge about CAT tools (55%) was also expressed. Demonstrating a commitment to the business management aspect of their career path, the survey participants showed interest in increasing their knowledge about Business Skills (41%), Life and Work Balance (32%), and Financial Education (23%). Other responses included explicit requests for tips on using Word, Excel, and Trados. Currently trending, and possibly falling under the topic of Wellness, is a request for information about Ergonomics.
The most popular day indicated for events is Saturday (61%) with a surprisingly high interest level in participating during Weekdays (35%). The most popular times were 4 pm to 8 pm (44%) [most likely for those interested in weekday events] and 8 am to 11 am (39%) [most likely for those interested in Saturday events]. Some interest was shown for the 12 pm - 4 pm (17%) time slot and Sunday events (22%).
Interest in Continuing Education Points (CEPs) was significant at 44% of participants. However, the majority (57%) of ATISDA survey participants were interested in educational opportunities for increasing skills and professional development opportunities. Regarding CEPs, participants explicitly requested CEPs from ATA, CCHI, BBCMI, and CA state courts.
When asked to state specific topics or fields of interest, the survey participants replied in alignment with the above training topics. The outliers replied with interests in the Latest Tech Glossaries, Cooking and Recipes.
Guest speakers of interest were Judy Jenner, Nora Díaz, a past TRADOS webinar presenter, and Jesse Tomlinson, who presented recently at the TerpSummit 2022 on the topic of working with Direct Clients.
In summary, the 2022 ATISDA survey had more participants (23) than the survey held in 2021 (16). The two surveys presented the same general questions. As expected, the ratios of the answers regarding fields of work and educational opportunities remained the same. Demonstrating a high level of commitment to the survey process, none of the participants skipped any questions in the survey.
There were some requests from the 2021 survey that, despite not being repeated in the current survey, remain in the Board as current needs: Post-Pandemic Business Strategies, Legal (Immigration, Civil & Human Rights), Legal (Naturalization), and Study Abroad. The Board will also keep in mind the 2021 interest in speakers Rafa Lombardino and attorneys from Casa Cornelia Law Center with expertise in immigration focused on humanitarian protection.
The ATISDA Board thanks those members who actively participate in the scheduled events including the annual T&I Professional Development surveys. The information gathered will be used to plan the Professional Development schedule for the year.
ARTEMISA VALLE is serving a two-year term as our treasurer. Starting in 2008, she is one of the original association’s founders and has been an integral part of the ATISDA leadership for 11 years. Aside from her main role of managing the funds, she has always been keenly interested in the various factors related to our membership. As part of her willingness to assist whenever she is needed, she took time to prepare this comprehensive evaluation describing what you desire to obtain out of being part of our local T&I community and how you feel about the various components of engagement in our trade. One of the results of this analysis was our recent webinar directly related to what you requested.