Current rate for phone interpreters

I am wondering what experienced interpreters are charging for phone interpreting these days. I have been freelancing successfully for three years as a face-to-face Spanish-English interpreter but am looking to fill in the gaps right now as I wait for the CA Court interpreter certification exam in August.

I have been offered a position as a phone interpreter but am finding the pay rate they have mentioned a little appalling.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

hi Jen,

just wondering are you sure that the certification exam is in august? i was under the impression that there werent any exams scheduled. is there a website with the info? thanks!

"Please deposit 25 cents for the next 30 minutes, because THAT'S your salary"

Di in Corona, California said: Hello Jen,

Unfortunately, telephone interpreting pays pennies compared to working face-to-face and what you can expect to receive after you pass your certification. From my personal knowledge with the LL service, they offer between 9-12 on the hour depending on how many minutes you work interpreting. If you want to "fill in the gaps" make sure you aren't missing out on any other assignments and that it is truly idle time. The only convenience factor to this job is the work location.... in other words, not having to drive to work.

Hi Di,
when you wrote LL Service did you mean language line....i just got hired from them and i liked to ask you a few questions. i live in corona too. maybe you can give me some tips.
sincerely,
lizzy

liz in Corona, California said: Hi Di,
when you wrote LL Service did you mean language line....i just got hired from them and i liked to ask you a few questions. i live in corona too. maybe you can give me some tips.
sincerely,
lizzy

Tipping is not allowed here. Thank you.

I have been working for LL for 2 years. When I started I was getting paid 35 cents per minute. Recently they decreased it to 30 cents per minute. It works for me because we have 3 kids that I have to taxi around to school. I work around there schedule! But, the really money is working in Court if you are willing to travel. :)

Sorry, should be "work around their schedule" not there!

I worked for them about 18 years ago. It was 50 cents per minute. From what I see and hear it is more hassle for less money.

Yes, I totally agree! Now they want you to go on a regular daily schedule. They have scheduled days and times and you choose which one you want, it's also less than 30 cents per minute. I cannot work 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. because I have to get kids ready for school and transport them. I have to also pick them up. So recently I've noticed that they are reducing my calls drastically. I am trying to look somewhere else or get a part time job somewhere else. The reason that I started working with Language Line was because of the flexibility. Now I don't know!!

It is really sad how workers are treated. I remember when I went home to Minneapolis from the Army. I was 21 and did not have a degree or know much. I went to work as maintenance man and people took the time to show me how to do the job correctly. As this was happening, they paid me $8.69 an hour. This was in 1980 when $8.69 bought a whole lot more than it does today.
Sometimes I complain about my teaching job, but compared to some of these other jobs I feel fortunate.
I know it is convenient to work out of the house, but I hope more skilled interpreters will say, thanks, but no thanks.
Good luck

Hi John, That is so great that you have such a wonderful job in teaching our kids today that will be the future of tomorrow. I use to be a teacher's aide back in the 80's. It was difficult then, so I can only image todays generation. I use to work for the State of CA and resigned 12 years ago when our 2nd child was born. After that I became a stay at home mom and had one more baby. These babies have grown ages 17, 12, 8 and with the changing times, our corrupted society, we feel that they need a lot of guidance and supervision. You probably will agree if you have kids or see it with the kids you teach. Although I do not work a lot of hours a month, the little money I do make comes in really handy, especially at the end of the month. My husband recently had $600 pay reduction. I am going to look into other Interpreter job sites. I am sure there are plenty more. The scary part for me is that I've been out of the work force for so long (office setting), that I am not up to date with computer programs, office machines, etc. I am thinking about going to a vocational course to freshen my skills. I will do this in September when kids go back to school. Thank you for your responses. Have a great week!! :)

I understand your desire to supervise your children. I have a 11 year old daughter and a 13 year old son. My wife works part time instead of full time for the sake of our kids. I grew up in a 2 parent home, but I had a lot of unsupervised time. I learned a lot from it, but was lucky to have survived some of my mistakes.
Most of the kids are fairly well behaved in the classroom, but some of the things I hear from them after a weekend party are cause for concern. My wife and I talk about the trade offs that many of us make. Even if you can make over $25 an hour, if your kid gets off track that money can disappear putting them back on track. Oh well, I'm off from school until late August. If I don't find some way to make some money soon, I may just travel or do more with the kids and cut expenses when and where I can. I'm sorry to hear about your husband's pay reduction. I hope they make it up and more when the situation improves. I should really get my Masters degree. Our district pays more just for having one.
Again the trade offs between time, energy, money and family. As my friend says " Too soon old, too late smart." Thank you for your responses as well. Good luck in all you do.

SOS Talk in Oud-turnhout, Belgium said: We are currently recruiting telephone interpreters and pay 0.30 euro/0.41 usd per minute. We get a lot of replies but also a couple of interpreters that need to have at least 0.50 euro/0.70 usd per minute. May we have your comment on this? and of course if you are interested, please sign up on our website www.sostalk.com

In my opinion, 0.50 euro is a minimum for phone interpreting. From your 0.30 euro rate, one could draw a conclusion that phone interpreting is less demanding than in-person interpreting, while in my opinion it is even more demanding as interpreters cannot see the persons they interpret to/from (communication without an eye contact is much more difficult as far as interpreting is concerned).

In brief, I agree with the colleagues about higher rates.

Quality Control in Austin, Texas said: Tipping is not allowed here. Thank you.

What do u mean tipping is not allowed here? Duh it's a simple question..its ok though...

@Jana, I am certified medical interpreter. I am interested in working for EU based companies. Is registration still open?

Giari in West Covina, California said: I have been working for LL for 2 years. When I started I was getting paid 35 cents per minute. Recently they decreased it to 30 cents per minute. It works for me because we have 3 kids that I have to taxi around to school. I work around there schedule! But, the really money is working in Court if you are willing to travel. :)

Hi there.
Could you explain how the job works?
My email is:
brazil_usa_2010@yahoo.com
Thank you
Karen

you get calls throughout your shift...as soon as u hang up there is another call...you get two 15 mins breaks n a 30min lunch. you'll get a variety of calls like medical,social security calls, welfare calls, court, jail calls, schools, and billing calls and utility calls, credit card calls, home visit calls, 911 calls, all kinds of different calls very entertaining but demanding...i worked there for 2 years i hated it cuz u don't get paid vacation n 2 take time off is a pain in the ass. the isn't great considering all the work u do...n ur home in a chair for 9hours can't go anywhere gotta hurry n eat n no noise what so ever and you are constantly being monitored n they are super picky. but other than that if you don't mind those things and you feel like you are good and ready then you should go for it. It just wasn't for me. I have a couple of friends that still work there n love it. hope this helps.

Did anyone take the oral test already?
Thanks for your feedback.

Lizzy; I completly agree with you and all that you have stated regarding LL service; i just worked briefly (2 months) and only part time and I dont think that it was worth me missing out on my daughters feedings; i hated the being monitored like we were kids and not professional in our interpretation.