The freelance accreditation test: part 2 - jury member tips
Summary
TLDRThis video, part two in a series on the inter-institutional accreditation test for interpreters, features an interview with Anna Economedes and Andy Hartley, experienced jury panel members. They discuss what the jury looks for in candidates, emphasizing professional competence and readiness to work alongside experienced interpreters. Candidates are advised not to aim for perfection but to demonstrate their ability to communicate clearly and coherently. Common reasons for test failure include poor technique, lack of experience, and nervousness. To prepare, candidates should practice, stay informed about current affairs, and familiarize themselves with the EU. During the test, they should not stop speaking, avoid nonsensical statements, and ensure they do not add to the original content. If a candidate fails, they are encouraged not to give up but to return with more experience. The video also explains the composition of the jury panel and the importance of consecutive interpreting as a diagnostic tool. The final advice is to manage nerves, show the jury what the candidate can do, and return if unsuccessful to improve on the experience.
Takeaways
- 🔍 **Professional Competence:** Jurors are looking for candidates who can communicate clearly and coherently in their mother tongue, even under various circumstances.
- 🚫 **No Perfection Required:** The expectation is not for perfection but for interpreters ready to work alongside experienced professionals from the next day.
- 📉 **Common Failure Reasons:** Candidates often fail due to poor consecutive technique, lack of experience in simultaneous interpreting, or weak second language skills.
- 🤔 **Managing Nerves:** Candidates should view the test as an opportunity to showcase their skills rather than an exam, and remember that the setup aims to recruit talent.
- 📚 **Preparation Tips:** Extensive practice, especially in consecutive interpreting, staying updated with current affairs, and understanding the EU are recommended for preparation.
- 🙅 **Don'ts During the Test:** Candidates should avoid stopping completely, saying anything nonsensical, or adding information not present in the original text.
- 🔄 **Retrying the Test:** If a candidate fails, they are encouraged not to give up but to gain more experience and return for a second attempt.
- 👥 **Jury Composition:** The panel consists of members from various institutions and language experts to ensure a well-rounded evaluation and consensus.
- 🎓 **Diagnostic Tool:** Consecutive interpreting is still tested as it serves as a good diagnostic tool for the jury to assess a candidate's communication skills.
- 🗣️ **Customer Perspective:** One jury member acts as a layperson, providing feedback without prior knowledge of the original speech to gauge clarity and comprehension.
- 💡 **Final Advice:** Prospective candidates are urged to demonstrate their abilities confidently, and if unsuccessful, to use the experience to better prepare for a subsequent attempt.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the inter-institutional accreditation test for interpreters?
-The test focuses on evaluating the professional competence of candidates, ensuring they can communicate clearly and coherently in their mother tongue under various circumstances, and are ready to work alongside experienced interpreters from the next day.
What are the jurors not looking for in candidates during the test?
-Jurors are not looking for perfection. They understand candidates have had interpreter training and are looking for someone who can work effectively from the start, with skills that will be further honed on the job.
Why do candidates often fail the consecutive interpreting part of the test?
-Candidates tend to fail due to poor technique, lack of recent practice, and sometimes a weak second language. It is rare to see issues with the mother tongue.
How can candidates manage their nerves during the test?
-Candidates should remember that the setup is designed to recruit freelance interpreters, and not treat it as a competition. They should view it as an opportunity to show their normal work style and capabilities.
What is the importance of practicing for the accreditation test?
-Practice is crucial, especially for honing consecutive technique and ensuring the ability to perform sustained simultaneous interpreting. Keeping up with current affairs and knowing about the EU is also important.
What should candidates avoid doing during the test?
-Candidates should avoid stopping completely, saying anything nonsensical, adding information not in the original text, and losing control of their output. They should always strive to recover from difficult situations.
What advice is given to candidates who fail the accreditation test?
-The advice is to not give up, gain more experience, and come back for a second attempt. Many people pass on their second try, and the institutions in Brussels are a significant employer for interpreters.
Why is consecutive interpreting still tested at the EU despite some saying it's not used much?
-Consecutive interpreting is still used unexpectedly in bilateral settings and is a job requirement. It serves as a good diagnostic tool for the panel to observe a candidate's communication skills more effectively than in simultaneous interpreting.
Why are there so many people on the jury panel?
-The panel is inter-institutional, requiring representation from all institutions. It needs enough members to cover all languages, including those less commonly spoken, and to provide a range of opinions to reach a consensus.
What role does the 'pure customer' member of the jury play?
-The 'pure customer' member has not heard the original speech and does not understand the original language, allowing them to provide genuine feedback on the interpretation's clarity and usefulness.
What final advice is given to prospective candidates?
-The final advice is to come and show what they can do, ensuring nerves do not hinder their performance. If they do not pass the first time, they should use the experience to better prepare for the next attempt.
Outlines
📚 Understanding the Accreditation Test Process
This paragraph introduces the inter-institutional accreditation test for interpreters and addresses common questions about the evaluation process, jury decision-making, and what is expected from freelance interpreters. The video features an interview with experienced jury members Anna Economedes and Andy Hartley. They discuss the importance of professional competence, clear communication, and the ability to work under various circumstances. The paragraph also touches on common reasons for test failure, such as poor consecutive technique, lack of experience, weak second language skills, and nervousness. Advice is given on managing nerves and the importance of practice, particularly in consecutive interpreting and staying informed about current affairs and the EU, which are often the topics of the test.
🚫 Do's and Don'ts During the Accreditation Test
The second paragraph focuses on strategies for candidates taking the accreditation test and what they should avoid. It emphasizes the importance of continuous effort even when faced with difficulty, avoiding nonsensical mistakes, and not deviating from the original text. The paragraph also discusses the support and encouragement for candidates to retake the test if they fail, highlighting that many people pass on their second attempt after gaining more experience. The necessity of testing consecutive interpreting skills is explained, despite their less frequent use, as they serve as a diagnostic tool for the jury. The composition of the jury panel is described, including the rationale for having multiple members from different institutions and language backgrounds. The role of a 'pure customer' on the panel is introduced to provide genuine feedback from a delegate's perspective. The paragraph concludes with encouragement to prospective candidates to showcase their abilities and to return for another attempt if needed.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Inter-institutional Accreditation Test
💡Professional Competence
💡Consecutive Interpretation
💡Simultaneous Interpretation
💡Jury Panel
💡Current Affairs
💡Nerves
💡EU Knowledge
💡Technique
💡Experience
💡Customer Feedback
Highlights
The video is part of a series on the inter-institutional accreditation test for freelance interpreters.
The format and sequencing of the test have evolved, but the advice given remains relevant.
Jury members are looking for professional competence and readiness to work alongside them from day one.
Candidates should not expect perfection; the focus is on potential and readiness to work in the field.
Common reasons for failing include poor consecutive technique and lack of experience in simultaneous interpretation.
Second language proficiency issues are often noted, whereas mother tongue proficiency is rarely a problem.
Nerves and not performing to one's ability are also reasons candidates may fail.
Candidates are advised to view the test as an opportunity to demonstrate their skills rather than an exam.
The importance of practicing consecutive technique and keeping up with current affairs is emphasized.
Knowledge of the EU is crucial as many test speeches are EU-related.
During the test, candidates should not stop speaking, even if they encounter difficulties.
Avoid making nonsensical statements that could cause laughter or detract from the interpretation.
Candidates should not add to or deviate from the original content of the speech.
If a candidate fails, they are encouraged not to give up and to return with more experience.
The Brussels institutions are a significant employer for interpreters, even surpassing the United Nations in some aspects.
Consecutive interpretation is still tested because it is a job requirement and a valuable diagnostic tool.
Jury panels are large to represent various institutions and to ensure a range of perspectives and language coverage.
Having a jury member who acts as a pure customer provides genuine feedback on the interpretation's clarity and usefulness.
Final advice to candidates is to show their capabilities, manage nerves, and return better prepared if they don't pass the first time.
Transcripts
[Music]
foreign
if you watched part one in our series of
videos on the inter-institutional
accreditation test you will by now be
familiar with the format and the
sequencing of the test
but you might still have some questions
such as how will my performance be
evaluated how does the jury arrive at
its decision
what exactly are they looking for in a
freelance interpreter
or what goes on behind the scenes in the
deliberation
in this video part two in our series on
the test my colleague Owen Ward answers
these questions by interviewing Anna
economedes and Andy Hartley
two colleagues who have decades worth of
experience of setting on jury panels
it's worth reading in mind that this
interview was recorded a few years ago
when the format and the sequencing of
the test were a little different
but the advice and tips that they
provide are just as relevant as ever
so first question I guess what do you
look for in candidates taking the
accreditation test
we're looking for
a candidate who can show he or she has
professional competence that they're
able in all circumstances
to communicate clearly a coherent
message in natural sounding mother
tongue perhaps if I could turn the
question around
and say something about what we're not
looking for or what we're not expecting
we're not expecting perfection
and you've had your interpreter training
you know the basics and what we are
looking for is somebody who is ready to
come and sit next to us in the booth as
of tomorrow and work with us but the
skills that you've acquired at
interpreting school will be honed
further once you started working and why
is it that candidates tend to fail tests
in in consecutive it's usually poor
technique
actually not practiced it enough
recently and in simultaneous it's often
just lack of experience
often we see that the second language of
a candidate is a bit weak
it's very rare that we see problems with
mother tongue but it's one of your two c
languages that perhaps isn't always up
to par
and the other reason obviously is nerves
people are nervous and they just don't
perform and don't do justice to
themselves that brings me on to my next
question it is a nerve-wracking occasion
how would you recommend that candidates
manage their nerves well I would uh say
first and foremost don't forget we
actually want to recruit freelance
candidates we want them to pass this
whole setup is geared to us recruiting
uh more Talent so keep that in mind this
isn't a competition everyone who is good
in US good enough will actually pass I'd
say thinking about when I did tests and
competitions don't treat it like an
examination just treat it as an
opportunity to show how you work
normally regard it as a normal work
assignment you've had to show them what
you can do yeah good advice and how
should candidates prepare for the
accreditation test practice practice
practice
especially practice your consecutive
technique and make sure you're capable
or doing a sustained simultaneous at
some length
and then keep up with current affairs
and also make sure that you know
everything you need to know about the EU
because that's who you're going to work
for because often the consecutive
speeches are on EU related topics and it
doesn't look very good for a candidate
if they come into an accreditation test
with EU institutions with great gaps in
their EU knowledge so they need to
prepare thoroughly okay that brings me
on to my next question again what should
candidates definitely not do during a
test any no-nos first of all you should
not dry up and stop totally you should
keep going whatever show you can recover
from a difficult situation because real
life in the booth is like that
secondly don't say anything stupid
I mean we're ready to forgive emissions
to a certain extent but if you say
something which is totally wrong or
nonsensical makes people burst out
laughing don't do that and also don't
add anything which isn't in the original
yes make sure that you're always
monitoring your output precisely because
of that so that you know what you're
saying that you're in control of what
you're saying don't don't lose control
and obviously colleagues future
colleagues don't always pass first time
what advice would you give to a
candidate who fails the accreditation
test well I would say do not give up
come back again many people do pass the
second time round because by then
they've gained more experience and I
think it would be a Pity if you've
invested so much time and effort to get
trained as an interpreter
and then you don't bother coming back a
second time because after all the
institutions in Brussels are the biggest
employer for interpreters certainly in
Europe uh way uh bigger an employer I
think than the United Nations the number
of languages a number of meetings number
of colleagues yeah and we still test
consecutive here at the EU some people
say well we don't use consecutive very
much why is it that we still test
consecutive well we do use consecutive
and everybody's expected to be able to
do it and it can come up quite
unexpectedly in a bilateral other
settings
um so it is a job requirement but also
for us on the panel it's very good
diagnostic tool there are things which
we can see more easily when it's not
going past us at such a speed as in
simultaneous and then likewise for the
candidate it's an opportunity to show
just what they can do and that's why
consecutive for us is also as Andy said
a good diagnostic tool because we can
really see the communication skills of a
candidate and talking about the jury
itself why are there so many people on
the panel can be quite intimidating for
candidates why are there so many people
well first of all it's
inter-institutional so we need people
from all the institutions which is
usually two from the commission two from
the Parliament and one for the court
then we need enough people to cover all
the languages and sometimes we're even
more than the basic five because we need
for rarer languages to get extra people
in who understand it
and basically it's good to have several
opinions to work together towards a
consensus different people look out for
different things and one thing we do do
very specifically is to have one member
of the jury who acts as a pure customer
he hasn't heard the original doesn't
understand the original and in that way
she can give
genuine feedback is still yeah I could
use that as a delegate or no it didn't
make sense to me are there any final
words of wisdom any final pieces of
advice you would like to give our
prospective candidates you've trained
you've even worked you know after this
job just come and show us you can do it
uh we want Talent we want more people
yes precisely just make sure that the
nerves don't get the better of you and
come in and even if you don't get
through the first time this is still an
experience you know what to expect
you've been here you've seen it and you
will come back next time better prepared
and do come back next time
foreign
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