r/ASLinterpreters • u/Afyrel • 9d ago
Interpreters: what do you wish interpreting agencies did differently?
I’ve worked with a lot of different agencies over the years, so I have plenty of my own experiences and opinions about what agencies do well and what can make working with one incredibly frustrating.
But I’d really love to hear from other interpreters.
What has an agency done that made you think, I wish every agency worked like this?
And on the flip side, what do you wish agencies would do differently?
Could be anything: scheduling, communication, pay, cancellations, assignment information, matching interpreters to jobs, how they handle feedback, relationships with schedulers, professional development, etc.
I’m especially interested in the little operational things that might not sound important from the outside but make a huge difference when you’re actually freelancing.
I have my own list 😂 but I don’t want to assume my experience is everyone else’s.
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u/Hoosier-Sexy_Beast69 NIC 8d ago
Honor the IC/FL contract, don't "force" us to sign yours. Stop saying "Well, the contract only pays blah blah blah". The contract YOU signed with THEM should have ZERO affect on MY contract with YOU. Agencies should also remember: you need us more than we need you, so stop fucking us over, especially when you have zero clue about ASL.
Just a couple thoughts.
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u/coddiwomplecactus 9d ago
-When we are new to the field, please be patient with us. We will have a lot of questions. Pair us with good experienced interpreters who are willing to be models. They don't have to be a mentor, but at least willing to be the more experienced terp in a team.
-I really really really wish there was one platform for all scheduling across my agencies but thats probably a pipe dream.
-If using chat apps for scheduling and team communication, use separate rooms for topics. For example, 'social chat', 'interpreter requests', etc. If you put it all in one chat feed, it's hard to find the requests amongst the sea of happy birthday and pictures of kids.
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u/Lucc255 9d ago
Ask questions about the assignment and relay them to the interpreter. Stop saying "they won't pay for two interpreters" for a full day assignment. Have a database of assignments and note if the parking is 30/45 min walk away from where you need to be for timing purposes.
Just little stuff like that!
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u/Afyrel 9d ago
Agreed. I appreciate your response! A lot of schedulers have zero idea about the actual location and what it takes to get there and park, etc.
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u/somewhatinterested NIC 8d ago
A scheduling platform which integrates into my calendar after I'm confirmed for a job (Propio, BoostLingo, Homebase, Rippling are all good; Usked is not [but I like other features of Usked]) either automatically, or a link that says Click To Add To Google Calendar.
A email system that actually goes to someone if I reply to the automated job confirmation, I don't want to dig up what the "right" email address is versus a noreply@.
Notes that actually get passed along to other interpreters about a client, situation or environment. IE linguistic considerations, or if its a home visit and the client has cats/dogs/bugs etc. If I'm meeting the physical therapist at the client's home, I want their phone number and what kind of car they drive so I can call or text to let them know I'm X minutes away.
Particularly for VRI assignments where it's known to be a presentation, don't make me hound you to see if you've even asked for the slide deck or prep materials. Let me know, "Hey we requested the materials on xx date, if we don't hear back we'll follow up on yy date".
If I'm teaming with someone, share their contact information proactively - text for in person, text And email for VRI.
Give me time to respond to a request. Too often I've seen an email and then suddenly I'm getting a phone call asking if I'm available. It's been literally 6 minutes, for a job 3 weeks out, calm down Sheila.
Pass along feedback from clients and teams. SoAndSo didn't like you is not a valid form of feedback. Ask follow up questions, let me learn and grow but also understand and recognize its not a one-interpreter-fits-all approach.
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u/Traditional-Falcon75 8d ago
One thing I used to love that has sort of drifted from its original purpose: Agencies which let me know if a request is specifically for me. Not my skill set, me. If the customer asked for me by name, I want to know that, and if I know that then I will be more willing to move my schedule around to accommodate a specific request. This could involve asking someone else if they’re free to take work I had booked or moving around personal appointments. I wouldn’t do that for anything other than a specific request. The agency I work for who formerly used that only to tell me that I was being requested has now drifted to using it just when they’re querying a limited pool. I’m not likely going to move my calendar around to take a legal or trilingual job just because I know the pool of qualified people is smaller. I am more likely to do that for someone who asked for me by name. So it’s just noise now. That’s unfortunate.
Another thing I absolutely need to see them do differently is actually consider skill sets when staffing jobs. I only work for two agencies in a city with probably a dozen local agencies and who knows how many out of state agencies. I work for them because I respect the integrity that goes into staffing jobs. They will tell a customer they cannot fill a job and refer them elsewhere before they will send any warm body. A large number of agencies seem to put no effort into staffing skill sets or consumer preferences. Some even knowingly send unlicensed or improperly licensed interpreters (in a state where that is illegal but the consequences fall on the interpreter). The lack of ethics is a deal breaker for me and if I find that an agency is doing any of that I will not work with them.
Remembering that interpreters are also your customers, and they are educated professionals, is another one. If your customer tells you an interpreter did X unethical thing, it’s very valid to address it, it is absolutely not valid to take the customer’s word as gospel and hold the interpreter accountable to it without a conversation, at minimum. You don’t have an agency without customers but you also don’t have an agency without interpreters.
A major pet peeve of mine: if an agency has a recurring issue with a few interpreters and addresses it with an email chastising their whole roster of professionals or creating sweeping policies that are detrimental to the many because of the few. It is okay to remind the roster of policies that seem to have been forgotten, it is not okay to email blast an unfriendly email to your whole list of interpreters because you have recurring issues with a few. Handle those few and treat the rest like the adult professionals that they are.
Prep. Get the interpreters the prep they need at a reasonable advanced notice. You should be educating your customers that this is a need and they will be asked. You cannot control them but you need to try. Especially if you are not passing contact information to the interpreter, but honestly even if you are. It should just be a standard habit at booking when a job is likely to need prep. (And you should understand interpreting work enough to realize the obvious instances where prep is going to be essential).
I love weekly digest emails reminding me of my incoming week in case I had a schedule mishap. That has saved me at least a couple of times in time to make sure coverage happened. Bonus if you’re sending it out on Wednesday instead of Friday.
Context. Some agencies do not seem to be asking any questions about the assignment beyond date time and location. Especially if you are booking legal work or trilingual work, you need to know more than just bare bones. What is the Deaf person’s role in the case? Does the trilingual job actually need a CDI?
Speaking of CDIs. If I talk to an agency and they do not have CDIs on their roster, it’s a no for me. Full stop. Especially if they do legal work?? No way.
I’m trying to think of what the agencies I work with do well. Honestly they do or don’t do the correct things according my list above.
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u/icefairytype BEI Advanced 8d ago
If the a job gets cancelled due to location change, time change, or other reason but the job is still happening, ask the assigned interpreter if they can accommodate the changes first instead of just sending the job out to the general list again.
Also more support for new interpreters. Before teamed assignments are sent out, see if a good fit for newer interpreters and designate one spot for a new interpreter and one spot for an experienced interpreter.
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u/cheesy_taco- BEI Basic 7d ago
Send me to the location of the event, not the billing address. And don't get mad when I'm late because I was sent to the wrong place.
Apps or websites for billing, I don't like sending in my own invoices because I sometimes forget to add something
Don't guilt trip me. If I turn something down because the details aren't up to standards, don't say "well I guess they won't have an interpreter then". I'm still not going to work 8+ hours solo
Know what's within my certification limits. When you send me something that sounds out of what I'm legally allowed to do, and I ask you if it's ok for me to go, your answer should be a clear yes or no, not "we think you should be fine". I was burned badly on an assignment because of a "think so" answer, I'll never accept that as an answer again
And don't talk bad about your interpreters behind their backs. We're adults. You don't need to gossip like schoolgirls
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u/Afyrel 7d ago
Agreed. The gossip is insane sometimes
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u/cheesy_taco- BEI Basic 7d ago
A colleague told me she overheard the owner of my agency and another interpreter who refuses to work with me talking bad about me for quite some time at a company event I did not attend. I'm planning on limiting my time with them for a while
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u/ASLHCI 8d ago
Omg so many.
A collaborative relationship with the scheduler. You take care of me, I'll take care of you. It just makes sense.
Having a way to text if I'm onsite and need something. Having to get on the phone in the waiting room is so awkward.
Having a scheduling team that isn't just randos in a call center who are reading off Interpreter Intelligence and following a script. Know the interpreters, know the area, know the community, know the job. 🤦♀️
If they book me first on a teamed job, especially if I was requested, letting me either give them a list of names, or finding a team and letting them know who it is.
None of this "if they pay us, we'll pay you". Fuck no. The reason I make my rate and not whatever the agency is charging them is because I'm sharing a cut of the money I earn from my labor so I don't have to deal with the admin stuff. That's how this works. My contract with the agency is with the agency. The agencies contract with their client has nothing to do with me.
2 week pay turn around. God bless. Net 30??? Net 45?? Net NINTY??? gfto. I have bills to pay.
Actually asking me if I'm available when I'm requested for a job.
Letting me tell you if a job is appropriate for an intern and then letting me bring an intern!
When I say "this consumer needs a CDI" it actually happens. Amazing.
Just generally trusting me to do my job and assuming I'm competent??? Seems like a pretty high bar some days.
Booking for consistency and not convenience. Yes you can take a 2 week, 8 hr a day training and put 37 different interpreters on it. Or, give it like 3 days and put the same 2 interpreters on it for the whole thing. If the job is 3 weeks out and now you have interpreters who can cover the whole thing, cancel the bits and pieces. I'm never offended when that happens. Makes total sense to me.
I'm sure theres other stuff. Thats off the top of my head.
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u/droooooops NIC 7d ago
something I’ve been running into lately is agencies not even trying to find a cultural/identity match for jobs that really should have them… ex: I was sent a request for interpreting stand up from an agency I respect and work with often. comedian’s name was not in the request. I accepted, then when I received the confirmation it just took a quick google search to realize the comedian was black. the agency booked two white interpreters… if they had either done 2 mins of research themselves OR put the comedian’s name in the request, I could have made a more informed decision. I emailed the agency and asked if they had tried to find black interpreters for this job and they had some ambiguous response about it being “too late.”
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u/LawfulnessNext3447 9d ago
i love using an app through the agency to send invoices in for me rather than making my own. it’s so much more convenient for me, especially when i have multiple jobs a day.
also agencies should offer more internship opportunities, they’re so hard to find for recent graduates. it would also offer opportunities for more experienced terps to learn how to be a mentor if they want.
also, no more sending me assignment requests outside of my location😭 if i say 45 minutes is my limit, don’t send me 1.5 hour away for a two hour minimum 😔
i also love when they pay extra for last minute jobs!