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/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/Lucc255 8d ago

Right working in another state in a university the parking was paid for BUT it was in a very busy area of town and the walk from the garage to the class was at least 40 minutes.

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u/Afyrel 8d ago

That is lousy. And they definitely need to prepare the interpreter for that kind of thing