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Why is ATA certification not recognized (by a job poster in the US)?
Thread poster: Jennifer Smith
Marsel de Souza
Marsel de Souza  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 06:51
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Continuing Education Requirements will improve the ATA certification Jul 8, 2004

Dear All,

As Belkis put it, the ATA examination is not easy at all. Managing to pass it is no small task, given the strict procedures involved. This means you cannot just pass by chance. You must have, at the very least, a very good command of both languages and a sharp sense of linguistic adequacy, not to mention that they are particularly meticulous about checking if you can successfully deal with nuances of meaning and other aspects that a beginner or someone for whom transl... See more
Dear All,

As Belkis put it, the ATA examination is not easy at all. Managing to pass it is no small task, given the strict procedures involved. This means you cannot just pass by chance. You must have, at the very least, a very good command of both languages and a sharp sense of linguistic adequacy, not to mention that they are particularly meticulous about checking if you can successfully deal with nuances of meaning and other aspects that a beginner or someone for whom translation is just a sideline occupation would have problems to solve in 3 hours.

And of course you can be a certified translator and do lousy jobs around. This has nothing to do with the certification itself. It can be a matter of competence, that is, accepting a job for which you are not knowledgeable (in which case it is a matter of competence AND inability to assess your own skills). It can also be a matter of sheer recklessness.

Finally, I would like to point out that the ATA Certification is being enhanced. In addition to the elegibility requirements to take the exam Belkis mentioned, now there are also what they call ‘Continuing Education Requirements’. This means you cannot simply pass the exam, then use the certification in your business card and that’s it. Now certified members have to prove, once every three years, that they are taking measures to continue to learn. To know more about the new system, go to:


http://www.atanet.org/acc/background_for_changes.htm

http://www.atanet.org/acc/Guide_Education_Points.pdf

I am sure this will help enhance the reputation of the ATA certification. And the job posting that generated this thread is still provoking some head-scratching here …

Very best regards,
Marsel.
ATA-Certified - English > Portuguese ▲ Collapse
 
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Why is ATA certification not recognized (by a job poster in the US)?







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