It often makes me sad to see job descriptions for translators on Russian job search websites. A lot of times employers will want the translator to perform additional duties as a secretary, personal assistant, manager, etc. Moreover, as you might have read in this blog, people in Russia often don’t distinguish between a translator and an interpreter.
A simple search for переводчик (perevodchik, ‘interpreter’/’translator’) on the Russian website rabota.ru reveals that companies expect their linguist to take care of correspondence with foreign partners, interpret at business meetings, and often carry out other secretarial or administrative functions. In addition, it is not an exception for an employer to expect the translator to go in both language directions (perhaps caused by a lack of native speakers).
Is it like that in your country/personal experience? How can we change it? Does it need to be changed?
Maria Guzenko 