5 Translator Resume Examples & Writing Tips for 2025

Translator resume template (text format)

Here are more resume examples to give you ideas for your own resume:

Beginner translator resume

If you’d like to break into translation, consider applying for a translation internship with a resume like this one:

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Beginner translator resume highlights

• Volunteer work: Adding relevant volunteer work to your resume will help you stand out as someone who puts their language skills to use in their free time, highlighting your passion for this field of work.
• Hobbies & interests: A good hobbies and interests section should contain hobbies that utilize skills you’d use in your target job. For example, this applicant mentions they read French medieval literature, showing their French level is very high and that they go out of their way to read French in their free time.
• Relevant coursework: Listing relevant coursework on your resume is valuable if you’re struggling to fill your resume. Prioritize relevant coursework that has a connection to your target job like this job seeker does.

Beginner translator resume from our team member

Sam Johns, our senior content editor, studied Modern Languages in college and began his career as a translator. Here’s the resume that helped him land his first translation job:

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Why Sam’s resume is an effective translator resume:

• Immersion in a French-speaking environment: Sam spent a year abroad as part of his program, working in a translation office in Paris, France. This immersion helped him hone his language skills and deepen his cultural understanding. If you’ve had similar experiences — whether through exchanges, study visits, or home stays — be sure to include them on your resume to demonstrate your firsthand knowledge of both the language and the culture.
• Uses numbers to highlight achievements: Sam quantified his accomplishments by stating he translated over 100 documents and proofread more than 200. Including numbers like these on your resume is a great way to demonstrate the tangible impact you’ve had.
• Relevant coursework: Sam took part in relevant classes like Introduction to Translation, which is helpful for a career in translation. If you took classes useful to your career ambitions, note them on your resume.

Military translator resume

Have military experience? You may want to write a military translation resume to apply for a promotion or transfer to civilian work. Here’s an effective resume example you can get ideas from:

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Military translator resume highlights

• Worked with VIPs and senior officers: This translator has translated for senior officers and foreign dignitaries. This indicates the high level of their language skills. If you’ve translated for celebrities such as visiting football players, add this fact to your resume to make it stand out.
• AFSC: The Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) is the US Air Force’s equivalent to the Army’s MOS code, indicating your military specialty. “1N3X1F” is a short way of specifying your career group, field, subfield, skill level, role, and (in this case), language specialty (F for Arabic). It’s a good idea to add your AFSC to your military translator as it sums up a lot of information in a short format — or your MOS code for the US Army and Marine Corps/designator code for the US Navy.
• Career progression: This candidate shows they’ve progressed through the USAF ranks from O-2 (1st Lieutentant) to O-4 (Major), indicating they can adapt to new situations, responsibilities, and leadership duties.

Court certified resume

Courts need translators who can provide high-quality translations of court proceedings. Prove you can do that by writing a resume that draws inspiration from this one:

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Court certified translator resume highlights

• Native speaker: This candidate is a native speaker of the language they’re translating from, which indicates they won’t make the same mistakes a non-native speaker will. This is a huge asset when working in the US court system where verdicts rely on completely accurate translations.
• Master’s degree: The job seeker has completed a master’s degree in translation, specializing in the US’s use of the common law system. This detail indicates that they’d be perfect for a court-based role.
• Certification: As a court-certified translator, this candidate has an ATA certification. They mention this in the resume summary, so hiring managers will notice it straight off the bat.

How to write a translator resume

Read our simple tips that come with copy-and-paste examples to perfect your translator resume.

1. Emphasize your language skills

You can’t serve as an effective translator without excellent language skills.

You should describe your language skills on your resume in as much detail as possible.

Here’s a bad, vague example of language skills on a resume:

Instead, list things like:

• Certifications/language proficiency score
• Regional accents
• Writing systems
• Dialects

Here are two examples of language skills on a translation resume:

You should also provide examination results with numbers/grades to show employers your specific skill levels. Here are some examples.

English (International English Language Testing System)

Spanish (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera)

French (Diplôme d’Etudes en Langue Française)

Chinese (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language — 華語文能力測驗)

2. List your translation certifications

Certifications on your resume immediately make you stand out among candidates without any certifications. They show that your translation skills are top-quality and that you dedicate yourself to continuous learning.

Here are 5 good certifications for a translator resume:

1. American Translators Association (ATA) Certification
2. National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) Certification
3. Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) Certification
4. Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) Certification
5. National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI) Certification

You may also have been awarded foreign translation certifications if you’re a native speaker. Here is one each for the UN’s official languages:

1. French: Certificat Voltaire
2. Spanish: Diploma de Traductor Jurado (awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
3. Arabic: Egyptian Translators and Linguists’ Association (ETLA) Certification
4. Russian: Union of Translators of Russia (UTR) Certification
5. Chinese: Translation and Interpretation Competency Certification (TICC)

3. Write accomplishment-based bullet points

Adding numbers to your resume bullet points gives hiring managers details about what you can accomplish for them if you hire them.

It’s a great strategy for several reasons:

• Numbers jump out from the page
• Employers can see what your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual productivity is like
• You can highlight percentage increases and decreases in translation-relevant accomplishments

Here are 5 examples of numbers-based bullet points on a translator resume with numbers highlighted:

4. Start your resume with an effective summary

Translator resume summaries sum up your language skills, career highlights, and qualifications to get employers interested in reading the rest of your resume and calling you in for an interview.

Your resume summary should be 3–5 sentences long and feature the best of your professional accomplishments. Here are three resume summary examples for translation resumes:

How to make money as a freelance translator

Curious about how you can make money as a freelance translator? Watch this video by Zeliha Akpinar:

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Average translator salaries in the US

After you’ve written your resume, make sure you use it to apply for jobs within a fair salary range.

The following table includes information from the most recent US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report (May 2024). Here are the ten states with the highest salaries for transltors, as well as the national average for your reference when applying for work.