interpreter
Interpreters understand and convert spoken communication from one language to another. They retain considerable amounts of information, often with the aid of note-taking, and communicate it immediately after whilst keeping the nuances and stress of the message in the recipient language.
interpreter interpreters understand and convert spoken communication from one language to another. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.56 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include interpreting modes, spelling, grammar, speak different languages, translate spoken language consecutively.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £39,459 a year for Authors, writers and translators (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3412). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only interpreter, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- English Language
- Foreign Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Administrative
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
What you'd actually do
- Follow ethical codes that protect the confidentiality of information.
- Translate messages simultaneously or consecutively into specified languages, orally or by using hand signs, maintaining message content, context, and style as much as possible.
- Listen to speakers' statements to determine meanings and to prepare translations, using electronic listening systems as necessary.
- Compile terminology and information to be used in translations, including technical terms such as those for legal or medical material.
- Refer to reference materials, such as dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, and computerized terminology banks, as needed to ensure translation accuracy.
- Check translations of technical terms and terminology to ensure that they are accurate and remain consistent throughout translation revisions.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does interpreter do?
Interpreters understand and convert spoken communication from one language to another. They retain considerable amounts of information, often with the aid of note-taking, and communicate it immediately after whilst keeping the nuances and stress of the message in the recipient language.
What skills does interpreter need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include interpreting modes, spelling, grammar, speak different languages, translate spoken language consecutively, perceive context when interpreting. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace interpreter?
Our AI-durability model gives interpreter a score of 0.56 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.