Preparation for telephone interpreting when it doesn't pay

The telephone interpreting industry discourse, the one you can read online or in books, doesn't must delve if at all on financial conditions offered to the end-users service providers, that is, the interpreters. The promise of being ushered to an interpreter in a matter of seconds after request comes with an intended silence on the subject of readiness and competence for the interpreter to deal with a subject out of the blue, that is, out of a context that is not explained ahead of time. The service providers know how to squeeze money out of clients, and how to starve the individual service providers trying and make a living out of a job that does not permit to make a living. The phone interpreter has to swallow the fact that she will not be paid for preparation time, granted there is time to prepare. Paid in worse cases like the flipping man at McDonald's, the telephone interpreter is expected to deliver a service that is way much delicate and requires a high level of adaptation that doesn't compare with a stepped up task of grilling a patty of dubious meat following a methodology where thinking out of the manual is not allowed.

There will always be someone else to do the job so you have better abide or call it quit. Customers are all stupid who believe that their story makes sense to anyone, including the interpreter pushed on a scene for which she is lacking visual cues, among other contextual elements that are crucial to understand what's happening here, and be able to deliver a better, meaningful transmission of meanings between two languages. Of course, all service providers are not created equal but as there are (I am not aware of) mostly nothing in the public arena to read about the real conditions of telephone interpretation as seen from the seat of the individual practitioner, I can only speak for myself without treading onto confidentiality limits. Not everything is confidential. You can easily assume that there are cases that require the interpreter to deliver on the spot services for a subject she discovers the moment she is called for action. It is the worse antithesis, immoral, but yet unavoidable situation where the interpreter must interpret a situation and a speech at the same time. The best scenario is similar to standard face to face delivery with the interpreter being briefed ahead of time, time to used for preparation. I am now somewhat used to deliver in hazed situations where I am informed of the subject ahead of time, let say "Photovoltaic new trends in Japan", but left totally in the dark about what will be specific questions and subject that will be raised during the conversation. The next time may not be about photovoltaic but maybe clam chowder processing or the game industry. Clam chowder would be actually more welcome than such a huge subject like the game industry. The problem is that you don't get paid for preparation. You naturally breathe about photovoltaic clam and solar games. You know everything without spending time to know things. You are god paid at a rate an angel would have quit. Actually, quitting is an option. The pay in my case is not bad on a per hour basis, but the opportunity cost is a delicate issue, although I usually deliver at times that are not in the middle of the day. I would not read about the game industry without having to be somewhat knowledgeable about an industry I am not found of. A cup of clam chowder would fit better. i will certainly quit if, when the rates are pushed down the ladder, which will happen someday. The only positive side of this business minor to me is that it forces you to think in terms of managing the unexpected in a more tangible way than anything else. How to prepare for anything without getting paid for the service? and trying spending the least time on it therefore.