Cover not available

Article published In: Translators’ and Interpreters’ Job Satisfaction
Edited by Minna Ruokonen, Elin Svahn and Anu Heino
[Translation Spaces 13:1] 2024
► pp. 32–53

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Extrinsic sources of translator job satisfaction

Revisiting critical factors in a multifaceted construct

ORCiD logo with link | University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Published online: 15 February 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.23024.rod
Abstract
Over the last decade, translator job satisfaction has received an increasing amount of attention in Translation Studies. Translator job satisfaction is broadly investigated from different perspectives such as psychology, sociology, and ergonomics. This article examines extrinsic sources of satisfaction that translators experience in evolving work environments and revisits a comprehensive construct of job satisfaction (. 2015. “Conceptual Construct and Empirical Validation of a Multifaceted Instrument for Translator Satisfaction.” The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research 7 (2): 30–50. [URL]. ) that captures perceptions aligned with (a) the job (individual-job fit) and (b) the organization (individual-organization fit). This construct includes multiple factors of job satisfaction that have not been extensively studied in the literature such as client review and feedback, team interactions, communication workflow, and factors associated with online platforms. Such a construct could be used to determine specific predictors of job satisfaction for devising career pathways to enhance retention and improve overall human resource management in the language industry.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Background
  • 2.Previous research on translator satisfaction
  • 3.Construct of job satisfaction
    • 3.1Individual-job fit
    • 3.2Individual-organization fit
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • References
References (51)
References
Abdallah, Kristiina. 2012. Translators in production networks. Reflections on agency, quality and ethics. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Eastern Finland. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL]
Alonso, Elisa. 2016. “Conflict, opacity and mistrust in the digital management of professional translation projects.” International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 8 (1): 19–29. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ball, Joelynne, Mónica Rodríguez-Castro, Helena Senatore, Gabriela Siebach, Holly A. Silvestri, and Mónica Villalobos-Russell. 2023. What employers are looking for: A nationwide job description analysis for translators and interpreters in educational settings. American Association of Translators and Interpreters in Education (AAITE), March 2023, 1–49. [URL]
Biel, Łucja, and Vilelmini Sosoni. 2017. “The translation of economics and the economics of translation.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 25 (3): 351–361. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bednárová-Gibová, Klaudia. 2021. “Organizational ergonomics of translation as a powerful predictor of translators’ happiness at work?” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 29 (3): 391–406. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2022. “How happy are legal translators at their work? Further findings from a cognitive–affective enquiry.” Translation Studies 15 (1): 1–20. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew. 2009. “The Name and Nature of Translator Studies.” HERMES – Journal of Language and Communication Studies 421: 13–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Courtney, Jennifer, and Mary Phelan. 2019. “Translators’ experiences of occupational stress and job satisfaction.” International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 11 (1): 100–113. Accessed October 1, 2023. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dam, Helle V., and Karen K. Zethsen. 2008. “Translator Status.” The Translator 14 (1): 194–211. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. “Who said low status? A study on factors affecting the perception of translator status.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 121: 2–36.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2016. ““I think it is a wonderful job” On the solidity of the translation profession.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 251: 174–187.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DePalma, Donald A., and Arle Lommel. 2022. The language Services Market (2022). Chelmsford, Massachusetts: Common Sense Advisory. Accessed October 1, 2023. [URL]
Dunne, Keiran J. 2011. “Managing the fourth dimension: Time and schedule in translation and localization projects.” Translation and Localization Project Management: The Art of the Possible, edited by Keiran J. Dunne, and Elena S. Dunne, 119–152. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen, and Andrea Hunziker Heeb. 2016. “Investigating the ergonomics of a technologized translation workplace.” In Reembedding Translation Process Research, edited by Ricardo Muñoz Martín, 69–88. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen, Andrea Hunziker Heeb, Gary Massey, Ursula Meidert, Silke Neumann, and Heidrun Becker. 2016. “An International Survey of the Ergonomics of Professional Translation.” In ILCEA – Approches ergonomiques des pratiques professionnelles et des formations des traducteurs, vol. 271, edited by Élisabeth Lavault-Olléon, no p.n. [URL].
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen. 2017. “An Ergonomic Perspective of Translation.” In The Handbook of Translation Studies and Cognition, edited by John W. Schwieter and Aline Ferreira, 332–349. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evans, Drew. 2021. “Artificial Intelligence Language Learning.” LILT Labs. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL]
Firat, Gökhan. 2021. “Uberization of translation: Impacts on working conditions.” The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 8 (1): 48–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, Ignacio. 2009. “Beyond Translation Memory: Computers and the Professional Translator.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 121: 199–214.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gough, Joanna, Özlem Temizöz, Graham Hieke, and Leonardo Zilio. 2023. “Concurrent translation on collaborative platforms.” Translation Spaces 12 (1): 45–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanna, Michael S., and Gerald L. Wilson. 1997. Communicating in Business and Professional Settings. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hubscher-Davidson, Severine. 2017. “Do Translation Professionals Need to Tolerate Ambiguity to Be Successful? A Study of the Links between Tolerance of Ambiguity, Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction.” In Innovation and Expansion in Translation Process Research, edited by Isabel Lacruz, and Riitta Jääskeläinen, 77–103. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, Dan. October/November 2007. “Getting Started in Localization.” Multilingual 3–5. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL]
Katan, David. 2009. “Translation theory and professional practice: a global survey of the great divide.” Hermes – Journal of Language and Communication Studies 22 (42): 111–153. Accessed October 1, 2023. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. “Occupation or profession: A survey of the translators’ world.” In Profession, identity and status: translators and interpreters as an occupational group, edited by Rakefet Sela-Sheffy and Miriam Shlesinger, 65–88. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Killman, Jeffrey, and Mónica Rodríguez-Castro. 2022. “Post-editing vs. translating in the legal context: Quality and time effects from English to Spanish.” Revista de Llengua i Dret, Journal of Language and Law 781: 56–78. Accessed October 1, 2023.
Koehn, Philipp, and Rebecca Knowles. 2017. “Six challenges for neural machine translation.” In Proceedings of the First Workshop on Neural Machine Translation of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 4 August 2017, 28–39. Vancouver, BC (Canada). Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL].
Koskinen, Kaisa. 2009. “Going Localized – Getting Recognized. The Interplay of the Institutional and the Experienced Status of Translators in the European Commission.” HERMES – Journal of Language and Communication Studies 421: 93–110. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL]
Lagoudaki, Pelagia M. 2009. Expanding the Possibilities of Translation Memory Systems: From the Translator’s Wishlist to the Developer’s Design. Doctoral dissertation. Imperial College London.
Lassus, Jannika. 2017. “Översättning till svenska i Finland.” In Språk i skola och samhälle. Svenskan i Finland – i dag och i går, edited by Marika Tandefelt, 11(2), 110–140. Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
LeBlanc, Matthieu. 2013. “Translators on translation memory (TM). Results of an ethnographic study in three translation services and agencies.” International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 5 (2): 1–13. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, Christy Fung-Ming. 2013. “A Quantitative Enquiry into the Translator’s Job-Related Happiness: Does Visibility Correlate with Happiness?” Across Languages and Cultures 14 (1): 123–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2017. “A Longitudinal Study of Translators in Greater China.” Hermēneus. Revista de traducción e interpretación 191: 121–138.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moorkens, Joss. 2020. “Comparative satisfaction among freelance and directly-employed Irish-language translators.” International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 12 (1): 55–73. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL].
Pielmeier, Hélène, and Paul O’Mara. 2020. The state of the linguist supply chain: Translators and interpreters in 2020 – Report, 1–69. Chelmsford, Massachusetts: Common Sense Advisory. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL]
Piecychna, Beata. 2019. “Polish Sworn Translators’ Attitudes towards the Job They Perform: Results Obtained from a Job Satisfaction Survey.” Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric 58 (1): 125–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. “Conceptual Construct and Empirical Validation of a Multifaceted Instrument for Translator Satisfaction.” The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research 7 (2): 30–50. [URL].
. 2016. “Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sources of Translator Satisfaction: An Empirical Study.” Entreculturas 7–81: 195–229. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2019. “Critical Distinctions between Expert and Novice Translators: Task and Professional Satisfaction.” Hermes – Journal of Language and Communication in Business 471: 123–138. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ruokonen, Minna. 2016. “Realistic but not pessimistic: Finnish translation students’ perceptions of translator status.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 251: 188–212.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ruokonen, Minna, and Jukka Mäkisalo. 2018. “Middling-status profession, high-status work: Finnish translators’ status perceptions in the light of their backgrounds, working conditions and job satisfaction.” International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 10 (1): 1–17. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL].
Ruokonen, Minna, Jannika Lassus, and Taru Virtanen. 2020. “‘I fulfil my place among the humankind, in the universe’: Finnish translators’ job satisfaction in three empirical studies.” MikaEL 131: 109–123. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL]
RWS. 2023. “Translation Technology Insights 2023.” RWS Trados Reports, 1–36. Accessed October 1, 2023. [URL]
Stoeller, Willem. Apr/May 2004. “Guide to Project Management.” Multilingual Computing & Technology 631: 3–6.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. “Global virtual teams.” In Translation and Localization Project Management: The Art of the Possible, edited by Keiran J. Dunne, and Elena S. Dunne, 289–318. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsvetkov, Natalia, and Veronica Tsvetkov. 2011. “Effective communication in translation and localization project management.” In Translation and Localization Project Management: The Art of the Possible, edited by Keiran J. Dunne, and Elena S. Dunne, 189–210. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Virtanen, Taru. 2019. What Makes a Government Translator Tick? Examining the Finnish Government English Translators’ Perceptions of Translator Status, Job Satisfaction and the Underlying Factors. Doctoral dissertation. University of Helsinki. Accessed April 1, 2023. [URL] URN:ISBN:978-951-51-5535-1
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Bednárová-Gibová, Klaudia & Anastasiya Karnaukh
2025. Scrutinizing translators' mental health and well-being: Voices of the profession from Slovakia. Across Languages and Cultures 26:S ► pp. 41 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue