Top 12 Translator Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's global landscape, demand for skilled translators keeps climbing. Competition is fierce. Showcasing the right translator skills on your resume signals that you can move meaning—not just words—across languages and cultures with care and precision.

1. Multilingual

Multilingual, in the context of a translator, means accurately translating text or speech between multiple languages while keeping tone, intent, and nuance intact.

Why It's Important

Being multilingual lets a translator capture meaning and subtext, not just vocabulary. It closes gaps—linguistic and cultural—so messages land as intended.

How to Improve Multilingual Skills

Continuous learning: Expand vocabulary, grammar, and stylistic range in all your working languages. Little bursts, every day.
Cultural immersion: Read, watch, listen. News, fiction, podcasts, social chatter. Culture shifts fast; keep pace.
Regular practice: Speak with natives, write short pieces, translate small texts, then self-review. Frequency beats intensity.
Targeted development: Take specialized courses or workshops (legal, medical, technical) to deepen domain expertise.
Use tech wisely: Try tools for draft support, but verify every choice. Human judgment rules the final cut.
Seek feedback: Ask proficient speakers and peers to critique your work. Adjust, iterate, grow.
Specialize: Choose sectors you enjoy. Build glossaries and reference sets; sharpen accuracy where it matters most.

How to Display Multilingual Skills on Your Resume

2. Localization

Localization adapts content to the cultural, linguistic, and technical expectations of a target market so it feels native, not translated.

Why It's Important

It boosts clarity, trust, and usability. Localized content reads like it was made for the audience—because it was.

How to Improve Localization Skills

Know the locale: Research idioms, conventions, formality levels, date/time formats, and taboos. Small details carry weight.
Build workflows: Use style guides, termbases, and QA checks to keep tone and terminology consistent across projects.
Collaborate in-market: Work with native reviewers or subject experts. Their lived context catches what guidelines miss.
Test with users: Pilot localized content with representative readers. Gather feedback, refine, retest.
Stay current: Languages evolve, especially online. Track changes in slang, register, and cultural references.

How to Display Localization Skills on Your Resume

3. CAT Tools

CAT (Computer-Assisted Translation) tools support translators with translation memories, terminology, alignment, QA checks, and efficient project workflows.

Why It's Important

They accelerate work, enforce consistency, and raise quality. Reuse, but verify. Speed, without cutting corners.

How to Improve CAT Tools Skills

Pick a primary tool: Master one platform deeply (e.g., Trados Studio, memoQ, Wordfast, OmegaT). Then explore others as needed.
Own your TM/TB setup: Structure translation memories and termbases by client, domain, and locale. Clean, merge, and back them up.
Dial in QA: Configure QA profiles for punctuation, numbers, tags, and terminology. Make them strict and relevant.
Leverage automation: Use pre-translate, auto-propagation, filters, and regex where appropriate. Let the tool carry the repetitive load.
Integrate MT carefully: Enable machine translation for drafts; post-edit with a critical eye. Consistency and style come from you.
Collaborate smart: Learn live review, shared TMs, and cloud projects to sync with teammates and clients.
Maintain hygiene: Regularly dedupe, align, and curate memories. Garbage in, garbage out—be ruthless.

How to Display CAT Tools Skills on Your Resume

4. SDL Trados

Trados Studio (formerly SDL Trados) is a leading CAT suite used to translate and localize documents with translation memories, termbases, and robust QA.

Why It's Important

Many clients request it. It supports complex formats, enforces consistency, and saves time with well-managed memories and terminology.

How to Improve SDL Trados Skills

Learn the shortcuts: Keyboard commands shave minutes off every task. Minutes become hours.
Customize your layout: Panels, filters, and views tuned to your workflow reduce friction and mistakes.
Use the QA Checker: Set rules for numerals, punctuation, tags, and terms. Run it often, not just at the end.
Integrate MT with care: Add machine engines for draft speed, then post-edit to your style guide and client tone.
Curate TMs and termbases: Segment by client and domain, update frequently, and remove noise. Clean data equals clean output.
Explore advanced features: Alignment, project templates, regex find/replace, and batch tasks can transform throughput.
Learn from peers: User communities and training sessions surface tricks you won’t find by clicking around.

How to Display SDL Trados Skills on Your Resume

5. Proofreading

Proofreading is the final, methodical review of translated text for grammar, spelling, punctuation, consistency, and formatting—while guarding the source meaning.

Why It's Important

It’s the last defense. Readers see the finished product, not the process. Clean copy builds credibility.

How to Improve Proofreading Skills

Change the view: Read aloud, switch fonts, or print. A new lens exposes hidden slips.
Use checklists: Punctuation, numerals, capitalization, spacing, tags, names, dates. Run the same checks every time.
Mind the style: Create guides per client (tone, terminology, regional variants). Consistency beats improvisation.
Leverage tools: QA modules, spellcheckers, and style aids (e.g., PerfectIt, Antidote) catch what eyes miss.
Take breaks: Distance sharpens focus. Come back fresh; errors won’t hide as easily.
Bilingual review: Compare against the source for completeness, nuance, and register. No dropped meaning.

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

6. Subtitling

Subtitling translates and times on-screen text to mirror dialogue and meaningful sounds so viewers—across languages or those who are deaf or hard of hearing—can follow along.

Why It's Important

It opens films, shows, and videos to global audiences. Stories travel farther when words keep up with images.

How to Improve Subtitling Skills

Prioritize readability: Keep lines short, language clear, and timing synced with speech and visuals.
Respect constraints: Follow character-per-line and reading-speed norms. Two lines max. Split sensibly at natural breaks.
Tag sounds thoughtfully: For SDH, add relevant non-speech cues concisely. Avoid clutter.
Use pro software: Tools like Subtitle Edit or Aegisub help with spotting, timing, and QC passes.
Stay consistent: Maintain a series glossary and enforce style across episodes or related content.
Test on devices: Preview on different screens to catch timing, line wraps, and legibility issues.

How to Display Subtitling Skills on Your Resume

7. Transcription

Transcription converts spoken language to written text, often as a precursor to translation.

Why It's Important

Accurate transcripts preserve meaning and context, making subsequent translation faster and cleaner. No guesswork later.

How to Improve Transcription Skills

Boost clarity: Use quality headphones, reduce background noise, and adjust playback speed.
Use the right tools: Audio editors for denoising, foot pedals for control, text expanders for frequent terms.
Add timestamps smartly: At logical intervals or speaker changes; consistency is key.
Learn the domain: Skim topic references first. Jargon lands right when you know the terrain.
Proof against audio: Second pass to catch homophones, numbers, names, and acronyms.
Practice variety: Accents, speeds, topics. Range builds resilience.

How to Display Transcription Skills on Your Resume

8. MemoQ

MemoQ (often styled as memoQ) is a CAT environment offering translation memories, termbases, LiveDocs corpora, QA checks, and collaboration features.

Why It's Important

It streamlines translation with strong terminology, reusable content, and customizable workflows—especially useful across recurring client projects.

How to Improve MemoQ Skills

Master shortcuts: Speed compounds. Learn the keys for navigation, confirmation, filtering, and QA.
Tune your workspace: Custom views, filters, and pinned panels keep focus where you need it.
Structure TMs/TBs: Separate by client and domain. Maintain, prune, and back up regularly.
Leverage LiveDocs: Align reference files and mine them via concordance when style or phrasing matters.
Use auto-translation rules: Configure patterns for dates, measurements, and recurrent phrases.
Integrate MT: Turn on machine suggestions for drafts; post-edit to your quality bar.
Build templates: Project templates, workflows, and QA profiles make recurring work predictable—and faster.

How to Display MemoQ Skills on Your Resume

9. Terminology Management

Terminology management collects, organizes, and maintains domain-specific terms so translators can deliver precise, consistent language across documents and time.

Why It's Important

It cuts ambiguity and rework. Consistent terms build credibility, especially in technical, legal, and medical contexts.

How to Improve Terminology Management Skills

Adopt a termbase: Use dedicated tools (e.g., MultiTerm or memoQ term bases). One source of truth, shared across projects.
Standardize entries: Include term, definition, context, part of speech, notes, and preferred/forbidden flags.
Validate with SMEs: Confirm usage with subject experts. Accuracy first, then consistency.
Extract systematically: Run term extraction on new corpora; review candidates before adding.
Audit regularly: Retire outdated terms, merge duplicates, and update for new products or regulations.
Link to QA: Enforce term checks during translation and pre-delivery QA.

How to Display Terminology Management Skills on Your Resume

10. Machine Translation Post-Editing

Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) is the human review and correction of machine-generated translations so they meet agreed quality, style, and accuracy standards.

Why It's Important

It blends speed with quality. MT drafts reduce turnaround; skilled post-editors ensure the final voice sounds human—and correct.

How to Improve Machine Translation Post-Editing Skills

Know the engine: Different MT systems (NMT, adaptive MT, LLM-based) fail in different ways. Anticipate typical errors.
Use clear guidelines: Define quality levels (light vs. full post-editing), style norms, and terminology beforehand.
Control terminology: Apply glossaries and do-not-translate lists to steer the output early.
Triage quickly: Fix meaning and fluency first; polish style after. Don’t over-edit when light PE is specified.
Measure effort: Track edit distance and time to estimate scope and refine pricing and workflows.
Know when to restart: If MT is off-target, retranslate from scratch. Sunk costs don’t help quality.

How to Display Machine Translation Post-Editing Skills on Your Resume

11. Interpreting

Interpreting converts spoken or signed language into another language in real time, enabling immediate understanding between participants.

Why It's Important

Conferences, negotiations, medical consults, courtrooms—interpreting keeps conversations moving when timing and accuracy are nonnegotiable.

How to Improve Interpreting Skills

Drill fundamentals: Shadow speeches, practice ear-voice span, and build memory through chunking exercises.
Refine note-taking: Symbols, structure, and selective detail. Notes should guide, not distract.
Expand domain lexicons: Curate glossaries for your fields and rehearse with topic-specific talks.
Polish delivery: Work on pace, clarity, and microphone technique. Smooth, steady, audible.
Prepare for RSI: Learn remote interpreting platforms, audio setups, and troubleshooting steps.
Review and reflect: Record sessions when permitted, solicit feedback, and adjust habits deliberately.

How to Display Interpreting Skills on Your Resume

12. Glossary Creation

Glossary creation compiles key terms and their equivalents with definitions and context so translators keep terminology consistent and accurate.

Why It's Important

It speeds decisions, reduces rework, and aligns teams. The right term, every time—no debates, no drift.

How to Improve Glossary Creation Skills

Identify candidates: Extract recurring and ambiguous terms from source materials. Frequency plus risk drives priority.
Define with context: Add clear definitions, domains, usage notes, and examples. Meaning lives in context.
Set conventions: Preferred vs. forbidden terms, capitalization, variants by locale. Document the rules.
Add metadata: Source, owner, approval status, and dates. Track changes for accountability.
Review cycles: Revisit terms with SMEs periodically. Languages and products evolve; your glossary should too.
Integrate with CAT: Connect termbases to your CAT tool for live term hits and QA enforcement.

How to Display Glossary Creation Skills on Your Resume

Top 12 Translator Skills to Put on Your Resume