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How to become an interpreter and translator

Official title: Interpreter and translator

Also called: Sign language interpreter, Court interpreter, Interpreter, Translator, Language translator

Interpreters and translators convert different forms of spoken, signed or written language into other languages.

Main tasks

How to become one

You need experience to become an interpreter or translator and a qualification may be useful. You usually need Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: experience in similar work; to be fluent in English and another language. Other requirements: a Bachelor of Arts (NZSL-English Interpreting); a postgraduate certificate or diploma in translating and interpreting; a master's degree in translating and interpreting; a recognised practising credential.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Who does this work

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Questions people ask

How do I become an interpreter and translator?

You need experience to become an interpreter or translator and a qualification may be useful. You usually need Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: experience in similar work; to be fluent in English and another language. Other requirements: a Bachelor of Arts (NZSL-English Interpreting); a postgraduate certificate or diploma in translating and interpreting; a master's degree in translating and interpreting; a recognised practising credential.

How much does an interpreter and translator earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $71,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $56,000 to $95,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as an interpreter and translator grown in New Zealand?

It has shrunk: TEC records a decrease in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of an interpreter and translator?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026