Some work full time for the county or state, principally with the Municipal and Superior Courts, the Prison Board, and the Department of Motor Vehicles. A few have jobs with the federal government. The United Nations, other international organizations and some companies with foreign interests also employ Translators and Interpreters. Translators and Interpreters working for private corporations usually devote varying amounts of time to other duties such as technical writing and teaching. Sign language Interpreters work just about anywhere a deaf person needs to communicate.
Interpreters often have to work long and unusual hours.
The demand for their service may be sporadic. Interpreters sometimes get the opportunity to travel when acting as escorts or guides. Most of the job openings that occur will probably be due to replacement needs. These vacancies, however, will quickly be filled by highly skilled workers. In California the languages that are necessary to know for the majority of translation and interpreting jobs are Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese.