French Text

How does one become a French translator with the United Nations?

Public Comments

1. become fluent in french and work at the america french embassy and then apply with the un.
2. I found a very good article at the career.berkeley.edu site. There is more useful info in the article. (more info on career path and min. requirements) From the source below: You must know at least 3 of the 6 official UN languages with English and French typically at the core. The third language would then be either Russian, Arabic, Chinese, or Spanish. ... How does one go about becoming a UN translator? Obtain a university degree and gain some experience with translation. For example, take some translation courses. Should not be older than 32 years old. Pass the examinations: a written exam and interview The Exams Most Americans sit for the exam in New York City (NYC). Exams are also offered in Geneva, where core competency must be demonstrated in French. The exams are not given every year (depending on staffing needs) and they are very competitive. The UN may hire a handful of people out of hundreds of applicants. But again, the exact number hired depends on the demand. There are two components to the written examinations: translation and précis-writing in one of the five UN languages. Précis-writing involves not only translating documents from one language into another but also summarizing the contents. A typical précis-writing assignment requires the translator to summarize the proceedings of a committee meeting, capturing the gist of what was discussed without losing the accuracy of the meaning, but more succinctly than in a verbatim transcript. Précis-writing exams are usually given over two days, and translators for all the UN locations (e.g., NYC, Geneva, Nairobi, Bangkok, or Santiago) share the general job description. Committee assignments mirror the range of specialties that constitute the UN's work from political (mostly in NYC) to social, economic, financial, administrative, scientific, or technical. Those who pass the exams are then invited for an interview before a hiring decision is made.