An interview is a meeting between two or more people or groups to discuss a specific subject. There are several types of interview. We could mention job interviews or professional meetings between employees or partners. These meetings can be part of a commercial negotiation between two companies looking to work together, to discussa particular problem or to share a market, for example. A negotiation aims to reach an agreement and conclude a deal. To achieve this, each of the parties must agree to make concessions in order to reach a consensus. This makes it possible not to act alone, but to coordinate one’s actions with the other players involved in a given situation and, in some cases, to contribute to the resolution of an ongoing conflict. As a result, negotiation requires clear and precise communication between the negotiating negotiating parties to achieve this objective without further difficulty. In a commercial or professional context, it involves the interests of different companies and their respective long-term strategies.

For this reason, in the context of an increasingly globalised labour market and the internationalisation of business, professional interviews can bring people of different origins and languages into contact with each other. The role of the interpreter is therefore fundamental, acting as an intermediary and facilitating communication between the two parties. In this type of situation, several types of interpretation can be used to translate the discussion.

Firstly, consecutive interpreting consists of rendering the speech of one of the parties after it has been delivered, taking notes if necessary. Unlike simultaneous interpreting, this does not require any specific equipment, but it does extend the duration of an event or interview because of the interpreter’s interventions. Liaison interpreting, on the other hand, is more dynamic and is used in more interactive and interspersed discussions and dialogues. This helps to ensure that communication between the different groups involved runs more smoothly. The interpreter is responsible for translating from one language to another, in both directions. Last but not least, for meetings involving a large number of participants, some of whom do not speak the main language, whispered interpreting can be useful. It makes it possible to discreetly translate what is being to one or more people who do not understand the language of the meeting. This method is more discreet, as it takes place simultaneously and is only aimed at part of the audience. As a result , it avoids prolonging the length of an interview, by not interspersing the discussion with interventions from the interpreter.

Interpreting for international interviews and negotiations is therefore crucial to the development of markets, through new employees working abroad or through collaboration between companies in different countries. At LinguaTrans we are well aware of the difficulties involved in this kind of interpretation. The interpreter must havea perfect command of both languages, and unlike other types of interpreting, you have to translate fromone language to the other and back again, which requires a particular level of fluency. In addition, particularly during negotiations and interviews, the interpreter must be able to take a back seat. to allow the discussion to take place without being perceived as an intermediary. He or she must, however, succeed in faithfully conveying the implicit messages expressed during the conversation. An article from Frontline Negotiations details this complicated process, in the field of humanitarian negotiations. That’s why we have the best interpreting experts for this kind of situation, so you can be sure of the highest quality service.