MiTio and VLP Job Fair for Medical Interpreters

Transcript of Job Fair:

Dr. Lee (00:46):

Good evening Met alumni and welcome to our bimonthly job fair. Thank you so much for attending. Um, so the first thing I'd like to do is go over a few, um, housekeeping items. Um, I like for everyone to make sure that you mute your lines until the q and a portion of the meeting has started. We will let you know when that is and then when that, uh, q and a portion has started. Um, I'll ask you to use the raise hand function, um, and to, to use that and so that we can unmute you on our end. Uh, please keep, I will be mon moderating the chat. So if you would please keep the chat to, um, chatting between yourselves to a minimum. Um, and I will be able to, um, I will be able to answer any questions that you guys might have.

Dr. Lee (01:41):

If for some reason you, if you are an observer, I'll welcome. So this is for all Meteo alumni, but if you are a prospective student or a current student, we welcome you. Um, however, we do ask that you keep your questions only to email and you can email me to interpreter met.org. And I've posted that email in the chat. And there's a few emails that I will be referencing in this, uh, in my opening introduction, uh, the job placement email, uh, job placement assistant email, the CMI resources email, uh, the capstone email, and the material job offer email. Uh, all of those are, uh, templated emails that I have. If you are, if you would like more information about those emails, just email me to interpreter meier.org and just request that specific email and I'll reply back with that. Okay. Um, tonight we have Visual Language Pro Abby Mc McLin.

Dr. Lee (02:43):

We'll be presenting, uh, before she present, I would like to just go over a few items on the job placement assistant video, just to give you a brief overview of what to expect and, and what steps that we would like for you to take, um, as a Meteo alumni. And, um, and I will like to go ahead and let you know that the next job fair will be with amn, and that will be on June 16th. We will have the time at a later date. We'll be able to give you the time at a later date. Okay? Uh, so very quickly, um, if you have received this email, this is just going to be an overview. This is the job placement vi assistant video, um, email rather. Um, but so what you're seeing in your screen is the job placement assistant video, and we just give you certain steps that you should have in order for you to be successful obtaining a job as a medical interpreter.

Dr. Lee (03:37):

The first thing is, upon completion, either the 60 hour or the diploma program, you will receive a certificate immediately via email. Uh, if you want a mail certificate, there's a way to do that. You just have to pay for the shipping and handly. Uh, you should have also received that mail certificate email if you want. If you need that, again, email me interpreter meto.org and I'll be able to send you the information for getting a mail certificate. You should also have receive a letter of reference upon completion. Um, if you need something a little bit more robust, um, I will definitely encourage you to email me, um, if it, if it needs to be specific to a particular position, but most students have successfully used the, um, the letter of reference that we offer you. It's a general letter of reference explaining the, the courses that you took, the, your, your grades, et cetera.

Dr. Lee (04:32):

Now, for many of you, if you have been, if you completed Meto, uh, the material program prior to the last month where we have reinstated the Capstone doc, uh, project, uh, you may not have completed a Capstone project. It's not too late to complete one. Again, if you need information, just ask for this job placement assistant, uh, video, um, email rather, and it will explain how to go about that. Uh, but basically it's just an externship that you can do either a hospital or a clinic. And that allows you to not only have, um, volunteer experience or internship experience, but it will also allow you to have an additional letter of reference from that employer and something else to, to put on your resume to beef up your resume. Another thing that you should have immediately received upon completion was a, to your job offer.

Dr. Lee (05:23):

If for some reason you don't see it, it may have gone to spam, it's okay, just email me interpreter.org and we'll be able to give you that job offer. Lastly, we have several partners, uh, employers that have contacted us directly to say, Hey, we would love to hire your material alumni. Uh, so that is aim in Healthcare, Visual Language, Pro Csof, Geneva, Worldwide, and Lingo Tech. So every time what we have these job fair, we'll, like to highlight one of our employer partners. Uh, so last, uh, two months ago we had AMN Healthcare, We'll have them again next, next, um, in June. Uh, and tonight we have Visual Language Pro and they'll be explained to us what their needs are, et cetera. Um, and, but if you get this email, you'll be able to get a link directly to whoever is their recruiting, um, person.

Dr. Lee (06:19):

Okay? And you will be able to send them your resume, uh, along with your certificate, your flu, proof of efficiency, and that way you're ready to get to be hired. Uh, and the last thing, there's a link here to how to write an interpreter resume. So we wanted to give you some tips of specifically for how to write an interpreter specific resume. So if, again, if you have not received this email, this job placement assistance video, uh, email, uh, you can get that, uh, Mohamed I Abraham, please, uh, hold off until the q and a session, uh, portion of the session, uh, for to, um, to ask any questions. Uh, so right before, right before I introduce you to, I do want to, uh, show you this video very quickly. Hopefully you guys can see it. Let me know if you, if you can see that.

Dr. Lee (07:58):

And now you should also have received a letter of reference. Now, what you can do with that letter of reference is to print it out. So both your certificate, your, your letter of reference along with your proof of proficiency are the information that you're going to use whenever you're applying for jobs.

Dr. Lee (08:19):

Now, I do want to find out first, if you completed your six hour internship, some of you chose to do the alternate project in your advanced course. If you chose to do that, that's fine, but I still want to encourage you to do the six hour internship because many students have found that upon completion of the six hour internships, they have made, been very successful in obtaining positions as medical interpreters, either in person or remotely because of the face to face volunteer slash internship experience that this gives you. So the way that you do this, you download the capstone document. So it's going to be found in the email that you were sent. You're going to go to your local clinic or hospital. You're going to ask them if you can intern for them, uh, for six hours as because it's part of your diploma program.

Dr. Lee (09:13):

Um, if they say they don't do internships because of liability purposes, then you just say, I'm going to volunteer. I like to volunteer in a customer relations or customer facing position. That way you can interact with patients with your target language. Once they allow you to join their volunteer team, you will then give your capsule document to your supervisor and have them evaluate your professionalism, your attendance, your HIPAA compliance, et cetera. They do not need to evaluate your accuracy of your language because we've already done that with your live sessions and your proof of proficiency documentation. Uh, however, they, if they're able to do so even better, uh, once you complete that six hour internship, I want you to ask them for a letter of reference as well. So you'll have your letter of reference for completing your diploma program as well as your internship letter of reference.

Dr. Lee (10:12):

Very important. Now, you can also apply directly for, to work for the bto, um, Remote Interpreting Agency. Okay? So you should have received an email with the interpreting policies as well as the contract. Just go ahead and download that contract, sign it, and return it back to [email protected]. Again, once you have joined our agency, you could also add this to your work experience. So as you can see, your live sessions can be added on your resume as work experience. Your six hour internship can be added as work experience and your remote interpreter position with t should be added on your resume as well. Now we're going to put all that together. You're going to list your language skills and your resume. You are going to make sure that you're lifting your experience that I just mentioned and your education. Make sure that you're also mentioning that you are hip compliance trained because that information was covered during your training.

Dr. Lee (11:17):

And if you need additional assistance with how to put all of that together, there is a link again in the email that gives you a lot of lot more details on how to put all of that together. Now, I want to also encourage you to attend an AMN material job fair. Aman is one of our employer partners and they have agreed to hire all of our interpreters. If you are experienced, they will hire you on the spot. If you don't have experience, they will provide you with a 10 month paid internship. But every other month, they also host job fairs. And so I encourage you to attend one of, of the job fairs. This, these are the jobs for fairs that are scheduled for 2022. Um, so I encourage you to join them. One of them. Lastly, you can apply directly to one of our other partners, so you can apply directly with amn. The link to apply is included in the email as well as for Visual Language Pro coft and Geneva Worldwide.

Dr. Lee (12:20):

Now I'm going to give you a little bit of a history lesson of all of our past partners as well. So, WellStar in 2014, trained over 89 of their bilingual staff and interpreters through me. This is all of them holding up their certificates proudly. Heartland Alliance trained over 50 of their interpreters through meto Land Consult, a provider based in South Africa, trained all of their bilingual staff through metto Health Link, trained over a dozen of their staff through me, TA as well, So did Memorial Health, as well as Ashner Healthcare between over 20 of their medical interpreters with our program, University of Medical Health System, Medical System trained over 16 of their medical interpreters through us, as did the US Oncology Network. So now you are part of this wonderful familiia, the Family of Met, and I encourage you to reach out to me if you have any further questions about any job placement assistance that you might need. Have a great day. Bye-bye. Awesome. Okay, well, thank you so much for sticking out, uh, and just watching that short video. Now I'm going to introduce you to Abby McLean and I'm going to Abby. I'm also going to, um, give you health capability if you have any presentations that you would like to, uh, share with us. Okay.

Abby from VLP (13:58):

Thank you so much. Okay. I'm going to share my screen here really quickly.

Abby from VLP (14:13):

Okay. Hi guys. Um, so I am Abby, uh, Abby Lee Acklin, um, and I am the recruiting manager at Visual Language Professionals. Um, a little bit about us. Um, we were founded by Brandon Morgan. Um, he is a board certified emergency medicine, uh, physicians' assistant and a nationally certified sign language interpreter. And he felt very, very passionate about, um, providing language access to those in need. So he started this company in 2010, and it was originally just offering sign language interpreting. Um, but he built an incredible base of clients and we have grown to offer our clients interpreting services for over 200 languages. Oops, that went too fast. I dunno what just happened. Okay. Um, um, anyway, uh, we've grown to offer our clients, um, for over 200 spoken languages as well. Um, we provide services for, um, medical, uh, mental health, uh, education, business, uh, a little bit of legal, and then some government. Um, and we have, um, an exceptional operations team, and it's kind of at the heart of our organization. They offer 24 7 field support for both our clients and our interpreters. Um, and you can contact them at any time. They're the ones that are going to be managing our schedule, and they're the ones that will reach out to all of our interpreters to see if they're available to take assignments. So you would get to know them pretty well, uh, if you did eventually partner with us.

Abby from VLP (15:46):

Um, so some of our opportunities, uh, that are available, um, right now we're seeking qualified, experienced, um, or a certified interpreters. Um, and a lot of our contracts are for workers compensation cases, and they don't always require a certification, but of course it helps. Um, we do have a couple of contracts, um, for remote opportunities. Um, they aren't nearly as common, um, but they do require a medical interpreting certification. Um, so, you know, if you've, uh, graduated from video's program, then, um, that would be fantastic. Um, our needs, uh, are nationwide. Um, we originally got started in Houston, um, and a lot of us are staff members are based in the Midwest. Um, but you know, we have clients nationwide and they repeatedly ask for onsite and in person interpreting services. Um, our most, um, immediate needs are for, um, the Washington DC area. And, um, all of these areas include, um, all spoken languages, uh, as well as sign language. Um, we're looking for interpreters in New York City, um, Denver, Colorado, and, uh, Denver, Colorado. They, um, require interpreters with medical certifica, medical interpreting certifications, um, which is one of the reasons that we have partnered with midio. Um, we're looking for interpreters in Missouri, uh, Toledo, Ohio, and then, um, Dallas, Texas. And, um, that is primarily for a legal contract. Um, I know that that's not necessarily, um, what everyone here does, but, um, just that that's also available.

Abby from VLP (17:31):

Um, joining our team is, uh, fairly, it's a fairly simple process to reach out to us. Um, we have our email here that I can provide for you all in the chat, um, [email protected]. And, um, you can reach out to me. Uh, my name's Abby. As I said, I'm the recruiting manager, or you can talk to, uh, Carly West, who's our linguist recruiter. Um, from there we would just set up a phone call, um, you know, 15 to 30 minutes to discuss your qualifications and any certifications that you've had, um, your past experience and to see what, um, what you might be a fit for. Um, and the onboarding process. We've made it as simple as possible for our interpreters. Um, you'll just receive, uh, an agreement based on the discussed rates and terms from our phone call, and then an invite to our scheduling system, Boost Lingo.

Abby from VLP (18:23):

Um, I do know that a lot of other interpreting agencies use Boost Lingo as well. Um, and it's very easy to toggle through the different, um, the, the different profiles that you have with each company. Um, and then once those have been completed, you would be officially part of the team and you would be ready to start interpreting. Um, like I said earlier, our operations team is fantastic. They offer 24 7 service to both our clients and our interpreters. And, um, they're the ones that will be reaching out to you. Um, we've got a team of about five people right now, so they would, um, to make it simple for our interpreters, we, um, contact you via text cuz it's just, we know everybody's busy. They prob you're probably at a lot of other appointments, so, um, we reach out to you via text and if we can't reach you there, um, via email. So, um, yeah, that's, that's pretty much it for, uh, visual language professionals. Um, one of the reasons that we partnered with Medio is because, um, we do a lot of medical interpreting. So, um, if you are interested, um, I would love for you to reach out to us. Um, and it's, thank you so much for having me.

Abby from VLP (19:35):

Um, and I'm, I'm open to any questions that anyone has as well.

Dr. Lee (19:42):

Wonderful. Thank you so much Abby. So I just wanted to remind everyone that if you have a question, just raise your hands. I will, um, unmute you. Um, and please just keep the questions for the alumni. Um, we would prefer to. Um, and Abby, could you, uh, did you stop sharing? Could you put that, um, last screen up that you had with your email address on

Abby from VLP (20:07):

There? Oh yeah, sure. Gimme just one second.

Dr. Lee (20:09):

That will be great. Um, but yeah, so if you have a question, I will unmute you and, um, only questions from alumni and, um, all others we will, um, all others we will, uh, make sure to, let's see here. How do I do this? <laugh>, we will, uh, just email me your questions to um, interpreter.org. Okay. So I will start with, um, here, let's see, can you speak, Melissa, are you able to mute? Give me one second guys. I'm trying to figure out how to allow you to speak. It's not letting me do that. Okay.

Abby from VLP (21:20):

Uh, it might be because you gave me host access. I'm not sure if you need to take that away so you can unmute everyone.

Dr. Lee (21:26):

I think it's okay back. Um, let's see here. I'll just do this. Okay. Um, alright, so you can go first, see if you can unmute yourself at this point. Nifa?

Attendee (21:58):

Yes.

Dr. Lee (21:59):

Yes. Did you have a question for Yes,

Attendee (22:01):

Yes, there. Thank you for the opportunity. I was wondering what is the hourly paid offer from your company?

Abby from VLP (22:08):

Um, so that really depends on the contract, um, the area that you're in, uh, as well as the, the language you, um, interpreted. Um, so that would something that we could discuss in the phone call, um, or you can send your resume over and we can talk there as well.

Attendee (22:23):

Thank you very much.

Abby from VLP (22:24):

Yeah, course.

Attendee (22:25):

Thank you, Byebye.

Dr. Lee (22:27):

Okay, so, uh, Rose Marie.

Attendee (22:32):

Hello. Good afternoon. Yes, thank you. Um, so I would like to know if working for you would be like in a contract or like for a certain period of time as a, how would you say? Like, constant worker or it would be like an external

Abby from VLP (22:50):

No, that's an excellent question and something that I should have included. Um, we hire all of our interpreters on as 10 99 independent contractors. Um, so you would technically be self-employed and I'm sure it's something a lot of you are very familiar with. You would be technically self-employed and, um, you would be in charge of your own schedule. Um, so there's no minimum or maximum number of appointments that you need to make each month or each year. It's really just what works for your schedule.

Attendee (23:18):

Okay. That means that we pay around taxes elsewhere, right?

Abby from VLP (23:23):

Yeah, you would be responsible for that. Yep.

Attendee (23:25):

Okay, good. Thank you.

Abby from VLP (23:28):

Yeah,

Dr. Lee (23:29):

And that is true, um, Abby, that, uh, most, um, most, uh, remote interpreters, that is going to be the, the setup as well for most, I

Attendee (23:44):

Believe is the name. Uh, yes. Thank you Doctor. Uh, I have a question if I, you do have opening or need of the, uh, Arabic interpreters? I do have the, uh, I did my, the diploma was met and also the, uh, CCH h i certification in, in Arabic. Um, Okay. So I do everything is Spanish. Um, I am a, I <inaudible>, but I'm still working on the bench and, but I do have in Arabic. Do you have any I see I from Michigan and all the states you mention are just, Michigan was not one. Do you have any need of in

Abby from VLP (24:46):

Michigan? Yes, yes, absolutely.

Abby from VLP (24:50):

Yes. So with, um, so with a medical interpreting certification, I, I think I heard you say you've graduated from both mid and you have your C C H I certification, correct? Yeah, that's fantastic. I'm sorry,

Attendee (25:04):

I have the written in the order, like I have the complete certification.

Abby from VLP (25:09):

Okay. Yeah. Um, we do have a few select contracts that do, um, some remote interpreting, but I will be completely frank that it's not as steady as our onsite interpreting work

Attendee (25:20):

When the onsite, of course, depending on like what area, but, um, I don't mind the onsite, but of course it would have to, I I will be limited to where are they available maybe.

Abby from VLP (25:34):

Yeah, of course. Um, so we, like I said, I mean, you would be an independent contractor, so if something is too far out of your range, that's totally fine. Um, you can just reject the appointment. Um, but we, once we get you fully onboarded and into our system, um, we operate based on your home address, um, to see like what what's in your area. And when we know we have a good roster in an area or someone that might be able to take an assignment, then we know that we can accept assignments from our clients. So, um, you know, bringing more people onboard in an area definitely increases the likelihood that we will get a lot of work and we try to keep you as, as close to home as possible. We try not to, um, send you too far away.

Attendee (26:17):

And then there the, so how do we do about that? How I, uh, how I can my, where you always sign the contract or whatever the, um,

Abby from VLP (26:30):

Yeah, so I can provide it in the chat, but I will, um, send over here. I can send that over right now in the chat. Um, the email that you can send your resume, uh, to, and you can also send your certifications as well, and then we can set up some time to talk.

Dr. Lee (26:45):

Okay. Sure.

Abby from VLP (26:47):

Here. Awesome.

Dr. Lee (26:49):

And it's also on the, on the screen guys, if you, and it's also in the job placement, um, assistant email as well. Okay, awesome. Was that all? Um, uh, yep. Okay. Wonderful. All right. Ariel, Ariel, did you have a question? Just unmute yourself. Okay. Did you have a question? Can, um, can you guys hear me okay? Yes, yes. I, yes. Okay. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, thank you. I was trying, trying to see if give Ariel and Jira a chance. Uh, so I'll go to my next person. Mohamed.

Attendee (28:26):

Hi. Hello. Sorry, Excuse me. Abby, I have a question about the, the job opportunity

Dr. Lee (28:32):

You speak who speak speaking

Attendee (28:34):

So far you don't have any remote job opportunity?

Abby from VLP (28:40):

We, we have just, we have a few, um, but like I said, they are very limited. Um, Okay. It, it's with a few contracts that do require medical interpreting certifications and it wouldn't be quite the, um, same amount of work that we provide for onsite interpreting.

Attendee (28:56):

Okay. And then, uh, I am in the process of being certifications. So am I eligible to still submit my resume to your company?

Abby from VLP (29:06):

Yeah, absolutely. Or

Attendee (29:07):

You prefer

Abby from VLP (29:09):

Oh, great. You can send your resume over and then we can set up some time to talk.

Attendee (29:13):

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Abby from VLP (29:16):

Yeah, of course.

Dr. Lee (29:20):

Okay. Moham.

Attendee (29:22):

Yeah, mom for time. Uh, I was, by the time I was,

Abby from VLP (29:34):

I'm sorry, you're cutting out a lot. I'm not hearing what, I'm not hearing most of what you're saying.

Attendee (29:43):

Yeah, sorry. I said that I was having an appointment today around, around four in east, then I'm in Africa right now. Then I did not show that appointment. I'm in the process of receiving the, of interpretation. Then will I, you guys, are you providing remote so that I can apply here and I just submit my resume resumes?

Abby from VLP (30:12):

You can submit your resume and like I said, um, there are, uh, limited remote interpreting opportunities. But yeah, go ahead and send your resume over and we can go over, um, your qualifications and see if that's something that we need at this time.

Dr. Lee (30:26):

Are

Attendee (30:27):

You guys interpreter?

Abby from VLP (30:31):

I'm sorry?

Attendee (30:32):

Are you providing Somali interpret Somali interpretation service and also

Abby from VLP (30:37):

Somali interpreters? Yes, We, we have, um, need for Somali interpreters, uh, remotely.

Attendee (30:44):

So also

Abby from VLP (30:49):

You can go ahead and send your resume over to that email that I sent.

Dr. Lee (30:53):

Um, I do have a question. Abby, do you have any restrictions for international interpreters?

Abby from VLP (31:01):

Um, we have, we have hired on a few international interpreters, um, and we, we have a different process for onboarding for that. Um, and that's something that we can go over. We haven't done it a lot. Um, so we haven't perfected the process, but we are open to it.

Dr. Lee (31:16):

Got it. Okay.

Attendee (31:18):

Okay, ma'am, is there any, is there inconvenient? I'm not interested. I Africa, is there any problem though?

Abby from VLP (31:25):

Uh, as long as it's not a problem for you timing wise?

Attendee (31:28):

Yeah, my time work, I can work right now we are, uh, I am in around 2, 2 30 at midnight, right.

Abby from VLP (31:39):

Oh, okay.

Dr. Lee (31:41):

Well thank you for your,

Attendee (31:46):

I'm sorry, may I ask question?

Dr. Lee (31:49):

Um, give me, I'm going to go down the list. Okay. Give me a second.

Attendee (31:54):

All

Dr. Lee (31:55):

Right, so the next person is, um, Alicia. She's, uh, rapo

Attendee (32:03):

To mute myself. Okay. Hi. Hi. Hello. Um, my question basically is the same, I think it was partly answered. I'm a retired, uh, New York State official interpreter and I live right now in Germany. And my question was if you were getting opportunities for interpreters who live abroad, and I guess I heard yes. So, um, yes,

Abby from VLP (32:28):

They are limited and I, and I do want to be frank about that they are limited, but we, um, sure we have some opportunities available.

Attendee (32:35):

All right. Okay. That was my question. Thank you very much. So we problem sent you the, um, resume and then we All right. Thank you.

Abby from VLP (32:44):

Absolutely. Thank you.

Attendee (32:45):

Thank you very much.

Dr. Lee (32:47):

All right. The next person is,

Dr. Lee (32:52):

Hello? Can you hear me? Yes. Awesome. So have a couple questions. First of all, the slides that we have here that showing us, can you, um, are those slides or no,

Abby from VLP (33:04):

I'm sorry, you cut out just a little bit there.

Dr. Lee (33:06):

I'm sorry. The slides that you are providing us now on the screen, can you email those to us?

Abby from VLP (33:11):

Yeah, I can send these over to Dr. Lee and I'm sure she can send them over to you.

Dr. Lee0 (33:16):

Oh, that's fantastic. Great. Um, another question. So I, I'm in the process, I'm almost done with my certification, well, with my completion of my classes with <inaudible>. Um, and then I'm trying to get my certifications right away. Take my test. You said that, um, we need to go on site, so depending on the zip code that I'm at, you will provide me a place where to go at my leisure or how does that work?

Abby from VLP (33:44):

So we don't actually share our entire schedule in an area with all of our interpreters. Um, it tends to get a little bit chaotic. Um, but we do reach out our, like I said, our operations team will reach out to you to see if you're available to take an assignment and you just let them know if you are available or not, or if that's maybe a little bit too far, um, really what works for you.

Dr. Lee (34:04):

So basically, cuz I currently, why I wanted, I was interested in this part. Um, I'm currently going to use my certifications at the place I worked at, which is at hospital for um, speakers. Um, so I was planning to continue it cause I really like the career wise. Um, but I was wondering, um, like you said they would be working around my schedule or how does that work? No, so I mm-hmm

Abby from VLP (34:36):

<affirmative> you would, you would be managing your own schedule. Like we would ask to see if you're available, um, and you just let us know whether or not, and you can always, um, send us like if you work, um, you know, like a, a typical nine to five, just let us know that and we'll try to ask you for after hours assignments or weekend assignments if you're available for

Dr. Lee (34:54):

Those. Oh, that sounds great. Yeah, cuz I work like every, like once a month or weekend and I usually have during the week the day off, I could go ahead and call them and advise them of my day off. Is that okay?

Abby from VLP (35:06):

Yeah, sure.

Dr. Lee (35:07):

Awesome. Okay, so as long as we can get this, I, cause I was trying to log in, I was having issues logging in, but I just wanted to make sure I get a copy of the, of the slides so I could continue. I know what to do now.

Abby from VLP (35:18):

Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Lee (35:20):

We'll provide this, yeah, we'll provide the slide and the recording as well. But I just wanted to reiterate that if you're not completed, if you're current student or a prospective student, please hold off on, on asking any questions during the call. This is mainly for our alumni. You're welcome to observe and if you have any specific questions, just email those to me. Interpreter org. Yes. The next question is Maria Castillo, the next Maria Castillo?

Dr. Lee1 (35:57):

Yes. Hi, uh, this is Maria Castillo. Um, my question is, I am a certified interpreter for, by being for since 2004. Uh, I am a retired, uh, I am retired here in the state of Washington. So my question is, do I have, can I, can I apply, can I send my resume and if so, do I have to take the classes that you guys offer through t my t to, um, to be able to be hire or, or not hire but contracted by you?

Abby from VLP (36:33):

No, not necessarily. Um, we have a lot of contracts that don't require a certification. Um, but we do like to,

Dr. Lee1 (36:40):

I am, uh, I am certified in the state of Washington. Do I have to be nationally certified? I'm sorry, I cut you short.

Abby from VLP (36:49):

No, no, you don't have to be nationally certified. Um, what we're looking for is great experience. We're looking for qualified interpreters, and then with, um, some specific contracts, we do need to provide proof of, uh, a medical interpreting certification of some sort.

Dr. Lee (37:04):

Yeah, I have, uh, my medical certification and I been working on this for the past 12 years or or so.

Abby from VLP (37:13):

Yeah, that sounds great. Absolutely forward your resume along and, and we can have a discussion.

Dr. Lee (37:19):

Okay. Do you have, because I cannot ride their, the email or, or I cannot get it from, because I'm, I'm, it's, I'm going to work now in an, I have an appointment close by and, uh, so I'm using my cell phone and it's too small for me to see the, um, the, uh, the link that you putting on the, on the chat. So is the, do you have that like the website? Can I go to the website and, and, and, um, sign up through them? Through it or,

Abby from VLP (37:47):

Uh, yeah, you can, you can go through our website and, um, there's a, a tab up at the top that says recruiting and you can go fill out the form there as well.

Dr. Lee1 (37:56):

Okay. Thank you so much.

Abby from VLP (37:57):

Yeah, no problem.

Dr. Lee (38:00):

All right, next person is Camille Diaz.

Dr. Lee2 (38:07):

Yes. Hi. Um, so I just heard what you just said, This is for, um, alumni students, but I just have one question I just really wanted to know. Um, so right now I'm a nurse in NYC and I kind of wanted to take, um, the classes to kind of boost my resume and kind of use it in my field. Um, I'm hearing a lot about like contracts and about like working and different stuff like that. Um, didn't know, um, what it was I was just kind of looking for to start classes, maybe use it towards the degree I already have. Um, like if the, how does that work? Do you guys have any advice? Um, I just want to like start somewhere.

Dr. Lee (38:53):

I I can answer that Abby. Um, so we have quite a few, um, medical professionals that want to also, uh, provide interpreting services. And it is a requirement, right, that you have to be, uh, trained as a medical interpreter, uh, to use that, uh, to be also able to be used as a medical interpreter. And so yes, I will definitely recommend that you do like our 60 hour course. It's a shorter program, um, in most of our trained, um, medical professionals, whether they're doctors or nurses, um, you know, dentists, you name it. Um, they often go through that 60 hour course and that gives you the ability to work as an interpreter as well as sit for the certification exam should you choose to do that. And that's something that, as you heard from Abby, you're able to work from home. You're able to set your own schedule and work that around, uh, your profession as a nurse if you choose to do that.

Dr. Lee2 (39:47):

All right, Thank you so much.

Dr. Lee (39:49):

You're welcome. Uh, Eric? Eric?

Dr. Lee3 (39:59):

Yes. Yes. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, thank you so much. Now I'm Eric. I'm from Africa. I'm certified for 40 hours medical tablet. I did training for four hours, so I don't know, is that work for applying? Yes. That, that

Abby from VLP (40:21):

Absolutely works for applying to us.

Dr. Lee3 (40:24):

Yeah. And I am, I'm currently working with the effective company. So is it possible to apply with those, that certificate?

Abby from VLP (40:34):

Yes, absolutely. Um, you can send over your resume and certificate to the email up on the screen.

Dr. Lee3 (40:40):

Thank you so much. Do you have Kenya language, Kenya, randa, KI and Swahili?

Abby from VLP (40:48):

I I'm sorry, could you repeat that? You said Swahili,

Dr. Lee3 (40:51):

Swahili, Kingda and Kiranda.

Abby from VLP (40:55):

Yep. We, we have had requests for all of those.

Dr. Lee3 (40:59):

All right, I'll, I'll send the resume.

Abby from VLP (41:03):

Okay. Awesome. Thank you.

Dr. Lee3 (41:05):

You're welcome.

Dr. Lee (41:07):

All right. Paul Hicks.

Dr. Lee4 (41:11):

Good afternoon. Can you hear me?

Dr. Lee (41:13):

Yes. Yep.

Dr. Lee4 (41:14):

So, um, I finished the program about, um, three weeks ago I think, or a month. And my main reason for doing it is for remote, uh, remote position, um, for medical reasons, but I'm noticing what I'm hearing. There's very little offers in regards to remote full times or mostly they are contract, meaning that you could be without a job from two weeks and have a contract for two weeks. Do you know of any company that, um, supports the program material that is good in remote hiring?

Dr. Lee (41:56):

So, Paulina, I don't know if you were here at the beginning, but, um, No, we have, that's fine. We, I, I'll provide the, the recording as well, but just send me an email to interpreter me.org cause we have five, um, partner employers, Visual Language Pros, just one of them, Uhhuh <affirmative>. Um, and what we find that a lot of students will do is work for several different, like if you want to work, you know, cobble together full-time hours as an, as a remote interpreter, they'll work for several different, um, agencies, remote interpreting agencies, because most of them operate very similar. It's all 10 99. You schedule your own appointments and if it's all, uh, a lot of them, as Abby mentioned, use Boost Lingo. So it's very familiar platform. And so that's one of the things that we do for issue if you want to just work remotely. And, um, and, and that's one way to go about, uh, to go about it. Um, but we have several, um, partners. Um, as I mentioned, amn Geneva, um, Lingo Tech is in addition to Visual Language Pro. So I would apply to all of them. So if you have not received that email, just send me an email to interpreter, I mean to.org. Now forward that over to you. Okay.

Dr. Lee4 (43:09):

I really appreciate it. And one last question really quick. Uh, I know that you offer the court interpreting as well. Yes. Um, is that, I was trying to find if we still need it, uh, to, is, uh, be, I guess take the course for that to be certified, uh, before applying for position.

Dr. Lee (43:30):

So court interpreting is a little different than medical. Medical Interpreting is a requirement by law that you have to have the training as the medical interpreter. Court interpreting is really depending on that particular court <laugh> or that particular state. Uh, but we do offer the training because it has, um, it will provide you with the legal guard, uh, jargon, et cetera that you would need. Um, and that will just boost, you know, boost your, your chances. Um, but each court has their own certification process, if you will, each state does. And so you if, uh, it'll depend on your particular state. But oftentimes if you have the medical interpreting training that's sufficient for most states, um, for the court. Um, but I would, I would encourage you, if that's what you want to focus on to then take the, definitely take the 10, uh, the courts because it'll provide you with a lot of the, the legal, um, information that you would need, uh, to be the

Dr. Lee4 (44:26):

Language. Okay, thank you. Cause I found a lot of jobs in court interpreting that there were remote, so, um, Okay. But I really appreciate your time and thank you for answering my questions.

Dr. Lee (44:38):

You're welcome. All right. Zita,

Dr. Lee5 (44:43):

Hello. Um, I have a question. I, I think you already answered it, but I just like to verify, um, just an observer. Can I have that email please? Cause I didn't catch you, you said a couple times, but can you go slowly cuz I didn't catch the email to email you Cause I'm just, right now as an observer I would like to know the

Dr. Lee (45:01):

Information. I'm going to type it, I will type it also in the chat, but it's just interpreter, the word interpreter.org.

Dr. Lee5 (45:10):

What? I'm sorry,

Dr. Lee (45:12):

The word interpreter and then it's just like our website. So interpreter. Thank

Dr. Lee5 (45:19):

You. So

Dr. Lee (45:20):

You're welcome. And I'll put in the chat as well.

Dr. Lee5 (45:22):

I appreciate.

Dr. Lee (45:33):

Okay. And then the next person is Esther. Esther,

Dr. Lee6 (45:46):

Can you hear me?

Dr. Lee (45:48):

Yeah. Yes.

Dr. Lee6 (45:49):

Okay, I'm just, my question is, um, the, um, the website, the link that's provided, I wanted to know that Creole speaking interpreter, cause that's what I'm Haitian Creole speaking. Wanted to know, like for Haitian Creole speaking interpreter

Abby from VLP (46:22):

That in.

Dr. Lee6 (46:25):

So I can also send resume to that link and see what

Dr. Lee7 (46:49):

Was wondering, Um, is this for, are these jobs onsite or are these jobs, uh, remote and what are cover?

Abby from VLP (46:58):

These are primarily onsite interpreting opportunities, but um, I did say that there are some remote opportunities, um, but they are limited. So you would just reach out to us and um, we can have a discussion and see where our needs are at.

Dr. Lee7 (47:13):

Okay, so just uh, send the email at recruiting visual language pro.com?

Abby from VLP (47:19):

Yep, absolutely.

Dr. Lee7 (47:22):

Okay. Will do.

Abby from VLP (47:24):

Thank you.

Dr. Lee7 (47:25):

Four agencies on here.

Dr. Lee (47:29):

I'm sorry, we just, we just have link, uh, Visual Language Pro today. Every other month we have a, a job fair and we invited the, uh, different um, uh, employer. So Nick in, in June, we'll have AM healthcare.

Dr. Lee8 (47:43):

Okay. Thank you very much.

Dr. Lee (47:44):

You're welcome. Uh, Ru

Dr. Lee8 (47:50):

Hi. Thanks. My name is Ray. Um, I just graduated from, uh, the program. Um, so I was wondering, um, do you guys offer, uh, compensation for travel expenses for onsite interpreters?

Abby from VLP (48:07):

Um, yeah, that's a great question. Um, for most of our medical contracts, we do offer mileage. Um, and, and we can discuss that too. Um, there's a little bit of a balance where maybe you want to hire hourly rate and then we might have to, um, sacrifice just a little bit on the mileage. But, um, that is totally open ended and we can have, um, a phone call about that.

Dr. Lee8 (48:29):

Okay, thank you. And then also, um, one more question is just on our resume, when we're, we're applying with our resume, um, should we only include interpreting experience or would you like to see other, um, work experience as well if we have that?

Abby from VLP (48:44):

Um, that's totally up to you. I mean, what we're looking for is your interpreting experience, but um, you know, totally up to you.

Dr. Lee (48:51):

And I will just add to that, uh, in the job placement, um, email that we send, there's a link to how to develop an interpreter specific resume. So I would, excuse me, if you have not received that email, just email me at [email protected] requesting that and I'll re I'll reply back with that and that link will help you to put together a, a professional interpreter, uh, resume. Okay.

Dr. Lee8 (49:22):

Okay. Thank you.

Dr. Lee (49:23):

You're welcome. Samuel. Samuel, are you there?

Dr. Lee9 (49:35):

Uh, yes. You already answered my question on the chat. Thank

Dr. Lee (49:38):

You. Okay, wonderful. Uh, so let's see. I want to just make sure that we have answered all of your questions. Um, and I just wanted to say thank you Abby, for that, uh, amazing presentation. Um, okay, we have one more question, Ella.

Attendee (49:58):

Oh, hello, Dr. Lee. A nice to be here. Um, um, I did all the courses in MI and MI was fantastic. Um, I've been working for a year as an educational interpreter in special education and now I'm doing court interpretation. Um, but something that scares me a bit is not having the experience of being in a court and I was wondering if you have thought, uh, to create some sort of internship or observation sessions for the students, because I think that would be great and I wanted to ask you that.

Dr. Lee (50:40):

Yeah,

Abby from VLP (50:41):

No, that's a great question. Um, vlp, we don't necessarily have a, a full fledged internship or anything like that. Um, but if you were interested, um, it kind of does depend on your area. Um, but if you were interested in, uh, shadowing another interpreter that has been working with us for a while, um, that's absolutely something that we're open to do.

Attendee (50:59):

Oh, that's great. I'm in Dallas and I saw you, you needed

Abby from VLP (51:03):

Oh yes, absolutely. We are constantly getting requests in Dallas County for court interpreting. So, um, yeah, absolutely reach out to me, uh, at [email protected].

Attendee (51:14):

Okay. Thank you so much.

Abby from VLP (51:15):

Thank you.

Dr. Lee (51:17):

And Ella, I would also encourage you if you want to use the capstone project for the court interpreting, let me know. Um, you can email me, um, and I can, yeah, I can see that

Attendee (51:27):

I, I will do Dr. Lee because that didn't exist when I finished the course, so this is new. I definitely will do it. Thank you.

Dr. Lee (51:34):

Awesome. Um, and then I, I got a few questions in the chat about, um, ASL interpreting. So the, the process is the same for ASL interpreters, so we, you just have to prove your proficiency in asl. We do have a proficiency, uh, test that we can send you if you don't already have your certification as an ASL interpreter. Uh, but the process is the same. Uh, you will provide your, your projects in video when you do the life sessions. So it would be in video, it's the same exact course. You would just do all of your projects and your life sessions into, um, in, into your, your target language, which would be asl. Okay. And we do actually with met, we have several contracts with the federal government for ASL interpreting, and we actually do provide, um, quite a few jobs in asl. Uh, does anyone else have any questions before we, uh, close out for tonight? Just raise your hands or type it in the chat. So while, uh, while we're closing out, I just wanted to say thank you Abby, for um, for presenting tonight and um, and for just partnering with meto cuz we really appreciate that being able to provide, uh, full-time employment to our students is very important to us.

Abby from VLP (52:51):

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me and we've gotten some great candidates from Midio, so thank you.

Dr. Lee (52:56):

Wonderful. Well thank you guys all. Um, Eric, if you don't mind sending, uh, your question via email since you've already had a, a turn. Awesome. Well thank you guys all for joining us on this, uh, job fair. Again, I will provide you guys with the slides as well as the recording of, of tonight's, uh, job fair. And the next job fair again will be June the 16, uh, with amn and time and, uh, link will be provided at a later time. Have a great evening everyone. Thank you.