At the beginning of August, Portuguese translator/interpreter Cris Silva wrote about her newly-obtained ATA-certified translator seal. This is an exciting development for all of us CTs (as ATA-certified translators can now call themselves!): a great addition to a certified translator’s marketing materials and official document translations.
Call me technologically disabled, but I had a hard time figuring out how to actually order my seal. Maybe you’re struggling in silence with this issue too, so let me help you! ATA has set up a very cool electronic verification system for the Certified Translator credential. If a client goes to atanet.org/verify, they can type in your certification number (included on your Certified Translator seal) and verify that you are actually certified. If you scroll down to the very bottom of that page, you’ll see some text that begins “If you are an ATA-certified member who would like to get your unique certification number…” and that’s what you want. First, make sure that you’re logged in as an ATA member using your member number and password and then click where it says “click here” (I told you I was going to help…). The system will recognize you and auto-generate your certification number and seal right there. You can then download the seal for your own use; just make sure to abide by the rules for use, including leaving the “Verify at www.atanet.org/verify” text below the seal image. A local translator who is certified in two language combinations told me that you receive a different certification number and seal for each language combination in which you are certified.
Hi Corinne,
Thanks for the plug 🙂
Now I actually have to go and get the actual seal made 🙂
More later…
Oh yes, we need a report on that too!!
I own an LSP and we have recently had a lot of issues with applicants claiming to be certified when they’re not. Often, this is for languages where certification does not exist, such as Kirundi. Having the seal is a wonderful checkpoint for us to verify certification; however, I have an even greater concern: that LSP’s, or worse yet, end clients will think a translator is not truly certified if s/he does NOT use the seal. Someone who has worked very hard for certification could be dismissed as a liar. End clients could start refusing to pay for translations because they were promised work by a certified individual, but the seal’s not there, so obviously they’re not certified. Does the ATA have any type of plans on how to deal with this highly foreseeable problem?
Thanks for this post. I myself work as an English to Korean translator and this tip might come in handy some time. Translators, or better said, translation is getting ever-recognized. I’m glad to hear this kind of story, Corinne. 🙂
Thanks for the post. I was wondering if any of you Certified Translators have been able to get an actual seal (embosser or stamp). I recently went to Staples, and I was told the file format and resolution are not adequate to produce a high quality seal.
Thanks Ana! I did order a stamp from a company here in Colorado. It’s OK but definitely not as clear as a notary stamp, for example. I think part of the issue is that the electronic version is so large; when you shrink it down, the type gets pretty crammed together, and I got the largest stamp (2 inches by 2 inches) that seemed usable for a certification page. Maybe ask the certification people at ATA Headquarters??
Thanks, Corinne, for your insight. That is the same problem I am experiencing: the image becomes blurry when reduced in size. I will contact the ATA and ask if I can get the file in a different format.