How do we avoid misunderstandings with the interpreter during our interviews? Tyese gives great advice about meeting with your interpreter before your interview begins!

[TRANSCRIPT & DESC: A screen recorded online event of four women on Zoom. They are Renate Rose, Tyese Wright, Gisella Tomita, and Lori Taylor.

Renate: What if the interpreter misunderstands the conversation or if there is a communication issue, how do I make the interview less awkward?

(an animated slide appeared with a dark greyish-blue brick as a background. Question bubbles appeared with Q and A, and a bold white text appeared, "What if the room gets awkward because of the interpreter?")

Lori: Sometimes it happens during an interview when you have an interpreter that doesn't understand your signing.

Gisella: So, that interview is really, really sticky because we can’t really predict what will happen. We don’t know who the interpreter may be who is assigned to us. Maybe you never met this person before. You know, one positive thing about us is that we work within the profession. So, we can make requests for interpreters. But if you are interpreting for some hearing public company, you can contact the agency and say ‑‑ because maybe your communication plan is different. So, you could try to work with the organization to get the interpreter that meets your needs. If it is an interpreter that regularly goes together at the school, that is the best‑case scenario. Because you know how to work with that interpreter, and they know how to work with you. But when you are playing the lottery with your interpreter, it can be a gamble and stressful. But if you could provide suggestions to the agencies or what a definition of a qualified interpreter is for you, that could help make the best match for your situation.

Tyese: That is why it is a good opportunity to meet with the interpreter ahead of time. So that they can get a view of what my sign style is, how I like to communicate. And if I could get that 30 minutes ahead of time that, is ideal.

Lori: I’m trying to think about in this virtual age how do we do something ahead of time like that. Maybe you get an email from HR that says you will have an interview with this day and you have the Zoom link on that. Maybe it includes the interpreter’s information on that Zoom link so you could take the opportunity to contact the interpreter and give them quick background information and a run‑through of what things will look like.

Gisella: It is very important is that to show up to the interview on time. And on time doesn’t mean to show up right at 7:00 if the interview is set for 7:00. That means 15 minutes ahead of time minimum. That doesn’t matter whether it is in person or virtual. Of course, if you log in and the host hasn’t opened the room yet, you know, that is fine. But if you get there ‑‑ I can guarantee you the interpreter is going to try to be there 15 minutes ahead of time. So, if you are there and the interpreter is there, you can introduce yourself and you both can become more familiar with each other before the interview starts.

(an animated slide appeared with a dark greyish-blue brick as a background. A white text appeared, "Try meeting the interpreter before your interview.")]