There is a recent news report published in a local Chinese news paper that lists the requirements for women who might apply for a job as a police officer, which include “being attractive” or “cute” or a “perfect beauty.” The job has nothing to do with beauty pageants, mind you, but about enforcing the law. Yet, a high priority is placed on physical beauty. Incidentally, this issue happens to affect even such endeavors as interpreting in China.

A few years ago, an American acquaintance that had some business to do in one of the major cities in China needed, of course, a proficient interpreter and translator. He did not know much about the Chinese language, except perhaps the Chinese language equivalent of “Thank you” or “hello.” Fortunately, they found a woman named Karen through one of the local language translation agencies based in Shenzhen that specifically caters to the needs of foreign businessmen.

As it turned out, Karen proved more than proficient-her assistance went beyond the usual tasks entailed in a typical job of interpreting in China, as she also helped our American friend make “culturally correct” decisions when dealing with his Chinese business partners. However, there was a major business conference or meeting that was supposed to cap the business trip, and Karen-with her proven expertise and exceptional performance thus far-was the only and the best candidate for the interpreter’s job.

Surprisingly, Karen declined it. She was already “old” and “ugly,” and businessmen preferred the qualities of youth and physical beauty when it comes to business associates or employees. This was surprising because, according to our American acquaintance, Karen was merely in her early 30s and was not bad looking at all.

However, Karen would not hear of it, and more strongly recommended that they hire a young and beautiful Chinese interpreter, preferably in her early 20s. And that was that. At the conference, the young and perky twenty-something interpreter turned out to be green regarding her interpreting skills, but such did not seem to be a big deal for the Chinese business partners.

For the most part, the job of interpreting in China would be open to anyone-especially if the interpretation or translation job does not necessarily entail a personal appearance and can be performed on the phone or via the internet. But as some of our contacts in the mainland say, physical attractiveness really does matter, especially for those specific interpreting jobs that require one to be at a meeting or conference that is to be attended by major businessmen or decision makers.

Of course, one can perhaps always insist on political correctness when interpreting in China, but strong cultural mores and norms prevail in a country of more than a billion people, and doing so would most probably prove to be a mere exercise in futility.

The good thing, though, is that interpretation jobs that require an interpreter to have to be present in front of a “discriminating” bunch of businessmen actually consist of a minor fraction of the whole Chinese interpretation industry. There is much work to be had here, if one knows where to look.

Charlene Lacandazo works for Rosetta Translation, a well-established translation agency in Shanghai, China and London, UK. Rosetta Translation specialises in providing interpreting in China and overseas.

Charlene Lacandazo works for Rosetta Translation, a well-established translation agency in Shanghai, China and London, UK. Rosetta Translation specialises in providing interpreting in China and overseas. http://en.rosettatranslation.com.cn/

Author Bio: Charlene Lacandazo works for Rosetta Translation, a well-established translation agency in Shanghai, China and London, UK. Rosetta Translation specialises in providing interpreting in China and overseas.

Category: Career
Keywords: interpreting in china,chinese interpreting,interpreting services,chinese interpreter