CACL Guide for Applicants

Documents needed to apply and useful references

Code of Ethics
Professional Standards
Regulation Governing Admissions and Language Classification
CACL, Committee on Admissions and Language Classification
AIIC's language classification system
AIIC's Website

AIIC Forms

Navigating through the AIIC admissions requirements is not always easy. The purpose of this guide is to help you understand the system and fill in the application form easily and correctly. It is broken down into two sections: 1) a checklist, for those already familiar with entrance or reclassification requirements and 2) a detailed guide, for those seeking further clarification.

AIIC does not consider the admissions process to be a "test" or membership to be a "certification" in the strict sense of the word. The association does, however, maintain the goal of admitting only competent professional interpreters. By requiring a minimum number of days worked under professional conditions, AIIC effectively asks applicants to pass the "test" of the workplace. By requiring sponsorship by members who have worked with and listened to an applicant, AIIC again puts the emphasis on performance in real-life settings. Sponsorship must not be taken lightly. A member who agrees to sign for an applicant is vouching both for the individual's professional competence and for his or her undertaking to abide by the accepted professional ethics. A potential sponsor, therefore, might very well be interested in talking at length with the applicant and providing information on the profession and the association. Furthermore, by applying to AIIC, the applicant is undertaking a commitment to abide by the Code of Ethics.

1. Application Checklist - If you are already familiar with the application procedure, this simple checklist may be all you need

Start by reading the AIIC Code of Ethics and Professional Standards. To become a member of AIIC, you are expected to observe the association's rules and regulations.

Read the instructions on the application form carefully. CACL () is there to help if you need assistance.

Refer to the Regulation Governing Admissions and Language Classification for further clarification.

Fill in all sections of the form and write the name of your languages in full or use the ISO abbreviation. Ensure that sponsors fill in all the languages they are sponsoring, give details of the last meeting when they worked with you and sign and date the form.

Provide a list of your days worked. If you work for a large institution as a free-lance or staff interpreter, you may attach a certificate from that institution in lieu of your list of days.

You may fax or email your application to the AIIC Secretariat if you wish, but you must also send all documents by regular mail.

Make sure you fulfill the following requirements *:

Admissions

At least 150 days of work overall according to AIIC's rules and regulations;
At least 3 sponsors, including 2 from your region

who have listened to you work at a meeting no more than three years prior to the date at which they signed your application;
who have signed your application form no more than three years prior to the date at which the AIIC Secretariat receives your application;
who are active members of AIIC;
who have 5 years seniority in the languages they are sponsoring;
who cover at least one language pair.

Reclassification

At least 50 days of work with your new or reclassified language in each valid language combination (A, B and C into A, and A into B)
At least 2 sponsors, from any region

who fulfill the criteria outlined under "Admissions" above

Minimum Requirements for Language Coverage *

Each A language to be covered by at least 2 sponsors with an A in that language. All A sponsors taken together must cover all the candidate's language combinations.
Each B language to be covered by at least 1 sponsor with an A and 1 with an A or B in that language. Each sponsor for a B language must also have an A, a B or a C in the applicant's A language.
Each C language to be covered by at least 2 sponsors with an A, B or C in that language. Each sponsor for a C language must also have an A or a B in the applicant's A language. One of your sponsors for a C language could (delete:also) have a C in your A language provided he/she has an A in your C language.
Each pair must be covered by sponsors at least once. Each language must be covered twice.

For language reclassification *

At least 2 A sponsors for a new A language, covering all B and C languages into that A.
Double As requesting a new B or C should have their B-A or C-A combination covered twice into each of their As.

Waivers

* If you find it impossible to fulfill one or more of the admission or reclassification requirements, send CACL a covering letter with your application, explaining your circumstances and requesting a waiver for one or more requirements.

2. Detailed Guide - For further information on each step of the application process

If you are less familiar with the entrance or reclassification requirements, please read on. The following guide goes through each section of the application form in detail. The explanations and examples provided should make it easier for you to understand AIIC's entrance requirements. Refer to AIIC's language classification system if you are not familiar with it. Read through the Code of Ethics and Professional Standards and make sure you understand them, as you are meant to follow them. Refer to the Regulation Governing Admissions and Language Classification for detailed entrance requirements. Explore AIIC's website to learn more about the association. Then start to tell members you know and have worked with that you are interested in joining AIIC. Ask them any questions you may have. With a few signatures, you'll be on your way.

I. Personal Details

After you have filled in your name and address in the first section of the form, you will be asked to indicate your status (free-lance or staff) and your professional address. Members of the Association shall declare a single professional address and any change in professional address shall not be permitted for a period of less than six months. Please refer to Article 1 of the Professional Standards for more information on professional addresses.

II. Language Classification

When applying to AIIC, an applicant requests a language combination according to the A - B - C system (see below). This classification is geared to interpretation and even a 'C' level is what the layperson would call fluent. Applicants may sometimes be surprised to hear potential sponsors advise them to request a 'B' rather than an 'A' or a 'C' rather than a 'B'. Remember that your classification is not set in stone and you can always upgrade it. It is common for members to reclassify and/or add languages as they acquire the requisite experience and expertise.

Active languages

A: The interpreter's native language (or another language strictly equivalent to a native language), into which the interpreter works from all her or his other languages generally in both modes of interpretation, simultaneous and consecutive. All members must have at least one 'A' language but may have more than one.
B: A language other than the interpreter's native language, of which she or he has a perfect command and into which she or he works from one or more of her or his other languages. Some interpreters work into a 'B' language in only one of the two modes of interpretation.

Passive languages

C: Languages, of which the interpreter has a complete understanding and from which she or he works.

You will therefore indicate which languages you work from and into, and ask for classifications A, B or C accordingly.

III. Sponsorships

In general, sponsors must:

be active members of the association;
have been members for at least 5 years in each language classification they wish to sponsor;
have worked with the applicant and listened to her or his work in the three (3) years prior to signing the application form;
certify that, to the best of their knowledge, the applicant has worked 150 days and observed AIIC'S professional ethics throughout the period.

More specifically, the minimum sponsorship requirements, by language category, that an applicant must meet are:

A: at least 2 sponsors with an A in the same language. All A sponsors taken together must cover all the candidate's language combinations.
B: at least 1 sponsor with an A in the same language and 1 other sponsor with either an A or B in that language.
C: at least 2 sponsors with that language in their combination as an A, B or C, and an A or B in the applicant's A language. As an alternative, one of the sponsors could have a C in the applicant's A language provided he/she has an A in the applicant's C language. This A-C, C-A combination is accepted by CACL for one of the two sponsors and does not require a waiver.

Remember: Sponsors cover language pairs and one sponsor may cover more than one pair, as you will see in the examples below. The applicant and the sponsor should assure that all relevant pairs are being signed for. Each language pair must be covered at least once and each C must be covered twice. For admissions, a minimum of three sponsors is required and two of the sponsors should have their professional address in the same AIIC region as the applicant. This regional requirement does not apply for members seeking to change their language classification.

IV. Documenting Days Worked

To satisfy the requirements regarding the number of days worked, conference interpreters wishing to join AIIC must have:

worked a minimum of 150 days all together;
worked at least 50 days in each language pair.

To document your days of work, there are two things you must do:

You must fill in the chart in the Annex to the Application by indicating the number of days you worked from and into each language you are seeking to have recognized. This is to satisfy the 50 day requirement in each language combination.
Note that if, on a given day, you have used more than just one language pair, that day may be counted for the respective language pairs in your combination.
You must attach a complete list of meetings totaling at least 150 days to your application form. This is to satisfy the 150 days minimum total requirement. Your list should state the dates of the respective contracts as well as the title or subject matter of the meetings. Your 150 days of work can be accumulated over a period of more than three years. You do not need to submit contracts with the list, but you should have them.
If you have worked extensively for a major organization, you may either submit a list of meetings as described above or attach a certificate from that institution stating your language combination, the number of days worked and the period of time covered.

V. Practical Examples

The following examples examine different types of language combinations and the sponsorship that would be required.

Applicant A: Two working languages. Norwegian A and English B.

For the Norwegian A, the applicant will need to find 2 sponsors who also have Norwegian A AND English as A, B or C (remember: sponsors always cover language pairs and not just a 'language').
For the English B, the applicant will need at least 1 sponsor with English A and Norwegian A, B or C, and another with either English A or B and Norwegian A, B or C.

At first sight, this seems to add up to four sponsors. But remember what we said above - one person can cover more than one language. Thus, let's say that Sponsors 1 and 2 both have Norwegian A/English B. Each can sign for both the A and B requested. The only thing missing is a third sponsor with English A and Norwegian A, B or C.

Applicant A

Language Requested	Covered by (sponsor's classification in same language in parentheses)
A: Norwegian	Sponsor 1 (A) Sponsor 2 (A)
B: English	Sponsor 3 (A) Sponsor 1 (B) Sponsor 2 (B)

Applicant B: Three working languages: English A, French B and German C

Let's say this applicant finds the following sponsors:

English A, French B and German C
English A, German B and French C
French A and English B

Applicant B

Language Requested	Covered by (sponsor's classification in same language in parentheses)
A: English	Sponsor 1 (A) Sponsor 2 (A)
B: French	Sponsor 1 (B) Sponsor 3 (A)
C: German	Sponsor 1 (C) Sponsor 2 (B)

Applicant C: French A, English C, Spanish C, Russian C

This is similar to the above example, but due to the number of language pairs and the languages in question, it may be more difficult to fulfill all the requirements with just 3 sponsors. Thus, we could see a list of sponsors like this:

French A, English C, Spanish C
English A, French B
French A, English C, Russian C
French A, Russian B, English C
French A, English C, Spanish C

In the table we see that the applicant actually has more than the required number of sponsors for some languages, but that does not matter. It makes no difference if you have more or fewer sponsors as long as you have the required minimum of three for candidature and two for reclassification.

Applicant C

Language Requested	Covered by (sponsor's classification in same language in parentheses)
A: French	Sponsor 1 (A) Sponsor 3 (A) Sponsor 4 (A) Sponsor 5 (A)
B: None
C: English	Sponsor 1 (C) Sponsor 2 (A) Sponsor 3 (C) Sponsor 4 (C) Sponsor 5 (C)
C: Spanish	Sponsor 1 (C) Sponsor 5 (C)
C: Russian	Sponsor 3 (C) Sponsor 4 (B)

VI. Waivers

In exceptional circumstances, a waiver to one or more of the requirements can be granted. This would be the case if there are not enough AIIC members with the applicant's language combination (i.e. Czech A & English B currently). It may also be the case if the applicant can't find two members with the same languages in his region. The applicant has worked 150 days and probably knows some AIIC members but, to become a member, will have to ask for a waiver to the rules regarding sponsorship. An applicant needing to request a waiver to one or more rules should follow these guidelines:

First, get any signatures you can in accordance with the rules. You may find enough and that is always preferable. Faxed and emailed signatures are acceptable provided hard copies follow by regular mail. Remember, waivers are an exception and not designed to make getting signatures more convenient.
Members who do not strictly comply with the sponsorship criteria could nonetheless sign your application form. If necessary, they should send a cover letter justifying their sponsorship. This may be acceptable provided these members have worked with you and have the requisite language combination.
If you can't find sponsors with an A classification in your A language, get people with a B to sign for you and ask for a waiver. Ditto for a B classification - get people with a C.
You may add signatures from members who have taken relay from you and can attest to your quality.
If you are having trouble even finding people who have taken relay from you, ask a colleague to at least listen to you - and sign stating that fact. For example, if you work between Chinese (A) and Japanese (B), you could ask a Japanese (A) colleague to listen to you into Japanese and sign for your B, and you could ask a Chinese (A) colleague without Japanese to listen to your output and vouch for your Chinese A. The important thing here is that colleagues hear you work - after all, the classification system is for interpreting skill.
Attach a copy of any diploma or certificate you may have earned from an interpreter training program or school.
If you are or have been on the staff of an organization, let us know, indicate your years of service and attach a certificate from that organization confirming your working languages.
In a cover letter explain that you are requesting one or more waivers and the reason(s) why. Clearly explain each waiver and the sponsorship you have (i.e. whatever you have obtained according to the above-mentioned suggestions).

To sum up, try to come as close as possible to the two basic requirements (3 sponsors minimum, 2 of whom must come from your region). If you need a waiver, be sure to ask for it in writing and explain the waiver(s) you need (i.e. waive five year rule because some of my sponsors have been members for less time and there are no other sponsors in my region with the same language combination; waive the language combination rule because some of my sponsors only have one of my languages in their combination, etc.).

Should you need advice or information, the Committee on Admissions and Language Classification (CACL) is always there to help. Please contact us through the AIIC Secretariat, .

CACL, July 2009