Continuing Education Center

Interpreter Career Clinic - Developing & Deploying Your Brand (asynchronous)

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RID HQ is an RID-approved sponsor for processing RID CEU activities. This RID CEU activity is being offered at the little/none content knowledge level for 0.25 Professional Studies (PS) RID CEUs.

Description: How do interpreters consistently get offered the right work—work that fits their skills, experience, and professional goals—while others with similar credentials struggle to get traction?

This foundational session provides a strategic deep dive into professional narratives, teaching you how to craft a brand that communicates your specific expertise and how to effectively communicate your message through your resume and LinkedIn profile.

Participants will examine how resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and professional narratives are read by hiring managers, schedulers, and team leads. We’ll discuss how small changes can significantly affect trust, clarity, and perceived readiness for specific types of work. Rather than focusing on self-promotion, the emphasis is on making your qualifications, boundaries, and areas of strength easier for others to understand and act on.

Through structured reflection, practical exercises, and real-world examples, participants will learn how to: - Clarify what types of work they are best suited for right now, - Communicate experience and specialization in ways that reduce ambiguity for decision-makers, - Improve the accuracy and effectiveness of resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles as screening tools, & - Understand how hiring decisions are actually made—and where interpreters unintentionally lose opportunities.

A live session to follow that applies this asynchronous content through guided practice, peer feedback, and scenario-based discussion. A separate hiring-manager panel offers direct insight into how interpreters are evaluated in different settings and what truly influences selection decisions.

This clinic is relevant for freelance and staff interpreters, as well as those transitioning into new settings, seeking more consistent work, or aiming to be staffed more intentionally. Participants should bring a current resume and access to their LinkedIn profile for hands-on application and feedback.

Joshua Pennise, MBA, MA, CI and CT, NIC Advanced

Joshua Pennise, MBA, MA, CI and CT, NIC Advanced, has over 25 years of experience in the field, with a focus on corporate, post-secondary, and conference settings. He brings a unique combination of interpreting expertise and business strategy, holding a master’s in linguistics from Old Dominion University and MBAs from both Columbia Business School and London Business School.

 
Josh founded and scaled Sorenson Interpreting in the U.S. and Canada, served as CEO of TCS Interpreting in Washington, D.C., and currently provides consulting services through The Smithson Company, GLG, and Third Bridge Group. A long-time educator, he has taught as full-time faculty at Tidewater Community College and has led hundreds of hours of highly rated professional workshops across the globe.
 
His service to the profession includes prior roles on the RID Board and as President of Virginia RID. He now serves as RID Audit Committee Chair and President of the Association of Language Companies, continuing his work to support the profession of interpreting and the Deaf community it serves.