Good interpreting starts before the session does. A short, repeatable prep routine reduces surprises, shortens the warm-up at the start of an encounter, and makes you easier to work with. This checklist walks the steps in order, from the moment you accept an offer to the minutes before you begin. For how an assignment fits into the full flow from offer to payout, see how interpreters work through Lingfaro.
Did you confirm the details?
Start with the facts on the assignment. Read them again and confirm each one:
- Date and time, including the expected duration.
- Modality: on-site, in-person interpreting.
- Building and address for on-site work, including suite, floor, or department if listed.
- On-site contact: who to ask for or check in with when you arrive.
If you are weighing how a given encounter is best handled, the guide to planning on-site interpreting walks through matching the interpreter to the encounter by type and stakes.
How do you prep terminology and specialty?
Each specialty carries its own vocabulary and its own rhythm. Spend a few minutes lining up the terms you are likely to hear.
- Medical: review the relevant body system, common medications, procedures, and the phrasing used in consent and discharge. Anatomy and symptom vocabulary in both languages.
- Legal: review court or proceeding terms, the names of the parties and roles, and the register the setting expects. Accuracy and completeness matter, including tone and hesitation.
- Education: for IEP meetings, parent conferences, and family engagement, review program terms, special-education vocabulary, and the acronyms districts use.
Keep a personal glossary you add to after each assignment. The terms you struggled with this week are the ones worth drilling before next week.
Did you run a tech check for VRI and OPI?
For remote work, the connection is part of the job. Check it before the session, not at the start of it.
- Test your internet connection and have a backup, such as a phone hotspot.
- Check your camera, microphone, and speakers or headset. Use a headset to cut echo and protect confidentiality.
- Set up in a quiet, private space with a plain background and good lighting on your face.
- Open the connection a few minutes early so you can fix any issue before the parties are waiting.
A clean audio and video setup does as much for a remote session as arriving early does for an on-site one.
What are the on-site logistics?
For in-person assignments, the logistics around the encounter decide whether you start on time and unhurried.
- Parking: know where to park and how long it takes to get from the lot to the building. Budget for ramps and visitor parking.
- Check-in: many sites route visitors through a front desk or security. Bring identification and any badge the site requires.
- Where to go: confirm the department, floor, and room, and how to reach your on-site contact.
- Arrive early: give yourself a buffer so parking, check-in, and navigation do not eat into the session.
How do you hold positioning and role boundaries?
Where you stand or sit shapes the encounter. For on-site work, position yourself so the parties speak to each other, with you nearby to convey meaning. For remote work, place your camera so both parties can see and hear you clearly.
Your role is to interpret accurately and completely. Convey what is said, ask for clarification when you need it, and leave clinical, legal, and case decisions to the professionals in the room. Confidentiality applies to everything you hear. Holding the boundary protects the parties and protects you.
How do you handle the no-PHI-in-brief reality?
The assignment will not include patient or case detail. A PHI scanner keeps protected health information out of dispatch briefs. That is by design, and it means your context comes from the institution on arrival, not from the offer.
Plan for it. Use the few minutes before the encounter to get a quick brief from the on-site contact or provider: the purpose of the visit, any sensitive topics, and anything about the setting you should know. A short, direct ask works: “Anything I should know before we start?” Prepping the specialty terminology in advance is what lets you absorb that context quickly once you have it.
What if you can’t make it?
Sometimes the answer, after you look at the details, is that you cannot take the assignment, or something changes after you accept. Decide early.
If you are reviewing an offer and the time, location, or specialty does not work for you, decline it. Declining is clean and carries no penalty; dispatch routes the session to another interpreter. If you already accepted and something changes, signal as soon as you know, so there is time to re-route before the appointment.
The earlier you act, the better the outcome for everyone, including you.
Where can I learn more?
This checklist pairs with the full offer-to-payout walkthrough. To get set up or review how the work is structured, visit the interpreters page.