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Certification & Certificates

Certification…Ensuring Excellence

RID has developed a certification process that involves passing a series of tests. In order to attain certification, an interpreter must pass a written test that measures knowledge of a variety of areas from linguistics to ethics to influences on the interpreting process. An interpreter must then pass a performance test which measures interpreting skills as well as ethical decision making skills. They are assessed by a group of professional peers according to a nationally recognized standard of minimum competence. If the interpreter meets or exceeds the national standard, they are awarded certification.

Types of Certification

RID certificates indicate that an interpreter was assessed and awarded certification by RID. This includes the NAD-RID National Interpreter Certification (NIC). However, RID also recognizes other certificates assessed and awarded certification by an organization outside of RID. This type includes NAD certificates as well as the Ed: K-12 certificate. Before such certificates are recognized by RID, the testing instruments are put through a thorough psychometric evaluation to make sure they are valid and reliable.

All certificates are classified into two broad categories of certification:

• Generalist Certification – Certificates classified as generalist signify skills in a broad range of general interpreting/transliterating assignments. Certificates in this category include the NAD-RID National Interpreter Certification (NIC) and RID certificates such as CI, CT and NAD Certificates.
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• Specialist Certification – Certificates classified as specialist signify skills in a particular area or specialty of interpretation.
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