Pros
First, the benefits of working here: 1. Improving your vocabulary. Through interpreting, I have learned a lot of words in my second language. (I had to find adequate dictionaries and glossaries on my own; the one the LanguageLine recruiter gave me [before testing] was incomplete and purposefully left blank.) 2. Helping individuals who cannot speak English (can become a “con” once in a while, when clients are disrespectful or refuse to listen to you or the other party). 3. Learning more about the industry you are interpreting for. 4. Working from home. Let us get one thing straight: if you love to sit around at home and decompose slowly in front of a television or computer, then this job may be for you. If you have very young children and need to stay home to take care of them, or have a health or personal problem, then this job may be for you. Notice I said “may.” This company is one of the many that use “work from home” as a way to attract applicants. The reality: working from home is still work. No, you will not be lounging in your bed or couch while interpreting; no, you will not be able to wear whatever you want. No, you will not be “allowed” to take a break or step away from your computer whenever you want or need to. no, you will not be able to do chores around the house. If you want to do those things and work for this company, then you’d probably have more luck in being a contractor, but keep in mind that as a contractor, fewer calls equals less money, no calls equals no money. If you want consistent pay by the hour, then prepare to sit (or stand) in front of a computer almost all day; because LanguageLine has established video calls now, you might even have to wear a company shirt and sit in front of a blue screen all day as well. Pair that with not meeting or speaking to anyone, and you got yourself a lonely job. If that is not your cup of tea, then move “working from home” to the “Cons” list. 5. The ability to request days off through an online system (Note: There are days you cannot ask off at all. Also, the closer you are to the day you want to ask off, the higher the chances your request will be denied. Of course, you can escalate this, but it may not always be approved.) 6. No transportation fees (see #4). 7. Apart from internet service, the company provides interpreters with all equipment: a laptop, headphones, LAN cable, mouse, webcam, blue backdrop, tripod, and work shirts—if applicable (I do not know what it provides contractors with). Should you leave, you will have to return some, if not all of the items, and the company pays for the shipping.
Cons
LanguageLine Solutions (also known as OnLine Interpreters, Pacific Interpreters, and probably other names I don’t know about) is a company that TAKES EXTREME ADVANTAGE OF ITS WORKERS. It is abuse, honestly. Let me provide you with some figures. I have seen some sources say that LanguageLine charges clients 2.20 to 2.60 a minute, not including staffing charges. On the company’s website however, they claim to charge clients a total of $3.95 per minute. That means, for one 15-minute call, the company makes $59.25. For a 45- minute call, it rakes in $177.75. Now, how much does an interpreter make? Well, from my experience, I worked at 12 dollars an hour. When you do the calculations, you see that I made 3 dollars for a 15-minute call, and $9 for 45 minutes. That means I was paid a whopping 5 percent of what the company receives—20 cents per minute. Based on other reviews and the occasional venting in the employee forum, they pay other interpreters in a similar fashion—interpreters who have to deal with complex terminology and difficult clients. Interpreters who are expected to do their work seamlessly and professionally, even when calls are back to back. Interpreters who are not even given paid vacation days or a sustainable insurance plan. That is horrible for an interpreter. That is abysmal for a medical, emergency, or legal interpreter (I was hired as a medical interpreter, yet did the other two from time to time). They probably pay the Customer Agents even worse. Here are some other reasons why this company sucks: 1. Hiring non-certified interpreters and generally vouching them as “certified,” which means clients are expecting certified-level work. Keep in mind that a portion of these employees are appointed as medical, legal, and emergency interpreters. Yes, there are web training sessions, but scrolling through slides and video clips is not the same as receiving professional training and examinations. 2. Relentlessly tracking adherence, to the point of spamming voicemails and work emails. (One time, about two weeks passed without me checking my voicemail, and I ended up deleting more than 40 voicemails from the automatic system, telling me to log on because I was scheduled for work.) The system will do that whenever you do not adhere to your schedule, and your adherence percentage will go down accordingly; if you start your shift late, if you exceed your break time (even if it is by a couple of minutes), if you take an extra break (what if you need a sip of water or a snack, or if nature calls!?), but not when you go overtime with a lengthy call!! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If you are not able to take a scheduled break due to a lengthy call, it makes your adherence percentage go down anyway! Keep in mind that “A below 90% could trigger an adherence review!” 3. Slooooow response whenever you are asking for support. Not when you declare your resignation, of course. They respond fairly quickly to that. 4. Monitors/sycophants in the employee forum. I initially thought that this would be a safe place to vent/find solace. BUT whenever someone expresses their distaste in or disappointment with company procedures, several people usually provide useless information, oblivious encouragement to continue struggling with whatever problem was mentioned, or mild threats that posts are “being monitored.” 5. No information whatsoever about unions. Should someone mention starting one in the forum, the post either disappears, or does not get a response from the oh-so-helpful moderators. 6. Continuous calls, depending on language (e.g.: Spanish), or availability. Sip of water? Time to wee? Forget it! Of course, you can input an additional break in the system, but keep in mind your adherence will go down. 7. No paid vacation, only 10 days (80 hours) Unpaid Time Off, and 40 hours of unpaid Sick Time. 8. Little to no reimbursement for personal internet bills (You are using your internet to operate their system, yet they give nothing to support you.) 9. Operating an obscure program designed to help employees who are in a disposition to resign due to extenuating circumstances, but not giving much information about even the existence of the program until an employee actually sends a resignation notice. (The two documents that vaguely describe the onset of this program are from 2016. No new information can be found about the program since then.) 10. No raises! (If you do just a bit of research, you would see the scandal LanguageLine was in when it decreased wages.) During one of my interviews, I was told that my pay would always remain the same. 11. Rigid schedule. I was told that we were allowed one permanent schedule change per year. Turns out it was one permanent schedule change request per year. So, if you’re denied a change, welp, that was your only big chance. Your next best bet would be asking for a temporary schedule change (for 3 weeks max) every 30 days, and hope that they approve. 12. Events. Events what? Convention who? The only thing that allows you to connect with other interpreters is…the forum. (Please refer to #4 above.)
