I had wondered about the ATA certification exam for a long time before I finally took it. Its reputation is intimidating – after all, it’s hard not to be scared of an exam with a 20% pass rate! Nonetheless, once I had a few years of experience under my belt, I started thinking seriously about the exam. Not only was I confident that certification would benefit my business, I also wanted it for personal satisfaction. However, the exam is expensive, particularly when you include travel expenses to the sitting. I didn’t want to waste my money if I wasn’t truly ready. That meant just one thing: the practice test.
Getting the most out of the practice test
I followed the ATA’s recommendation to take the practice test under exam conditions, and it was a good choice. After all, the point of taking the practice exam was to figure out whether I was ready to take the real one. My score wouldn’t have reflected my changes of passing if I hadn’t followed the rules. I didn’t worry too much about trying to make it exactly like the real exam, but I only used print resources and set a strict timer. That seemed realistic enough to me.
Signing up for the big one
While I waited to get my practice exam back, I thought a lot about how the grade I received would affect whether I signed up for the real exam. Obviously, I would sign up if I got a perfect score. Equally, I wouldn’t sign up if it was a catastrophic failure. The real question would be what to do if I just barely passed or failed. Would it be worth the risk?
As it turned out, I didn’t need to worry about it. I passed with a good grade. I did make two minor errors, but I was also awarded bonus points for a particularly good solution to a translation problem. That being the case, I felt confident in signing up for the exam.
The next question was whether to take the exam by hand or type it. At the time I took the exam, the computerized option was still fairly new, and the rules were a little confusing. I chose to handwrite the exam because I don’t make letter transposition errors in handwriting, and I sometimes do while typing things. However, the rules now very clearly allow candidates to use their own digital dictionaries and glossaries, as well as online dictionaries. Since looking things up this way is much faster, I don’t think there’s really much of a choice anymore. In my opinion, the computerized exam is clearly easier.
Preparing for the exam
Once I had my exam date, my hotel room, and my transportation organized, there was one thing left to do: finish preparing for the exam itself.
My secret weapon in preparing for the exam was creating my own practice tests. I found generalist texts in my source language, trimmed them to the right length while trying to look at them as little as possible, and then kept to a strict time limit. Most of my texts were from newspapers. I liked Die Presse and Die Zeit, but my only real requirement was that they couldn’t be too simple or too complex. Not only did this help me practice working with limited resources and a strict time limit, it also helped to build up the muscles in my writing hand.
I also printed out the document of grading rules, read through it several times, and brought it to the exam. This resource ended up acting like a client style guide. I highly recommend bringing a copy with you.
The big day…
I prepared for my exam with a mellow evening and as much sleep as possible. I didn’t try to do any last-minute studying, although I did page through the rules again. While I brought water and energy bars with me, I found that I didn’t have any time to eat. I was surprised by how much I needed to hurry! Doing my practice tests, even with a strict time limit, I generally got done with time to spare. In the certification exam, I needed every last second. Of course, the water got plenty of use.
When you take the exam, you sign an agreement not to say anything about what the texts were – so I won’t. What is public knowledge is that you will choose two texts to translate out of three possible options. I was astonished to find that one of my options was a text about one of my favorite things! I took it as a kind of omen. Even though I frankly thought the text I didn’t choose was easier, I chose the two I found the most interesting. Sometimes, you just have to listen to fate…or coincidence…or whatever you want to call it.
After the exam, I was so mentally drained I was a little incoherent. Luckily, my only plan for the rest of the day was a quiet dinner with friends. I was too tired for anything else!
Waiting for results
I tried not to think too much about what my results would be. After all, they would show up whenever they would show up, and nothing that I could do now would change them. I tried not to think about it…but I wouldn’t say that I succeeded.
At long last, I arrived home one day to find an envelope waiting for me. I ripped it open and found the news I had hoped for: I was now certified by the ATA in German to English translation.
The benefits of being certified
I’m happy to tell you that being certified really does bring me more work. I’ve noticed a substantial uptick in the number of (reputable) queries I get, and responses to my CV are better than ever. Getting certified wasn’t easy, but I’m glad that I took on the challenge.
