0. About this guide
This guide sets out the standards expected when you interpret through MetaPret.
This is not a set of work instructions. MetaPret does not direct your working hours or how you perform. You work as an independent professional and make your own judgments on site. This guide exists to share the baseline those judgments are measured against.
Your legal rights and obligations are in the MetaPret Interpreter Terms of Service and in each Assignment Confirmation. Where this guide and the Terms read differently, the Terms govern.
Why write the standard down. MetaPret only matches interpreters whose skill has been verified. That verification does not end with a test. How you prepare and how you conduct yourself on site is the skill a client actually experiences.
1. Before you accept
What to check in an assignment
The Assignment Confirmation states the date and time, location, language pair, mode, expected duration, subject area, fee, and payment date. If anything is blank or unclear, ask before you accept. Changing conditions after acceptance is difficult.
Declining is fine
Decline if the dates clash, the subject is outside your range, or the conditions do not work for you. Declining is not recorded against you. Accepting unprepared and struggling on site costs far more.
Work authorization is your responsibility
Overseas engagements require authorization to perform paid work in that country. Visa and residency conditions differ by country and change often. If you are not certain, tell MetaPret before accepting. If you work without authorization, the sanction falls on you.
2. Preparation
Ask for materials
Slides, agenda, participant list, internal glossary, minutes of earlier meetings. Asking for whatever exists is normal practice. If the client does not provide materials, tell MetaPret and MetaPret will request them.
Materials you receive are used for that engagement only. They are not reused elsewhere.
Build a glossary
Subject terms, company proper nouns, product names, job titles, recurring units of measure. Thirty to fifty entries covers most engagements. For proper nouns that are hard to pronounce, note the pronunciation alongside.
The glossary is yours. After the engagement, separate out only the parts containing client confidential information.
Confirm the conditions in advance
- Will your position let you see the speaker
- Is a microphone or audio equipment needed, and who provides it
- How long is the journey, and what are the transport options at the start and end of the day
- Are meal breaks inside the scheduled hours
- For full-day engagements, when are the breaks
If you cannot confirm these, ask MetaPret.
Full-day and multi-day engagements
Full-day consecutive interpretation is physically demanding. Do not overextend the night before. On multi-day engagements the terminology settles on day one and later days get easier, so weighting your preparation toward the first day pays off.
3. On the day
Arrival
Arriving 30 minutes early is recommended. That time covers checking the room, meeting the coordinator, settling your position, and testing equipment. Allow more for an unfamiliar building or a site with security procedures.
If you expect to be delayed, make contact the moment you expect it, not once you are already late.
Dress
Match the setting. Factory floors and store training call for something you can move in; executive meetings and contract negotiations call for something closer to business formal. If you are unsure, check the Assignment Confirmation or ask MetaPret.
What to bring
A notepad and pen are standard equipment for consecutive interpretation. Do not substitute a laptop or tablet. Looking at a screen during a meeting reads differently to the people in the room.
Water, throat lozenges, a power bank, a printed copy of your glossary. A spare pen for a full day.
Introducing yourself
Say that you are the interpreter matched through MetaPret. There is no need to mention a level or a score. Exchange business cards if it is natural to do so, but see section 5 on contact afterwards.
4. While interpreting
Speak in the first person
When the speaker says "in my view," you render it as "in my view," not "he says in his view." The interpreter is the speaker's voice, not a commentator on the speaker.
Stay neutral
Do not add opinions. Do not soften phrasing. If a speaker is rude, the rudeness is carried across. Judging it is the listener's job.
Where an expression is likely to be misread across cultures, you may add a short note in your own capacity as interpreter after rendering it, such as "that phrasing may land differently in this context." You do not change it before rendering it.
Stop when you do not know
If you missed something or hit an unfamiliar term, ask.
"Interpreter speaking. Could you repeat that term once more, please."
This is not a gap in your skill. It protects accuracy. Guessing your way past it is what turns into an incident. Always confirm figures, dates, amounts, and contract terms.
Manage pace
If the speaker is going too fast, interrupt.
"Interpreter speaking. If you could pause roughly every paragraph, I can render it accurately."
Do this within the first five minutes. Raising it half an hour in means the rhythm has already set.
Numbers and proper nouns
Write numbers down. Do not rely on memory. Where the language pair changes the grouping of units, confirm both the converted figure and the original.
Between Korean and English, the break between man (10,000) and thousand groupings is a frequent failure point.
Breaks
Consecutive interpretation needs a short break every 60 to 90 minutes. Ask for one if you need it. Accuracy dropping from fatigue is the larger problem.
5. What you do not do
Do not advise. If a client asks "should we accept these terms," do not answer. The interpreter is not a party to the negotiation.
Do not speak for anyone. Do not fill in what the speaker did not say.
Do not record. No audio, video, photography, or capture of materials without the client's prior consent.
Do not negotiate conditions on site. If the session runs long or the scope grows, contact MetaPret. Do not agree additional fees directly at the venue. There will be no basis for it at settlement.
Do not accept direct engagements. If a client wants to book you directly for the next job, direct them through MetaPret. This is covered by Article 12 of the Terms. You can say it without friction:
"Thank you. I will have the schedule and terms arranged through MetaPret, and I will connect you with the coordinator."
Do not sell. An interpretation assignment is not a place to promote your other work or services.
6. Difficult situations
You made an error
Correct it immediately.
"Interpreter speaking. Let me correct my previous rendering."
The faster you fix it, the smaller the damage. Left alone, it surfaces later and larger.
If the other side's interpreter made the error, tell your own client quietly, and only where it materially affects terms or figures. Do not correct them publicly.
The speaker addresses you directly
Turn "what do you think, interpreter?" aside politely.
"I will keep to interpreting."
Offensive or inappropriate remarks
Render them. Personal attacks or threats directed at you are different. Stop and contact MetaPret.
Your safety comes first. If you feel physically threatened, leave the site. Safety outranks the engagement.
The conditions make the work impossible
A position where you cannot see the speaker, noise that makes the speaker inaudible, a technical presentation with no materials at all. Ask the on-site coordinator to adjust, and if that fails, contact MetaPret. Proceeding anyway and delivering poor quality lands on your record.
Running over time
Check the remaining agenda 30 minutes before the scheduled end. If you expect to run over, tell MetaPret at that point. Overtime is settled separately under the Assignment Confirmation and the Terms. Do not agree it at the venue.
Illness or an accident
Contact MetaPret immediately. The less time remains, the more urgently MetaPret needs to know in order to find a replacement. Pushing through and collapsing partway is the worst outcome.
7. After the engagement
Same day
- Close out with the client
- Return or destroy printed materials
- Notify MetaPret that the engagement is complete, with any notes worth recording
Settlement
Settlement is paid in a single run on the 25th of each month. Engagements completed on or before the 20th are paid on the 25th of that month; engagements completed on or after the 21st are paid on the 25th of the following month. Where the 25th is not a business day, payment is made on the preceding business day.
When the client pays has no bearing on your settlement. MetaPret pays first. A late-paying client does not delay your payment.
Your fee is the amount stated in the Assignment Confirmation, and MetaPret pays it without any reduction other than tax withholding.
Raise any settlement dispute within 30 days of the payment date.
Handling materials
Destroy client materials. Separate client proper nouns and confidential information out of your own glossary. General subject terminology stays with you for future engagements.
8. Confidentiality in practice
Confidentiality starts the day you sign and continues after the engagement ends. Article 8 of the Terms sets three years, with trade secrets protected without time limit.
In practice, breaches come from conversations far more often than from documents.
Do not
- Discuss the content in a cafe or restaurant. You do not know who is at the next table
- Post photos from the venue. One shot of a meeting room captures what is on the whiteboard
- Describe a client in a way that identifies them, such as "I interpreted for a major manufacturer last week"
- Share content with family or colleagues
- Back materials up to personal cloud storage and forget they are there
You may
- List "interpretation performed through MetaPret" in your professional history
- Refer to the subject area and mode in general terms, such as "consecutive interpretation for manufacturing site training"
9. Contact
All contact goes through your MetaPret channel.
| Situation | When to contact |
|---|---|
| Questions about assignment conditions | Before accepting |
| Materials not provided | By 3 days before the engagement |
| Delay expected | The moment you expect it |
| Problem with site conditions | Immediately |
| Overtime expected | 30 minutes before the scheduled end |
| Illness or accident | Immediately |
| Client proposes a direct engagement | Same day |
| Settlement dispute | Within 30 days of the payment date |
[cs@metapret.net](mailto:cs@metapret.net)
For urgent situations, contact the coordinator directly on the number in your Assignment Confirmation.
Appendix. Checklist
Before accepting
- Date, time, location, language pair, mode, duration confirmed
- Fee, expected net amount, payment date confirmed
- Work authorization for the place of performance confirmed
- Travel time and transport confirmed
- Subject area within your range
Three days before
- Materials received, or requested through MetaPret
- Glossary complete
- Venue location and entry procedure confirmed
- Coordinator's contact saved
On the day
- Arrive 30 minutes early
- Notepad, pen, water, printed glossary
- Position and audio checked
- Coordinator greeted
- Speaking pace agreed within the first five minutes
After
- Materials returned or destroyed
- Completion reported to MetaPret with any notes
- Confidential information separated out of your glossary
This guide applies alongside the MetaPret Interpreter Terms of Service. Revisions are posted on the platform and sent to your registered email.