customer service representative

interpreter

technical program manager

platform manager

platform engineer

Certified Languages International

I used to work for another interpreting company at which I was constantly miserable and exhausted. I would blame the nature of the job for feeling so burned out but I was, for the most part, just wrong. 
When I started working at CLI, I obviously quit my other interpreting job and that made a huge difference.

Ever since I started working at CLI, I eliminated about 80% of the stress I was going through at the former company. I owed this to the fact that you work from home, make your own hours, don't have a supervisor, and the pay is by far superior to many of its competitors. 

In recent months, the company has implemented a temporary pay increase during high volume times to encourage more interpreters to take calls. I would have never been able to perceive this kind of hourly rate at the other company I worked for. I appreciate the fact that CLI takes their interpreters and clients seriously and that is reflected in this pay increase. 

On the downside of things, CLI does not offer any benefits, bonuses, or permanent rate increases (unless you become certified), although I do not mind this at all give I have always had private insurance and in my opinion, the pay is good enough. 

To conclude, I also find it a little distressing that many of CLI's English speaking clients seem to have a limited or no training at all on how to use the interpreter service. It is very common to have people "talk" to the interpreter instead of addressing the LEP directly as if the interpreter was not there. This a very inefficient and poor way of using an interpreter and it is frustrating because this may lead to certain errors in communication. However, I don't necessarily want to count this against CLI as we do not know how they enforce the proper way of using an interpreter.

I wouldn't really consider CLI as work it's like a hobby that rewards you with gratification, money, and knowledge. You go to work here knowing you're going to learn something new everyday along with helping others. 

Time management, independently managing your taxes and other deductibles along with being your own accountant is one of the challenges you have to master so you don't get in trouble with the IRS.

I haven't seen any of my co-workers, but as far as communicating with them it's only through the phone or email so I can't really elaborate on any of them. 

The most difficult aspect of the job is waiting for incoming calls, and wondering if I'll miss a call because I'm not able to answer because my hands are full and busy with something else (cooking). The other challenge is trying to learn different types of professional terminologies, and try to match them in the Marshallese language. Sometimes I have to explain a whole paragraph for a single word because my native language doesn't have a word for that word or term. It's like being a version of Shakespeare in my language. I enjoy the challenges of bridging two cultures together. I feel like all the early explorers who ventured to unexplored territories.

I absolutely love my job working from home as an interpreter. I never dream that I can use my language skill because I never knew an interpreter job existed. 

This job has been a blessing for me to work from home on my own schedule because I am disabled and I thought that my career is over until I work here. My life has been better since I become an interpreter. I thanks my parents for forcing me to speak my native language at home and because of this job I see that I am making a different at home.

Calls are from everywhere--- health, insurance, legal, 911, and each day is different story. I also learn alot from medical staffs about illnesses and treatments.

The job is so relaxing from home, I log in whenever I feel healthy and log out when I feel I need a break. Calls start so early since 4 am pst because of east coast clients. The only complaint I have is dealing with clients who are hard of hearing and so I have to talk louder. I lose my energy because of this.

There is no benefits but this job offer flexibility, secure income and a sense of pride to be apart of this great industry and company.  When there is slow time, I do my other side jobs.

What is the best part of working at the company?
They are very flexible when asking for a particular schedule.  They were very respectful in their tone of voice and always grateful for my updates on anything that stood out in a particular call.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
To make sure there is zero background noise. Unfortunately, I got overwhelmed with a sudden major remodel (for 5 months) next to my condo.
The construction became really noisy (no insulation between the walls). I could not log in often enough and was suddenly denied access. When I followed up, they said I did not log in often enough and that German was not 
in demand that often anyway.  I really regretted that job loss.
 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Since I worked from home, I cannot really answer this question.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Nothing too typical - repeated calls from large firms, usually the same ones that had called before. Some days were busier than others, depending on the hours
I was logged in.

You have to ASK to go to the bathroom. They have limited keys for the bathroom depending on how many have to go. 

You only get 10 minute breaks even though you get a 45 minute lunch but that's if business needs don't interfere and limit you to a mandatory 30 minute lunch. The break schedule is the worst. They don't even have control over it themselves. They have some computer system control the break schedule so your break schedule today will likely not be the same one tomorrow. 

They expect you to have a flawless 90 day period without mistakes. If you make a mistake, you're fired. It's a complete career buster if you work for this company. They don't want you to grow into the job, they want robots. They want people to say "Yes sir, yes sir, whatever you say, sir" It's a complete waste of your talent to be involved at this place. 

They will never grow with the kind of employment model they have there.

  I love being a contractual interpreter.  I'm disabled so this is perfect for me to work from home and help people communicate with each other. I learn so much about the outside world such as insurance problems and how to deal with it, medicare plans, medical problems, etc.  As a contractor, I asked for a higher rate and it was approved because they valued me. I'm very happy to take every call that I can. When I'm tired, I log out and rest.

The hard part of the job is when a doctor tells bad news to patients, patients cry-making me emotional also but I need to get a hold of myself and interpret. When that kind of call is over,  I log out and get some fresh air for 2 hours and log back in.  

I am blessed to work with them.  I'm not doing customer service, just interpreting so it makes the job so much easier. At the end of the day, I do not stress about any quotas, answering to a boss...nothing. Just log out, and rest. Start over the next day. My highest earning for the month was $3,500.


Despite being at the company for many, MANY years, and being a top interpreter, with their clients specifically requesting me for my high quality and professional service, I have always been denied a raise. Their response used to be "work more hours"- Now you can't even contact a person directly, most requests for anything are send to a link to fill out a form and hope it is actually routed to someone to address your needs. I get positive feedback from the clients directly at the end of the interaction pretty much daily, but NEVER a positive word from the company- but if you happen to have one call with ONE small mistake (after hundreds of not having an issue), they are sure to let you know how you are not fitting their standards of quality. Gets very frustrating to feel you are giving so much to a company and not getting much of anything back.

This company demonstrates a clear lack of regard for its interpreters. Although they hire interpreters, there is an almost complete absence of call assignments. Interpreters are expected to maintain a paid landline that rarely, if ever, receives calls. On the rare occasion a call does come through, the platform’s inefficiency often causes delays long enough for the customer to disconnect.
Their system is severely outdated and poorly designed. For video calls, interpreters are required to use a computer while still maintaining a separate landline for phone interpreting — an unnecessary and impractical setup. Despite ongoing issues, there have been no noticeable efforts to improve the platform or ensure a consistent workflow for interpreters. Overall, this company fails to provide a functional or fair working environment.

A typical day at work is me getting up; walking to my desk to sit down; log in; and start interpreting. They let you know be email when call volume is increasing.  It is nice to know that information if you are wondering if Cli is busy at that moment or not. Management is very professional and pleasant to work with.  You don't have much contact with other contractors because we are located all over the US. But, there are many and who do the same job as I do in their own language into English.. The hardest part of the job is waiting for the call. Sometime There is down time of which we are still on the phone waiting for a call and that is lost time of no pay. But, when it is busy it is very beneficial for the pay received.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Being an independent contractor has many advantages over being on payroll.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The emails that you get from QA when there's client feedback, they always mention "we will no longer contract with you".

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It is really good. Since you are an independent contractor, there are no unnecessary meetings to attend to nor reports to write. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I usually login at 5 am to start taking calls, logout for breakfast around 10 am. Log back in ay 10:45. Logout for a quick lunch around 3 pm, login at 3:20 and logout at 5 pm to finish my day.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service representative 6 salaries reported	$14.08 per hour
Interpreter 4 salaries reported	$37.88 per hour
Technical program manager 1 salary reported	$117,500 per year
Platform manager 1 salary reported	$165,000 per year
Platform engineer 1 salary reported	$165,000 per year

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