interpreter

bilingual customer service associate

spanish interpreter

sign language interpreter

recruiter

Universal Language Service, Inc.

I briefly worked at this agency for less than a year and had to leave! Do not waste your time here! The pay structure is complete BS!! Although the hourly rates are competitive, they do not compensate you for the hours you block out for the assignments (ie: job is for 3 hours, in reality it's only 30 mins...now you wasted 3 hrs you made yourself available but only getting paid for 30 mins). I’ve worked for other agencies where the minimum of an hr is paid or 50% of hours assigned. 
Perhaps the invoicing method has been upgraded since my leaving, but uploading copies of a job invoice on their portal + sending them hard copies through regular mail is a complete waste of time! 
Overall the logistics of their business practice is very 1990's!
ALSO, ITS TAKE MIN. OF 2 MONTHS TO GET PAID!!
Also it taking over 6, perhaps 8+ months to get a copy of my 1099...still have not received it and was allegedly sent last week. I rather they tell me to go f-myself then tell me someone will get back to me or lie it's been sent!

While this business is operating in a vital industry and provides an essential service to many individuals in the state of Washington, the management doesn't understand what they don't understand, and yet continue to make decisions that impact the employees in a major way without realizing how much effort will go into retraining or making the changes they want in order to see the result they are after. This company has a lot of potential, but is being held back by executive management that can't remain decided on a direction and won't rely on their team to help make a decision. This is a great place to work for someone who wants to be told what to do all the time and have performance measured on near impossible and often contradicting tasks. 

Universal Language Service's upper management would focus on quick fixes for issues than working on a solution that would benefit everybody.

For Example there was an overwhelming amount of documents to retrieve and the people working there were expected to "work harder" by calling a list that numbered in the thousands than actually making a solution that would make calling interpreters easier like an automated processes. An automated process would allow the employee work on other projects with strict dead-lines while Robo-Dialer would call others and leave voicemails, but call the employee if somebody picked up. However the employee was expected to "work harder".

Freelancing for ULS is convenient, as you can select your interpreting jobs from home and rarely need to go to the office other than to pick up your ID badge. But this is not meant to be a full-time job, or even a part-time job. There are very few cases to work monthly, unless you are willing to travel over an hour or more. With this said, they do not cover travel or parking fees, so you will tend to avoid jobs that last less than an hour if you know you will need to pay for parking from your own pocket, especially because you won't see that money for 3 months or more.

Universal Language Service is much like new technology. When first installed there are bugs that should be worked out before throwing out the old system, but the old system is made obsolete anyway regardless of this knowledge, and things briefly fall apart accordingly. Often times huge tasks were given with little notice to complete them and the turnover rate is astronomical. Meetings would last for hours, with the company performing as yes men, with little regard to how it inconvenienced its employees and CEO. However, when you have the right team, things went smoothly, but it was rare. This company has always seemed like an unpolished gem, but I don't foresee it lasting into the future. 

Interpreter and Translator referral service agency offering experienced certified professionals for Over-the-Phone, Video Remote, On-Site Interpretation, Document and Multimedia Translation in over 200 Languages including Sign, Tactile and Captioning.primed not only with the language industry know-how and substantive proficiency, but with the advanced technological infrastructure to move forward confidently with any new challenge.  Superior equipment, technology, offices, data centers and a persistent commitment to great customer service has allowed our business and team to grow continuously for 20 years that Universal Language Service has been in business.

Job can switch easily, and learning from training materials that are constantly updated and changed a lot. Management needs to work on their communication skills with coworkers. One manager saying one thing and another one saying something else. Managers also have favoritism. Very high turnover rate with constant hiring, while workers are quitting because of bad management practices. Although there are rules, discrimination still happens. Enjoyable part is learning from other coworkers. Management team needs an overhaul and an ego check. 

Compensation is low. Healthcare is OK. retirement options don't exist at the time of writing this review. There is little room for advancement. Your role is subject to change at any point. Management ranges from not bothering you for years to breathing down your neck and picking apart every small error. Your coworkers are probably the best part of your time at ULS - somehow these conditions have created a wonderful team who smile in the face of adversity and aren't afraid to face challenges.
I would not work here unless you need a remote job and you've exhausted everything other option.

I would not recommend this employer for several reasons and mainly due to upper management’s offensive approach of daily screaming at all and In-front of all employees (first day and everyday thereafter) plus the major bait-and-switch of the job anticipated and described during interview but job expected never came to fruition.

Do not apply for a position with universal language services the communication with management is horrible. Recently our HR department has quit. There is one particular supervisor that will be little you harass you. They will tell you that you will get a pay raise after you complete category 3 & 4 training but then not pay. Be aware that this is a SALES position they do not tell you that during the interview. They pay semi monthly & after you are certified in catergories 3 & 4 you have to wait 90 days for a pay raise.  

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Interpreter 198 salaries reported	$43.42 per hour
Bilingual customer service associate 88 salaries reported	$22.49 per hour
Spanish interpreter 27 salaries reported	$43.24 per hour
Sign language interpreter 14 salaries reported	$48.21 per hour
Recruiter 4 salaries reported	$24.50 per hour

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