Interpreters and Translators build judgment and decision making, service orientation and social perceptiveness skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors (80%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | 80% | $61,540 | +2% | None |
| 2 | Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | 76% | $72,040 | +20% | None |
| 3 | Speech-Language Pathologists | 75% | $97,870 | +63% | Graduate degree |
| 4 | Special Education Teachers, Middle School | 75% | $66,810 | +11% | None |
| 5 | Speech-Language Pathology Assistants | 75% | $48,430Pay for the broader BLS group “Healthcare Support Workers, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 6 | Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | 73% | $63,970 | +6% | None |
| 7 | Proofreaders and Copy Markers | 72% | $51,120 | −15% | None |
| 8 | Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | 72% | $74,260 | +23% | None |
| 9 | Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | 72% | $79,350 | +32% | Graduate degree |
| 10 | Social Science Research Assistants | 72% | $61,990 | +3% | None |
Compared with Interpreters and Translators, median $60,170. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as interpreters and translators (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
80% skill match · $61,540 · +2% pay
Instructing · Systems Analysis · Systems Evaluation
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
76% skill match · $72,040 · +20% pay
Instructing · Systems Analysis · Systems Evaluation
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
75% skill match · $97,870 · +63% pay
Operations Analysis · Systems Analysis · Social Perceptiveness
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors (80% skill match, median $61,540), Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education (76% skill match, median $72,040) and Speech-Language Pathologists (75% skill match, median $97,870), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 19 pay more than interpreters and translators at the median. The biggest increases: Speech-Language Pathologists (+63%, $97,870), Compliance Officers (+34%, $80,730) and Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary (+32%, $79,350).
19 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones. 6 usually need a graduate degree: Speech-Language Pathologists, Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary and Librarians and Media Collections Specialists.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.