earticle

영어

In response to market changes and evolving social landscapes, the competences expected from Korean-Chinese translators and interpreters by employers have undergone significant transformations. Against this backdrop, a comprehensive investigation into market requirements is essential to enhance students’ competitiveness and employability. This study employs content analysis of job advertisements to derive empirical data for understanding translator and interpreter competence. Drawing on a framework derived from literature research, the study conducts a comparative analysis of 120 job advertisements sourced from leading job search portals in Korea and China. The primary goal is to identify the competences emphasized by Korean and Chinese employers when recruiting Korean-Chinese translators and interpreters, and specify the competences required for freelancers and in-house employees. The findings reveal that bilingual competence and extra-linguistic knowledge are considered indispensable by both Korean and Chinese employers. Notably, Korean employers particularly emphasize Chinese language proficiency and medical domain knowledge, while the Chinese market puts priority on Korean language proficiency and familiarity with K-culture. In addition to these core competences, various other distinctions in requirements between the two countries emerge from the analysis. In light of these results, three suggestions are proposed in this paper to enhance students' competitiveness and employment prospects.