Pros
Many of the callers are a joy to work with
Cons
There is little to no support for Video interpreters, especially since COVID. We are not able to keep up with the Influx of calls, and are expected to interpret very demanding situations without the luxury of taking a break that wasn’t “on schedule” if we miss our break, and try to take it later, we are prompted to “try to break on time or switch breaks with someone” all of this while giving our full attention to our callers. This is impossible. I can not watch the time, coordinate with another member of my team, and interpret with the accuracy that is expected of a Convo interpreter. We are allowed one 10 minute break every hour, and that break is timed from the moment you leave to the moment you sign back in. Then weekly it is sent to you in the form of an “availability report”. little to no consideration is given to the fact that many of the calls we are processing are complex, or emotionally charged. We are expected to stay within the guidelines no matter what. There is no buffer between calls. One minute you could be interpreting for someone ordering pizza, and the next it could be a job interview, next you could be looking someone in the eyes and telling them they’ve been diagnosed with a life threatening illness. It gives you emotional whip lash, and as soon as you hang up “ding dong” another call comes in. There is no time to breath when it’s busy. This has been brought to managements attention numerous times. When I first started at Convo, a VI could make schedule changes monthly. They were able to accommodate their vacation times, kids soccer games, and freelance work with ease. Now, our schedules are submitted every 6 months, and the schedule does not align with the academic year. It’s nearly impossible to make a schedule with the flexibility to accommodate all the other responsibilities in ones life, and still meet your minimum weekly hours. We are no longer given yearly evaluations, and there is no talk of any raises in the near, or distant future. Even when I became nationally certified, I received less than a $3.00 an hour raise. All of this has been brought to the attention of management multiple times by many interpreters. I also feel the need to emphasize that most interpreters at Convo identify as Women or Woman adjacent. The fact that Convo is exploiting a field that is a majority female adjacent/female is disgusting. Lastly, these criticisms have been brought to management, and have been met with “Convo is trying to stay afloat, we need to be mindful of our budget” meanwhile a mere few months ago, we were receiving emails congratulating us on our “record breaking months” and announcements that “Convo is expanding! Welcome Convo Australia and Convo Great Britain!” If convo was really in the red, why would they buy out two other VRS companies, and be boasting about “record setting” minutes?
