The symposium sponsored by the New York Circle of Translators, the International Medical Interpreters Association, the Association of Language Interpreters of Greater NY and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice was well attended by seasoned professionals and recent graduates from various translation programs.
Ana Lis Salotti gave the introduction. Cassidy Canzani, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, stated that the 2014 Bureau Labor Statistics found the translation industry is a growing industry. She gave a brief breakdown of the profession. 
The Bureau found that the following categories were the major source of income for translators and interpreters:
Professional, scientific, technical = 29% work for translators & interpreters
Government = 7%. Healthcare = 16%. Educational/ local government = 26%
The average salary for is $44,000 per year.
Ms. Canzani went on to explain that the Small Business Administration gives great advice and can offer assistance in starting your own business. They maintain excellent resources regarding all business related matter.
A good resource to check is: www.bls.gov
Then four translators and interpreters discussed their experiences in the field. 
A panel discussion followed with questions from the audience. Some questions included how to get work in Human Rights to which Martin explained that he did some work for Doctors without Borders and which enabled him to obtain experience and referrals. A.J. mentioned that one should travel to the countries of your language pairs in order to keep your language skills fresh. Alta found that joining a professional association was absolutely vital because you can make contacts, get leads on jobs and find out about the industry. The other panelists concurred. Ana found that better training, led to better pay. Better training raises the professional standards for the industry as a whole.
After the break there were break-out sessions from three different tracks to choose from, the Healthcare interpreting track, Legal Interpreting track and Translation track.
