You do now.
Well, not my name – but I do exist.

Fifteen successful years translating the best of literature.

No: no academic credentials are necessary; and they certainly won’t be of much help. As with original writing, the only real essential prerequisite is a complex set of natural abilities that can be polished but never acquired in a school.

It’s an exciting, immensely rewarding work. But it does not provide a life of leisure; in fact, it requires relentless self-discipline, patience – and sheer guts.
It’s walking the tightrope, all the time, without a safety net.

Good luck to each and every one of my colleagues – present, past and future – out there.

* Certification programs through other organizations (e.g. TTIG)
* Certificate programs at universities and community colleges in translation (several have them)
* Holding a degree in translation from a university that offers a degree program in translation (e.g. Monterey Institute)

In addition, a certificate or certification really is not at all necessary in the United States so long as a translator can demonstrate her or his professionalism in the field in other ways. This includes things like belonging to a professional organization (local chapters of the ATA or independent translator organizations, PEN, or other nontranslation but industry-specific organizations) and also simply working full-time in the field. A translator who is making $50,000 to $75,000 a year solely from translating has actually very little need to belong to the ATA or have a certificate in translation since her or his business is well established.

Translators who focus on literary translation have perhaps even less need for certification.

In the end, people just starting in the field of translation may benefit from the business-building characteristics of membership or certification through some organization, but by no means are such things required to be successful in the field in the United States in the least.