Cantonese & Mandarin Interpreters — Work From Home, Anywhere (Independent Contractor)
Since 2015, Defrilex Language Services has been in the business of helping people understand each other. When someone needs to be heard in their own language — in a hospital room, a courtroom, a business meeting — we're the people who make that moment possible. Using smart technology and a genuinely talented team, we connect people across borders and time zones, delivering interpretation and translation in more than 300 languages, both remote and on-site. With a network of 20,000+ contract interpreters, we're always looking for more skilled voices to join us.
A quick, honest note: we may not have an active assignment for your exact language pair at this very moment. But our industry moves fast, and demand shifts constantly. If you apply, your resume stays on file with us — and the moment a need opens up for your combination, one of our recruiters will take a real look at your application and reach out. Right now, we're actively hiring Cantonese and Mandarin interpreters.
What you'll need to qualify
To interpret in medical settings through Defrilex, here's what we'll ask you to complete:
- Pass Defrilex's online medical terminology assessment.
- Pass a third-party oral exam for medical interpretation, earning a "technical proficiency" rating (a 3 or higher on the nationally recognized ILR scale).
- Complete a mock oral interpretation session, meeting all 28 of our quality standards with a passing score.
- Clear a full background check and security screening.
- Sign our commitment to confidentiality, ethics, and HIPAA compliance.
What makes you stand out (nice to have, not required)
None of these are dealbreakers, but they'll help your application shine:
- 1–3+ years of professional interpreting in a relevant field (medical, legal, business, and so on).
- Certification or accreditation from a recognized body — think ATA, RID, CCHI, or NBCMI.
- Fluency across multiple languages, especially high-demand ones.
- A solid grasp of industry-specific terminology and protocols.
- Comfort with interpreting tools and video remote interpreting platforms.
- Clear, confident communication — spoken and written — in all your working languages.
- Real cultural awareness and sensitivity to the many backgrounds you'll encounter.
- The composure to stay sharp under pressure, in fast-paced settings.
- Flexibility to move between different environments, from conferences to legal proceedings to medical consultations.
- A commitment to keep growing — staying current with where our field is headed.
Held to the highest standards
Our evaluation process is built around the standards set by the leading bodies in our field, so you know you're being measured fairly and rigorously: the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC), the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL), the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA), and the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI).
Everyone's welcome here
We believe our work is stronger because of the range of people who do it. Defrilex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer — every hiring decision comes down to your merit and your qualifications, full stop. We don't discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic. The different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences each person brings aren't just something we accept — they're something we genuinely value, and they make all of us better at what we do.