The primary objective of this paper is to find out which competences translators need in order to meet the increasingly sophisticated demands of the translation market. First, European initiatives on translators’ competence profiles will be analysed. The results will be examined in light of the latest translation industry surveys in order to identify whether the skills profiles (and thus translators’ abilities) match the needs of the labour market. The analysed data reflects on the most essential requirements set by industry: professional competence followed by technological and domain competence. The findings of the present article aim to support translator training institutions in tailoring study programmes to market needs. Keywords: domain competence, compétences professionnelles, besoins du marché, compétences par spécialité, compétences technologiques, market needs, translator's competence profile, technological competence, professional competence, profil de compétences du traducteur