Interpreting has been a field of plentiful research over the last decades and has established itself as a scientific discipline of its own. However, the role of the interpreter trainer in the process of conveying the skill has often been touched upon in an accessory manner. In order to close this gap, this study seeks to explore which skills and knowledge novice interpreter trainers are in need of at the beginning of their career. The study is methodologically conceived as a perception-based analysis of surveyed opinions amongst active trainers via an online survey. Many commonalities and a few areas of difference have been identified in the needs of conference and community interpreter trainers. The results point towards a lack of support for novice trainers by their institutions as they begin their teaching career. We have noted a strong emphasis on interpreting skills, pedagogy, and aspects of personality. Relatively low support for the importance of theory has also been explored. The findings indicate that, ideally, all interpreter trainers should have interpreting and teaching skills. Another subdomain-specific finding for conference interpreter trainers points towards the need for more training in pedagogy.