Tag: professional

Self-Care for Busy Professionals

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Industry Tips, Inspiration, Professionalism

Self-care is often defined as anything we purposefully do to take care of our emotional, spiritual, and mental health. But there is much more to it than that. What we often don’t hear about is self-care defined as the opposite – things we don’t engage in because they are not good for our health. 

Additionally, self-care isn’t always planned activities, but it can be anything that helps you move toward either stillness or growth, such as playing with thinking patterns, exploring attitudes, purposeful reflections, and meaningful connections.  Perhaps one of the most well-known terms in mental health but also one of the most misunderstood, simply because it is difficult to define something that can look, feel, touch, taste, and smell differently for everyone.

Self-care for individuals who work as translators or interpreters may look the same or different from those who work in other fields. Translators, who often work in solitude and interpreters, who have high paced expectations, need to take care due to these special circumstances. Here are 5 ways in which any busy professional may consider for self-care. 

?Connect to Others

Connecting to others is important, especially when working alone is very important. As human beings, we are creatures who not only thrive through human connection, but require it for sustaining life. From an evolutionary perspective, we need each other to stay alive. This was especially true in the past, but our brains have not evolved as fast as society has. We are generally safe in solitude, but at times our brains will tell us that it is dangerous to be alone. In fact, being alone and lonely can trigger our fight, flight, freeze response. Connecting to others (or allowing others to connect to us) is key to mediating this response and may be the most important self-care work we can do.

?Fuel Your Creativity

Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” shows us that creativity is a human need that helps drive us towards “self actualization”, or towards fully knowing our potential and talents, which furthers us towards fulling knowing ourselves. Luckily, as translators and interpreters, you are often working within the realm of creativity. Of course, there are countless other ways to be creative, and integrating more into your life can be an important act of self-care.

?Live in the Moment Using Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a phrase that most people have heard of. It is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations”. This helps us understand, tolerate, and live with our internal experiences. There are many resources available for mindfulness, and finding a few practices you enjoy doing can be integrated into your repertoire of self-care.

Create Full Sensory Experiences

Our five senses have a direct pathway to our brain, and thus can help soothe and calm us, or can help us better integrate our learnings. Creating situations during which each of your 5 senses can explore, integrate, and experience can facilitate new brain connections, new behaviors and habits, or can simply produce stillness and calm.  

Validate, Appreciate, and Celebrate Yourself

Finding ways to validate yourself, which means to tell yourself that your inner experiences are all important and okay, is key to self-understanding and self-growth. Equally important is finding time to infuse appreciation in your life, whether it’s from big successes or from simply finding gratitude in the fact that you have the ability to take breaths. Recent research has shown us that gratitude can actually help with integrating learning and helps with decision making, as these areas tend to be more active during grateful moments. Finally, celebrating yourself through purposeful ceremonies and traditions, such as a weekly time to watch your favorite tv show, or a monthly get-together with validating friends, is a lovely tool for self-care, because it shows self-love. 

Partners in translation: why you need a translation buddy¬ and how to find one

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Field, Industry Tips, Inspiration, Interpretation, Translation

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Even though you might love flying solo, you need a flock of like-minded translators to support you through your journey. Forming strong professional bonds is an investment in your growth. Not only that, a safe space where you can be frank about your struggles and successes is beneficial for your mental health and can lead to a greater job satisfaction.

And every flock begins with one bird, one reliable translation buddy you entrust with sharing your path. Just like any successful partnership hinges on respect and shared values, a strong professional union is grounded in honesty and compatibility. While it’s easy to fall victim to the fiercely competitive job market dominated by the individual rather than the collective, a work confidante you respect, get along with, and can trust with work projects can accelerate your success and improve well-being.

Here’s why every translator needs a buddy, and how you can find one:

1. Because you will need a change at some point.

Your freelance translation business might be at its nascency, or you might be handling your full-time workload with ease. Chances are, your client base will keep expanding as you get established in your field. With economic volatility, unforeseen shifts in translation trends, and your ever-evolving values and priorities, a professional safety net can provide the much needed sense of security and internal peace. No matter where you see yourself in five years—at the helm of a global translation firm, supporting a few select clients, or exploring a completely new territory—you will need a trusted partner to help you navigate change.  

2. Two minds are better than one. Imagine if you could tackle many of your translation hurdles with a reliable partner. Or have a trusted buddy to offer advice and a fresh set of eyes to review your work. In a creative, often monotonous field such as translation, you almost can’t do without an outside perspective to get out of translator’s blocks.

4. Learning from others is just as valuable (if not more) as reading professional development books. Experience and failure, when shared with others, can offer just as much insight into the profession as workshops and textbooks. If you find someone you can open up to without any fears of being judged, they can help you overcome from any career impasses.

5. Do it for your social and mental well-being. Translation can be an isolating profession, especially if you work from home with little to no contact with the outside world. Even if you hold an office job, most likely you spend your days communicating with a computer rather than humans. Forming strong relationships with a work partner will enhance your feeling of connection and belonging.

6. You will learn to work in a team environment. Collaboration and team work are currently in high demand in the workplace. As translators, we are often surrounded by professionals who have a very vague idea of how we operate. In many cases, you might be the sole translator on a team. Working with a buddy might help brush up your team work and project management skills.

One of the best ways to form a trusting and lasting professional partnership is by investing your time and effort into finding your people. Many diverse people co-exist under the unifying umbrella of translation and interpreting—by attending as many professional development events, conferences, and workshops, you will increase your chances of finding a true translation buddy.

6 qualities that set a translation professional apart from an amateur

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Client Zone, Interpretation, Translation

After hours of scrolling through online profiles of prospective translators, flipping pages of portfolios and references, how do you land on a top few? Or maybe it’s your first time engaging a translator in a project, or you’re partnering up with a new person. What qualities and experiences beyond the professional platitudes found in resumes signal real professionalism?

Before committing to a candidate, get to know them and learn about their approach to translation. Try arranging an informal chat or a call to discuss the nuances of a job and determine if it’s a fit. In preparation for your first conversation, review these hallmarks that can help tell a seasoned translation professional from an amateur.

1) An adept translator will take time to understand your needs. Rather than saying yes to a project from the outset, they will take the time to delve into the details, discuss timelines, and expected outcomes. Discussing a job should look like a full-blown conversation rather than a monologue—not only will it give you reassurance that a candidate is in fact qualified, but also that they are keen on engaging with you, collecting information, and learning more about your business.

2) A professional might not be a Jack of all trades. In other words, if a legal translator is willing to take on an academic paper on trenchless technologies in engineering, they might be overly-ambitions. While a legal translator might be perfectly suited to tackle accounting documentation, if they claim a full mastery of two drastically different fields, be sure they are not exaggerating.

3) A master translator will know their approach to translation. Even though you might not know much about translation theory, ask a prospect how they go about translating a complex, heavily technical documents, where they search new terminology, and how they keep track of the jargon they specialize in. Let their personality come through as they share some of their professional challenges and successes.

4) An accomplished translator possesses specific topical knowledge. On top of fluency in at least two languages, they can hold an educated conversation on the topic of your translation project, and have a firm grasp of the topic.

5) A skillful translator takes interest in the field and is genially passionate about translation. They invest time in honing their skills, growing, and learning. They are members of professional organizations, frequent workshops, and seminars.

6) A professional asks for more context, as needed. With experience comes the confidence to admit that our knowledge is limited. An expert translator might ask for more background information on a project, additional resources, or a contact who might be able to help. They won’t shy away from sharing their concerns, doubts, or dilemmas.

While your initial search might not screen out translation dilettantes from experts, have your questions ready to make the right pick. Even though a prospect might not have the most experience in the field, they might demonstrate superb knowledge of their field, great research skills, attention to detail, a well-grounded approach to translation, professional honesty and integrity—all the key elements to translate your project right.

Five essential skills to help forge a successful career in translation

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Field, Professionalism, Translation

You might be a word nerd, a polyglot, or a self-proclaimed linguist – does this mean you were born a translator? Nurturing the passion for languages and translation along with developing the required technical skills lay the foundation for a potential career in translation. Strengthening certain personality traits and forming the right habits are just as important. Talent alone won’t sustain you through the ups and downs of the business, pages of monotonous texts, memorizing terminology, or dealing with pesky clients. Your innate aptitude for languages needs strong companions to transform a gift into a rewarding career in translation.

Patience. There’s nothing more daunting than an 80-page technical specification. Filled with terms and formulas only engineers can decipher, the document might not be your first choice of a book. Yet it ended up in your inbox awaiting your time, brain energy, and words. Translation is not always about high-flown lexicon and elegant sentence structures; oftentimes, the source texts you’ll be getting from clients will be dry, complex, technical, or incomprehensible. Unless you hand-pick projects to take on, you need to build up your patience to power through pages of jargon you’d never use outside your work!

A patient translator practices self-patience: rather than giving up or flipping out every time you can’t find the right translation of a term. Give yourself another chance. Slow down and let your brain do its magic.

Creativity. Language can be a great means for creative expression. Rich and diverse, organized and agile, language offers all the right elements to put your thoughts on paper, the right way. The real challenge many translators face is not feeding creative juices when working on a poem or novel, but finding creativity in the mundane: a legal document, a scholarly article, the infamous technical specification. Even in times of regulations, amendments, and guidelines, find room for creativity in your choice of words. Think of new ways to translate similar sentences, research synonyms or idioms to expand your linguistic repertoire.

Precision. Also known as language surgeons, translators pick texts apart, channel them through their brains, and puzzle the pieces back together to convey the exact meaning of the source text in a new language. Strive for precision when transforming a text or selecting a verb among various synonyms; when looking for a corresponding expression or idiom in the target language; when deciding on a language structure.

Curiosity. There’s always something to learn from the texts your clients send you. Find one (or more) things that you love about law or business, medicine or engineering. Immerse yourself in the text, look beyond the language, and absorb new information. As a translator, you’re probably consumed by the intricacies of your language pair, leaving behind everything and anything that won’t help you deliver a high-quality product. While playing with language might be your bread and butter, don’t turn a blind eye to new information that your clients graciously present to you.

Optimism. As with anything in life, positive disposition can brighten gloomy days and bring joy to any text you’re translating. Remember, even the longest technical specification has an end and take pride in having seen all of your contracts to fruition!

Setting Up for Success: How to work with a translator

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Client Zone, Field, Industry Tips, Professionalism, Translation

So, you’ve evaluated your translation needs, made a search on the ATIA membership directory or connected with a good translation agency, and assessed your candidate’s qualifications to find someone professional, trained, and deeply experienced in the exact area of translation that you need. Now, how to optimize your working relationship with this translator?

Good communication is key to any working relationship. Provide a detailed description of the services you need and a clear outline of requirements and deliverables. With a comprehensive understanding of the nature and complexity of the project, the translator will be able to not only provide you with a more accurate picture of cost and delivery time, but also flag any potential challenges or stumbling blocks.

It is important for both client and translator to set clear, agreed upon terms and conditions from the beginning. When agreeing to hire a translator, make sure that you have the answers to the following questions:

How does the translator charge? You’ve probably already considered how much the translator charges, but make sure you understand how he or she charges – per page, per target word or per source word? If the translator charges per source word, the cost will be based on the number of words in the document you provide. If the charge is based on the number of target words, or the words in the translated document, the final cost will vary depending on whether the target language tends to use more or fewer words than the source language.

Does the translator include revisions in their cost estimate? If so, how many and with what turnaround time? Revisions and comments are an expected part of any writing project, so it is best to make clear and agreed upon arrangements in advance about how comments and revisions will be handled.

What file format will the completed translation be provided in? Make sure that the translator knows how to provide the finished work to best suit your needs.

What are the translator’s confidentiality policies and practices? Translation agencies will have their own confidentiality policies in place, but a freelance translator may not. Note that all ATIA members are bound by a Code of Ethics that protects your confidentiality. When in doubt, ask for an ATIA-Certified Translator.  

Ask about discounts for large volume jobs, redundant translations or not-for-profit clients. Not all translators will provide discounts, but it is worth making inquiries about discounts at the outset of a project rather than during the course of the work or after receiving an invoice.

And finally, make sure you understand the terms of conditions of payment and pay your invoice in a timely manner!

Establishing a clear understanding of your project’s priorities and needs and your translator’s practices at the outset of the project is the best way to set yourself up for a successful working relationship!