Tag: tips

On Globalization and Translation

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Field, Interpretation, Technology, Translation

?What are the roles of translators and interpreters in a highly globalized, multilingual, and interconnected world? When every second citizen in a big city claims to be fluent in more than one language, what can we (passionate language lovers and professional translators) offer? Globalization: is it a threat for many of us who rely on linguistic differences and communication barriers?

When you think of globalization, the first image that might pop into your head is a developed urban metropolis with unobstructed access to international media, education, contemporary culture and fashion. These industries offer a vibrant collage of words, terms, concepts that have conquered various continents and many hearts. As a result of this rapid spread of ideas, many of us know a phrase or two in a foreign language. However, the depths of our knowledge often ends with a refrain of a favourite song in Chinese or a business buzzword in a French newspaper.

Even if the number of multilingual speakers is increasing due to open access to information across the world, very rarely do they have a firm grasp of a foreign language. And only few of those who are, in fact, completely multilingual, can translate.

The art of translation – although rooted in the love for languages and communication – requires a unique set of skills and specialized knowledge to grow into profession. These skills are hard to master without a dedicated interest in translation studies.

How can translators benefit from a globalized world?

Quality over quantity. When everyone around you claims to speak more than one language, be someone who is flawlessly fluent, who chooses their words with care and consideration. Globalization did open doors to new concepts and ideas, but only to a fraction of them: oftentimes, we are only exposed to one variant of a foreign language, or, perhaps, one industry.

As a translator, strive to see the bigger picture of a language and enjoy its richness in full. Read voraciously and don’t shy away from new genres and authors to expand your expertise. A good way to get ahead of the curve is by exploring new emerging fields.

Let’s be analytical about it. Since the the end of the Second World War?, globalization has evolved through many stages. What is it going to look like tomorrow? Coming to grips with globalization in its current state and knowing its features is key to pinpointing the social and language gaps we’ve been facing. Most importantly, if you’re aware of the current social and political environment, it will be easier to predict which direction your profession might take. ?

Match your skills with the demand. Globalization is not your enemy – make an effort to understand it and the multilingual friends around you. What services do they need? How can you help our globalized world communicate better? Taking advantage of globalization means that you might need to re-evaluate your translation skill set and pick up new skills that address today’s needs and prepare your for the translation gaps of tomorrow. ?

Are You Cut Out to Work as an Interpreter? Six key traits of professional interpreters

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Field, Interpretation, Professionalism

Are you a bilingual or multi-lingual individual thinking about putting your language knowledge to work? Perhaps already working as a translator and looking to branch out? Interpretation is rewarding work, but knowledge of languages is only a starting point for success in the field. Do you have several of these six traits of successful and fulfilled professional interpreters? You might be cut out for a career as an interpreter!

Good listener. The ability to speak fluently in multiple languages is, of course key, but more than half your time as an interpreter will actually be spent listening! Interpretation requires focused, attentive listening, often for long periods of time. Your client is depending on you to capture every detail and aspect of an interaction and to convey their meaning accurately, so it is important to be fully attentive to all parties. In addition to the very focused listening required while interpreting in the moment, at the outset of any job you will have to listen to your clients and make sure that you have a clear understanding of their needs and of the situation that you will be entering as their interpreter.

Ability to multitask. Interpretation requires a very particular type of fast paced, mental multi-tasking. Interpreters have to watch and listen (often while taking notes), absorb the meaning of what was said, as well as non-verbal cues, mentally translate the meaning, and then speak clearly and fluently. It is a rapid process, and the interpreter must also be able to easily alternate between translating and speaking both languages.

People skills. While translation can be a solitary, cerebral occupation, interpretation is a highly person-oriented occupation. Good interpreters are not just attentive, focused listeners, they are compassionate and patient listeners. They have the ability to connect with people and establish trust, sometimes under very difficult circumstances such as a medical appointment or court appearance.

Cultural competence. Communication involves much more than spoken language. Non-verbal cues inflect the meaning of the words that we choose, and make up a significant component of how we make ourselves understood. Like words, expressions and gestures vary across culture. An interpreter should have sufficient fluency in both cultures to interpret non-verbal cues. Understanding of cultural norms and expectations is also important to understanding both parties and helping to navigate misunderstandings that go beyond language.

Specialty knowledge (or the motivation to acquire it). Interpreters work in many different areas of specialization, such as community, medical, court or conference interpretation. Each of these areas has its own sets of technical vocabulary and cultural norms that must be mastered not just in one language, but both. If you have existing knowledge of the court system, for example, this is an advantage to becoming a court interpreter. What is more important, however, is the motivation and passion to do the additional learning required to master a specialization.

Emotional resilience. As an interpreter, you will be doing highly demanding work. This is what makes interpretation rewarding. But, you may also find yourself in emotionally difficult situations, such as having to interpret bad news from a doctor, or supporting someone in the legal system, or in the middle of a conflict. While good interpreters are compassionate, they must also be able to maintain boundaries. It is important to be able to sustain your own mental and emotional well-being, as well as your professionalism and dedication.

Does this sound like you? Do the challenges and demands of interpretation sound engaging and rewarding? Then interpretation might be your best next career move!

The Art of Exceeding Client Expectations: Why customer service should matter to freelancers

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Industry Tips

As a freelance translator or interpreter, you’ve dedicated years to learning your craft, building a portfolio and mastering certifications. You may want to believe that your specialized knowledge and experience will speak for (and sell) itself, but succeeding as a freelancer takes a whole host of other skills. A freelancer has to be his or her own sales and marketing team, accountant, office administrator and maybe even web designer. Among all the roles that freelancers play, it is easy to see why the importance of customer service is sometimes overlooked. It should not be that way, though. Effort put into customer service saves double that effort in seeking and securing clients.

What is customer service? It is about more than fielding complaints and practicing good email etiquette. Customer service is the art of exceeding customer expectations. Success as a freelance translator or interpreter relies on being able to build strong relationships with clients. You are not just a representative of a business, you are your business. Customer service based on communication, responsiveness, and integrity will help secure new clients, build long term relationships with existing clients, and will contribute to a positive reputation.

A freelance professional who communicates clearly is easy to hire and easy to work with. You are the expert, so give potential and new clients the information they need to understand your services and value as an expert. Good communication builds rapport and connection, setting you apart from the competition. You are not just trying to secure a contract. You are establishing a relationship that may lead to repeat contracts and recommendations. Good communication is also essential to ensuring that you deliver the service that the client expects, or better yet, a service that fulfills their needs and priorities so well that it exceeds their expectations. Ultimately, this is what generates repeat business and good word-of-mouth.

Clients will also return to a freelancer who demonstrates that they are responsive to the client’s needs. This may mean being flexible to changes of direction and being open to unique requests. It also means being able to resolve problems and rectify mistakes with a positive, solution oriented attitude. Flexibility and responsiveness to requests will garner new clients. To existing clients, it will demonstrate your ongoing dedication to their satisfaction. Being able to effectively respond to problems and mistakes, which will inevitably occur, demonstrates reliability and integrity.

Like most relationships, the most successful, long term client-freelancer relationships are based on trust. Integrity is fundamental to establishing and maintaining this trust. This is can be as simple as delivering work by agreed upon deadlines, or as challenging as resolving conflicts or rectifying mistakes in a fair and constructive manner. Becoming a trusted name in your industry will also generate new business.

A strong portfolio and certifications are fundamental to establishing a career as a translator or interpreter. Customer service, however, is what will set a career as a freelancer into motion.  Prioritizing customer service from first contact with a potential client and throughout the entire project pays off in a positive professional reputation, long-term, repeat clients, and new business.

Important Tips for Working with Language Service Providers

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Uncategorized

As a new translator starting out or a seasoned professional who likes to keep things simple, it might be the case that you decide you want to work for a Language Service Provider (LSP) or translation agency rather than seeking out clients directly. Whatever your reasons for pursuing work with an LSP, there are some important tips that can make your time with them more productive and mutually successful.

Recently, ATIA held a webinar with the CEO of Alpha Translations Canada, Michele Hecken. Michele went through a ton of introductory tips for working with LSPs and we are picking out and adding to our favourites for all of you.

Deliver on what you promise to.

This might sound obvious but the snowball effect when working for LSPs is very real. The more solid work you produce, the more you will be offered. And the busier you will be. Note that LSPs sift through hundreds and hundreds of translation CVs regularly so your position there is always a bit tenuous, but one way to have job security is to be reliable for quality translations delivered on-tie, every time. As harsh as that sounds, this is the world of working for LSPs. They are usually producing work globally and generally have a very large translator database. Everyone has off-days but there is less opportunity to come back from a few of those when working for an LSP simply because of the size of these organizations and how in-demand they are by clients and professionals alike. Stay consistent and manage your time to deliver quality translations regularly.

Specialize!

This might seem counter-intuitive because you would think that the more types of translations you do would *translate* into more types of work offered, but this is generally not the case. The more you specialize in specific types of translations, the more work you are likely to build up in your area of expertise. You might even garner a reputation as the go-to translator for that specialization. Never be afraid to turn down translation work that you are not qualified to attend to – the LSP will likely respect your knowledge of your own boundaries and will appreciate that you don’t take on anything that is outside your areas of expertise, which could result in subpar translations.

Embrace the technological revolution!

Translations-by-hand are still often seen as the best method for accuracy but they may be more time-consuming than you or the LSP you work for would like. At ATIA, we know folks who recommend avoiding machine translations wherever possible. At the same time, there are some technological tools which make your work a lot easier – especially for everything but the translation itself! Use appropriate software for formatting, scheduling your work, storing your work, and invoicing at the end of the day. We have written about this previously, so be sure to check out the best online tools for professional translators.

Stay in your lane.

Knowing your place as a translator is important for keeping yourself sane and on-track. It isn’t your job to work on source texts so if you find errors, don’t edit them. Simply translate to the best of your ability the meaning of the text. You can introduce a translator’s note to draw attention to project manager about the original errors who can then advise the client.

Essential Tips for Writing Your Translation CV

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Uncategorized

Translation agencies and organizations looking to hire in-house translators tend to receive a high volume of applications, even on a weekly basis. It becomes increasingly important then to ensure that your CV stands out in all the right ways. But what does this mean? Below, we explore the “dos and don’ts” of translation CVs.

Do:

  • Highlight your assets in education and experiences. It is not unusual to put the most relevant education and work in bold to draw the hiring officer’s eye to that first and foremost.
  • Tell them a bit about yourself. The most important part of your CV is you and you are what will make it stand out from the rest! Take the time to write a short description of yourself that includes your motivations, skills and language combinations.
  • List your relevant work experiences from the most recent to the oldest examples
  • Include your published materials, being clear to highlight any books or peer-reviewed articles, research work and translations. If you can include links to each item, this will help your case in terms of ready accessibility for the hiring officer
  • Include your professional associations, including your level of certification with ATIA
  • List your relevant education experiences from the most recent to the oldest examples.
  • Include any relevant awards, scholarships, bursaries or other recognitions you have received.
  • Be specific about your language skills including listing your specialized translation fields (such as medical, court etc), as well as the language combinations you hold and your level in each combination.
  • Include information about your computer skills including (but not limited to): knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite or its equivalences (Mac OS, Google, etc); CAT tools or other management systems you may use; and any web skills you have.
  • Include a few other small details that help you stand out. These can be some of your interests, as well as other assets you have such as a driver’s license, if relevant.

Don’t:

  • Exceed 2 pages. One page is preferable.
  • Mess with formatting. Avoid strange fonts or making things difficult to read. Do not use colours or decorative elements to stand out – this just makes your CV look like it is not polished.
  • Include a photo of yourself. This will get you sent directly to the “toss” pile, no matter how perfect you are for the posting. It makes employers uncomfortable to see a picture of you which could influence how you and your application are received.
  • Include every job you have ever had in your “work experience” section. It isn’t relevant that you were a barista 8 years ago and worse, it can make your CV looks muddled. The “translation” to the hiring officer is that you aren’t very focused on your translation career.
  • Don’t include your grades with your education experiences. It takes up space and is not necessary unless you graduated with honours or distinction.
  • Write a separate cover letter – not many officers the time to read these anymore, especially if they receive a stack of them every week. A short email with your basic personal introduction, and some highlights from your attached CV are enough.
  • Forget to attach the CV. Everyone makes this mistake at some point and some places are more forgiving than others but it is best if you don’t make this mistake.