04/06/2019

At the end of June 2019, oneword GmbH will once again be holding a seminar at the University of Tübingen entitled “Career opportunities in translation and translation management: the ‘field of tension’ between languages and technologies” as part of the Studium Professionale programme.

At the end of June 2019, oneword GmbH will once again be holding a seminar at the University of Tübingen entitled “Career opportunities in translation and translation management: the ‘field of tension’ between languages and technologies”. For two days, 30 students from various fields of study, such as philology, linguistics and computational linguistics, can find out about the translation industry, test their skills in short role-plays and tasks and, of course, ask lots of questions.

The students will be presented with various services, such as specialised translation in accordance with ISO 17100, corporate language management, transcreation or multilingual SEO. They will also be introduced to working with CAT tools through practical exercises and will receive helpful job application training from Director and HR Director Andrea Modersohn. The aim is to give students an insight into the professions of a translator or project manager – both dream jobs – working in business translation and corporate language management: professions that combine the students’ talent for language, their enthusiasm for international, intercultural communication and their desire to work in an exciting field.

In today’s globalised, networked world, there is a large market for international communication, which includes many different players. For example, there are professions in translation management, language management, terminology, the related field of (technical) editing and software industry development (machine translation or translation memory systems): important careers that play a role in the language market.

Nicole Sixdorf, Translation Partner Manager, who will also be a speaker at the seminar in Tübingen, aims to put the image of a translator into perspective. “I am very curious to see what the reactions will be. Last time the participants were very interested, but also surprised at how complex and technically managed the profession is and what different and sometimes very high demands there are. For example, if you are planning your career and want to apply to a Language Service Provider (LSP) that, like oneword, is ISO 17100-certified, it’s essential that you have a number of key qualifications exhibiting your work experience and quality of work,” agrees Eva-Maria Tillmann, Head of Quality Management at oneword.

As well as outlining various role models and market players and explaining the work processes involved in terminology and translation management, oneword will also be outlining and discussing the future viability of the market with the participants. Quite different trends become apparent: Companies today communicate with their customers online across national borders, sometimes even in real time bilaterally and, most importantly, multilingually. The demand for translations is therefore constantly increasing. At the same time, however, LSPs are exposed to ever-increasing pressures of cost. These developments, coupled with technological change, are likely to continue to distinguish the market significantly in the coming years, including corporate structures and the range of services offered.

However, consumers and end customers have the last word: For example, machine translation is already being increasingly used by global companies to communicate internally so that they can produce appropriate texts quickly, cost-effectively and with lower quality standards, which can be sent to employees worldwide. On the other hand, transcreation, multilingual SEO and high-quality customer communications are services that require a human translator and professional translation management: all the while aiming for optimum efficiency, of course. The “translation machine” simply lacks the cultural and (inter)personal competence to perform such tasks.

Finally, Andrea Modersohn will provide participants with varied and helpful career and application tips and an overview of what oneword has to offer graduates. Anyone interested in finding out more about starting an internship, traineeship or full-time position at oneword can find more details here…

Barbara Jäger, seminar coordinator at the University of Tübingen reported that feedback from the students was very positive last year. Despite the high temperatures expected again this summer, the oneword speakers are looking forward to the seminar: “It was exciting to work with the students last time. We were very pleased with how motivated and interested they were. We hope it will be just as successful this time,” says Jasmin Nesbigall, speaker and Head of Terminology Management, to sum up.