Graduating from university is a great achievement, and something every graduate should be proud of. Once the celebrations are over, it can be daunting to go straight from education to the work environment, no matter how much your course and professors have prepared you.
In my case, I had an undergrad in Spanish and a Masters in Translation Studies, which accounted for five years of seminars, group presentations, independent research, and essay writing.
In all these years, I had one module in Translation Studies dedicated to working in a professional environment. The material mainly covered opportunities for working as a translator, and focused on whether to work for a company or be a freelance translator, as well as the different areas one could translate for.
With this knowledge, I thought my path was straightforward after graduation. But then Covid-19 hit. The media warned of a shrinking job market in the current climate, which brought more pressure and competition when applying for roles.
Although I began my job hunt with these preconceived notions, I soon realized that I did not necessarily need to be a translator. There were countless opportunities, especially with my education. Once I became more open-minded, I applied for multiple positions; from teaching abroad, public relations, recruitment, and post-editing to publishing, marketing, and research.
This flexibility also prompted me to search on new websites, since I found that the well-known, generic sites presented more common roles. and I was struggling to find new and exciting opportunities.
After googling my way through countless job-hunting sites for something that stood out, I came across LocJobs. This website presented a role that was different and, at the same time, comforting to me: Research Intern at Slator.
The post interested me as it was a role in which I believed I could thrive, in an area I never realized existed: Language Industry Intelligence. Their approach to research, publication, content marketing, and advice about the language industry was innovative. This originality was reflected in their job posting, as they were looking for someone who was actively interested in the business side, beyond “just translation,” which was enough for me to apply for the role.
Now, as a Research Consultant for Slator, I know there are so many unconventional but exhilarating opportunities for would-be translators — and it does truly pay off to think outside the box.
The author, Monica Jamieson, is a Research Consultant at Slator.
