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Do you need translation skills to function well in your job role? This article provides a guide on how you can develop the skills and include them on your resume.

 

What are Translation Skills?

Translation is the process of reworking text from one language into another while still preserving the actual message of the communication and the intended message. It is the act of communicating the meaning of a text in a source language into a text in a target language. Someone who interprets one language and translates it into another is called a translator. To interact with persons who speak various languages, translators must be competent in at least two languages.

Written or spoken communication can be translated to improve communication for those who aren’t bilingual. Words are translated from one language into another using a variety of skills by translators. A competent translator does more than merely achieve academic success in all required courses. For success in this competitive industry, having a wide range of translating skills is essential. You can become a translator and develop your translation skills by learning about a translator’s duties and responsibilities. Translation encompasses spoken information in addition to written material. Along with making sure the message is accurate, a translator also focuses on maintaining the message’s intent and tone by taking into account the cultural and regional variations between the original language and the translated version. Beyond simply being able to translate one’s work into another language, one needs extra skills to succeed in the translation industry.

In many fields, including politics and sports, this position is crucial. Each translator, therefore, employs their translation skills within the appropriate context and meaning. You need to learn a range of skills and abilities, tips, and techniques if you want to work as a professional translator. As a result, you must continually exercise your skills and broaden your knowledge. You won’t have the translation skills you need to succeed in any field until you’ve established a solid foundation in the act of translation. Anyone who wishes to work in an international market needs to have the ability to translate. The capacity to translate precisely and successfully calls for significant skills, whether you’re translating written texts or spoken words. Some of the essential translation skills include; bilingualism, cross-cultural communication, language proficiency, writing skills, editing & proofreading, research skills, time management, project management, attention to detail, and cultural awareness.

 

Importance of Translation Skills

Growth of Multinational Companies: Businesses that operate globally and often exchange and receive information from many international offices and branches throughout the world recognize the critical importance of translation. To ensure that everyone involved is on the same page in these situations, the shared information must be translated into a language that is regionally preferred. When a company has to partner with a local firm or submit a proposal to the government, translation is also essential.

Reach a Larger Audience: With translation skills, a larger audience can be reached, which is one of the main advantages of translation. By introducing their brand, mission, and objectives to a global audience, translation may help businesses attract clients from all over the world. You’ll be able to access markets you previously didn’t believe existed. You will be able to expand your options through translation, and this can be helpful to you in the future.

Create a Mutual Understanding: As information technology continually grows, translation helps to foster mutual understanding among speakers of different languages and language registers. Legal documents and technical texts can be challenging to translate. Your firm will gain a lot from being able to communicate in a common language across a wide range of languages because of technical translation.

Help to Enhance Cultural Interchange: Because they are so successfully translated to reflect local languages and emotions, music, literature, films, and many other art forms transcend national and cultural barriers. The global film industry now makes more money from translated and subtitled movies than ever before. Blockbuster movies are now looking to China as the next big market, where the popularity of translated movies has caused production companies to reach a significant amount of money more frequently than ever. Not only has the movie business profited from translation; also, translated works of literature and music enable authors to gain greater royalties and, as a bonus, global recognition.

Accurate Transmission of News: If not translated and delivered properly, global news would not make any sense when received by local news agencies. Without translation, the news would continue to be ineffectual and worthless, whether it is originating from local organizations, regional organizations, or even countries with strong press control.

Enhance in Tourism: One of the biggest problems for travelers is being taken advantage of or duped by strangers in foreign countries. This problem can be effectively resolved with the aid of translation. Moreover, translated tourism materials increase a country’s reputation as a traveler-friendly destination, generating sizeable tourism-related income in addition to making visitors feel at home in a foreign land.

 

How to Improve your Translation Skills

Obtain a degree in translation: Getting a degree in translation from an approved institution is one of the best approaches to developing your translation skills. You can learn about the various facets of translation, such as linguistics, cultural studies, and writing, by earning a degree in translation.

Join a professional Organization: Joining a professional organization, such as the American Translators Association (ATA), is another approach to improving your translation skills. The ATA offers access to job ads, instructional materials, and networking opportunities, making it an excellent resource for translators.

Attend conferences: Another effective approach to developing your translating skills is by attending conferences. You can network with other linguists, discover cutting-edge technologies and translation techniques, and keep up with business news at conferences.

Practice daily: Make more time each day to work on your translation skills. Since there is no such thing as a perfect translator, practice is something that all translators must do. Keep a record of your errors and take the time to learn from them so that you don’t repeat them. Try reverse translation or back translation of written materials. Practice translating in the other direction if you are used to translating from English to another language. You will learn the other language more effectively and become more fluent if you use back translation.

Talk with other translators: Discuss with other translators or people who are native speakers of the language you are translating. To learn how to improve your translation skills, ask them for advice on how to do it as well as to evaluate your work for errors. Ask them for suggestions to help you become a better translator.

Take online courses: Learning about several facets of translation, like linguistics, cultural studies, and writing, is made easy with online courses. Online courses are an excellent alternative for those on a tight budget because many of them are provided for free or at a minimal cost.

Read widely: Reading as much of the target language as you can is one of the most crucial steps you can take to guarantee that your translations are accurate, relevant, and meaningful. Your best buddy and your bible are dictionaries. To continue expanding your vocabulary, have one with you at all times and read it in your free time. To learn about trends, events, cultural nuances, and jargon used in the language and the topic of study, if there is one, read as many local newspapers, journals, books, and periodicals as you can. To learn more about the industry, read as many articles that have been translated by your peers and seniors as you can.

 

Jobs that Require Translation Skills

Copywriting: A copywriter is a professional that describes goods or services in a written form to benefit customers and companies. A copy is transformed by a translator-copywriter into the proper language for a product that is being sold outside of its nation of origin or for a website that offers multiple language options. These professionals must be able to convey not just the words and content in a copy, but also enthusiasm and a suitable tone. They must identify the appropriate regional vocabulary and compensate for cultural differences. While maintaining the brand’s message, the copy must be convincing and understandable in the local language.

Cultural advisor: Cultural advisors carry out a variety of activities, such as leading corporate training sessions, participating in company negotiations, creating foreign marketing plans, and doing lots of translation and interpreting. Any institution that interacts with many languages while formulating policy or organizing an international strategy may hire a cultural advisor, including the government, an NGO, the UN, or any other organization. These professionals collect pertinent papers and sources from their research and may translate them or write a summary of them in the local language, or both. The cultural advisor may also meet with local officials; in this situation, face-to-face communication is required, as is correct representation to the employer. They must exhibit and uphold a thorough familiarity with the subject’s culture. Analysis, diplomacy, and report-writing skills are all necessary for this position.

Event coordinator: Meetings and events are organized, promoted, and planned by an event coordinator. Bilingual event coordinators are usually needed by businesses and organizations with global interests to effectively manage events taking place in many nations, with foreign participants, or with foreign contractors. These significant events must be planned, organized, promoted, and carried out by bilingual event coordinators. They oversee the budget, catering services, facilities, entertainment, and all other elements that go into running a successful event. They also supervise activities related to each event. Detail-oriented language professionals who love working on several projects at once and who feel at ease speaking in front of a group are ideal for this job.

Social media analyst: Modern marketing strategy is centered on social media. Because tweets, memes, and advertisements can be seen instantaneously by people all over the world, social media has become an important source of income and a channel for marketing for modern businesses. Similar to a copywriter, a social media analyst must capture the meaning of a message into a translation that attracts the attention of the target audience in their local language while also maintaining the original’s authenticity. This calls for creativity, cultural awareness, marketing skills, and SEO skills.

Tour guide: Working as a tour guide is among the greatest career prospects to employ language and translation skills. A bilingual person typically finds the job of a tour guide interesting. Before giving a presentation while moving through a locality or venue, a tour guide may have to organize and advertise local tours. Additionally, they might create and translate handout materials and conduct phone or email reservations in the language of the tourists. In comparison to the other jobs listed above, tour guides typically have less stringent certification requirements. Because of this, it’s a good job opportunity to develop translation skills and work experience professionally across many languages.

Other careers that require translation skills are;

• Video Game Tester
• Foreign Service Officer
• Staffing and Recruitment Specialist
• Editor/Proofreader
• Interpreter
• Teacher

 

How to Include Translation Skills on Your Resume

List your relevant translation skills: Identify your relevant skills, such as language, computer, and time management, and highlight them in your cover letter and on your Résumé. To effectively impress hiring employers, list the languages you already clearly understand well as well as the ones you are learning. Specify the languages you are proficient in by giving detailed examples. You can also list the CAT software applications you commonly use.

Include relevant keywords: An applicant tracking system (ATS) is bound to review your resume when you apply for a position that requires translation skills. This application will look for particular words linked to the job posting in your resume. If your resume doesn’t contain the appropriate keywords, the ATS may not rank it highly enough for the hiring manager to see it. Reading through each job posting attentively and making note of the skills, experiences, and capabilities they specify as qualifications are the best approach to making sure your resume has the appropriate keywords. Use the same keywords throughout your Résumé after that.

Highlight your technical skills: To perform their duties effectively, translators need to be proficient in a range of computer software. This software is used by them to manage projects, edit and proofread translations, and translate materials from one language to another. Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, and Adobe Creative Suite are some of the most widely used software packages. Additionally, translators must be knowledgeable about translation-specific software tools like Trados Studio and MemoQ.

 

Examples of How to Demonstrate Translation Skills on Your Resume

• Translated documents, instruction materials, and correspondences from French to English language and vice versa promptly.
• Headed a three-man team that offered video conferencing, localization, and personal translation services for clients on a case-by-case basis which successfully ran for two months.
• Maintained strict privacy policy when translating personal, confidential, and diplomatic materials for clients.
• Offered translations simultaneously during corporate meetings to enable non-English speaking audience members to actively participate in English language events.
• Evaluated translated materials to ensure accuracy and clarity before final submission to clients or management.

 

How to Demonstrate Translation Skills in an Interview

Express your translation skills and give examples of how you’ve used them in the past: You will further explain to the hiring manager about your skills during a job interview if needed. Mention the languages you are skilled in and the things you have discovered working as a translator in the past. These instances could include anything from verbal translations to translation tasks that improved your cultural awareness.

Show attention to detail skills during the interview: Actively listen to the hiring manager during the interview to answer questions as appropriately required, as this helps them to recognize your communication and attention to detail skills.

Defend the information on your resume: Provide sufficient details to support the skills listed on your resume. To show how effective you are at a certain relevant skill you need to emphasize and try to incorporate measurable data.

 

Examples of Interview Questions to Test Translation Skills

• Which translation software programs are you most proficient in?
• What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of a career in translation?
• Do you also have interpretation skills? If yes, what do you feel are the key differences between translation and interpretation skills?
• What has been the most challenging text for you to translate and why?
• How do you prepare yourself to understand the requirements of an unfamiliar Target Audience better?
• How many translation projects have you been able to complete in an average period of one month?

 

Resume Skills