The translation industry is very dynamic when it comes to the fluctuation of professional profiles. As we know, an initial division can be made between translators who decide to work as freelancers and translators who decide to offer their services to translation agencies (also known as language service providers or LSPs). Given that they are two different modalities, they differ in terms of working methods, how the professional activity is managed internally and relative to clients, responsibilities to public bodies, and financial remuneration. It is clear, however, that they also have several aspects in common. One of the most obvious is that, at some point in their respective professional careers, and usually at several times, translators must present their services and their job profile to potential clients or contracting agencies. And, in such a competitive sector that has highly qualified profiles as well as fraudulent profiles that try to intrude and distort the translation activity, translators must strive to stand out from the rest, letting their target contractors know the value they can offer to their respective companies.
But how can we design and distribute our professional profile? Numerous possibilities exist, ranging from word of mouth (sometimes a client who is satisfied with our work will give a positive assessment to clients who need similar services or will offer to write a review about our work) to the use of digital platforms and more direct approaches, such as calls and emails. However, all this passes through a common point, that of preparing a resume in which we describe a number of relevant aspects about our professional experience. From there, we should find it easier to offer our services in various ways. Now, what information should a good resume include? Is there a universal model? In today’s article, we give you some keys to writing resumes in the context of translation.
The first thing we want to highlight is that in general there is no perfect resume for any professional sector; and much less a general model that we can apply en masse to all our job applications. In today’s job market, individualization is greatly appreciated, understood here as the ability to adapt our resume to the position offered or to the needs of the client with whom we wish to establish a professional relationship. This means that when writing a resume (or a cover letter, an offer message, a short script for a telephone interview, etc.), we must know “who” we are addressing. Some job offers are looking for very specific profiles, so a list of irrelevant positions on our resume can be overwhelming and result in rejection. Therefore, whenever we think about making our presentation, we should think about making things easy for potential clients or translation agencies. We should highlight points that match what they are looking for and, once we have done so, offer details that add value or complement the information provided. In this way, we will ensure that translation agencies know that we have a real interest (and not that we are sending requests without reflection) in their activity and that clients know that we can be the specialized solution they are looking for to meet their needs.
One of the most appreciated aspects in staff hiring departments is brevity. When we send an application or attach a presentation of our experience, it is essential that someone can quickly see who we are and what services we offer. If we generate interest, the client will most likely contact us and then we can provide a more thorough summary or further explain our experiences verbally.
Of course, depending on our approach, we will have to provide some personal data that usually includes our full name and some method of contact (phone number, email address, social media account name, own website, etc.), but we should not flood this section with irrelevant data, such as date of birth, if you have a driver’s license or, as seen in some cases, blood type. Next, we have to prepare a presentation in which we talk about the language pairs with which we work (some recruiters are not in favor of indicating a “level of knowledge”, because it is assumed that we have sufficient competencies since we dedicate ourselves to this profession; failing that, we can indicate some language degree as complementary information). We must also indicate our specializations and the specific services we offer (translators not only translate, we also revise, correct, adapt, transcribe, edit and a long etcetera of tasks that clients may be interested in knowing).
In the case of translation agencies, it may be interesting to add our mastery of assisted translation tools and other computer programs that may be useful when providing language services. Translation is an increasingly computerized activity and this type of knowledge is highly valued.
In the case of clients who do not have experience with hiring language services, it is advisable to lower the level of technicalities. This can be seen, for example, in the use of industry-specific abbreviations, such as “translator EN, DE > ES-es, CA with CAT proficiency and experience in various LSPs” and in the description of solutions that clients may not be familiar with (e.g., monolingual revisions, linguistic sign-offs and transcreations). We should try to find the balance between professional and understandable language for each type of client. Moreover, on many job search portals, using complete words instead of abbreviations is recommended since this increases the possibility of appearing in the search results.
In conclusion, the keys to creating a good translation resume are specifying and describing our experience and the services we offer according to the needs of our target clients. This is one of the best tricks is to show genuine interest and not give the impression of writing generic content for various employment options. With this, we will be one step closer to standing out from the crowd and achieving our goal of getting new clients or working for a specific translation agency.
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