Contrary to popular belief, a profession does not consist of a goal to be reached which once achieved, allows us to sit back and enjoy the victory forever more. A profession is not conceived as an activity with a static nature, but rather one that is continuously moving forward and in constant evolution. For this reason, it is common to talk about a professional career or trajectory, that is, the path we have followed, the milestones we have overcome and the exits we have taken in our march towards this hypothetical goal. A profession is an adventure with a start line, but without an end, since there is a plethora of objectives and decisions awaiting us which will make us want to linger for longer at some points, and take a longer or shorter time to reach certain destinations, in what is indeed more of a journey than a finite and linear movement. And this is the most exciting aspect of a profession, the fact that we embark on a project that is growing and transforming at the same time that we do. This means that, in general, both professions and commercial contexts are not static, as they undergo many changes over time, a reality that has intensified in recent decades given the fast developments in technology and the worldwide connections professionals of every sector enjoy. For this reason, without a doubt, today’s professions look quite different from what tomorrow’s professions will bring, something that should spur us to continue advancing our training in order to prepare us for the changes that may appear on the horizon. In this way, we can ensure that we do not remain passive, lag behind or miss the chance for progressing hand in hand with our chosen industry. Let’s think for a moment about any occupation to reflect on the way it was carried out ten, twenty or fifty years ago. Let’s also think about the profession or occupation that we currently perform. Are production processes and relationships between workers the same? Are the same factors taken into account when assessing productivity and quality? Are the same technologies being used? What’s the image held by the people about this activity? How was the sector’s future depicted from that moment in time? The responses between past and present are likely to differ greatly, which gives us an inkling of what may transpire in the next few years. Because of this, one shared concern of individual professionals and companies is to ensure that their human resources’ skills are up to date with developmental changes in the context of a professional activity. Indeed, this is a reality that also affects the sector of language service providers. It is obvious that the translation of the past bears little resemblance to what it is today. Back in time, the most important change was the onset of the digitization era and the way it conquered every medium. In this way, the use of computers in their daily activities became necessary for those looking to succeed in an industry which, at present, carries out their communications via the Internet through email and web portals, consults and sends budgets in virtual format and mainly experiences the reality of their business online. Nowadays, our industry’s landscape is a legacy from that time.
In the translation context, the challenge at that time was to perform our work using computers, while the current challenge consists of learning to use a great number of assisted translation tools, learning to work in different formats, adapting to each industry’s lingo and mastering new specialty areas that come up as we move forward. That said, the translator that trained a decade ago cannot carry out their activity in the same manner today, and the translator that is being trained now will have to face new challenges in the future. This has led to the consolidation of an ongoing learning culture in the professional area, that is, the need to keep acquiring new knowledge that can especially be applied at work. This has proven incredibly advantageous for the workforce, since a suitable training plan can provide them with the optimal know-how to improve their performance, also increasing their productivity while keeping them engaged with a system that offers them the possibility of learning different aspects of interest and the result of which they can further see reflected. Based on this, an increasing number of companies are carrying out human resource studies to find out where there is still room for improvement. For this purpose, the administration can contact their staff to ask them about their tastes or requirements as well as to analyze each worker’s profile and find out the additions that could serve to reinforce their competitiveness.
In the translation’s industry, the most demanded training plans are those related to learning new assisted translation tools, as these open the gates to new projects and new clients, as well as the inclusion of new formats. At the individual level, the courses that generate the most interest and commitment are those which get us closer to translation modalities that differ from those which we are currently working on, in order to become acquainted with new areas of expertise. Along these lines are also those courses about specific knowledge fields that are taken to complement translation studies, such as medical, legal translation, etc. And finally, although not directly tied to translation, there are courses that can be applied at the company or personal level, such as time or stress management courses, coaching in communication techniques, etc. Ultimately, translation is an industry in continuous development and the best strategy to keep up to date is to foster continuous professional development.
Image reference: https://virtualspeech.com/blog/what-is-professional-development
