On November 19th, 2019 the Argentina Chapter of Women in Localization (WIL) hosted a gathering of working professionals and translation students in Belgrano, Buenos Aires. Around thirty women attended the event, Professional Insertion and Development for Translators, which was supported by several sponsors. Terra Translations was proud to be one of these sponsors.
Who Participated
Our Chief People Officer Natalia Quintás presented at the event alongside two other speakers. Natalia has been with Terra Translations for more than five years and has experience working as a vendor manager, permanent staff administrator, and training and development manager. She has more than 15 years of experience working in first-level global companies and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She’s an invaluable member of our team and we knew her experience and expertise would inspire the women attending the event.
The Event
The event composed of a variety of presentations about the translation industry and kicked off with a brief introduction to WIL by Virginia Minhondo, the Argentina Chapter Manager of WIL. Her presentation explained the history of WIL, how the organization supports volunteer work, and how translators can join WIL.
Natalia’s Presentation
Natalia’s presentation was titled “Keys to Develop Your Professional Career” and provided attendees with tips on how to enter the translation industry market. She covered a variety of helpful topics ranging from perfecting your resume to how to use LinkedIn to your advantage during a job search.
She also provided insight as to what different roles linguists can work in and how important is to plan a career path that lines up with your goals. Natalia discussed which skills will make translators stand out within the industry and how they can become part of a high-performance team. As well as how if someone wants to have a successful career in the translation industry, they must develop particular abilities relating to problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, team spirit, decision-making, detail-orientation, negotiation skills, and cognitive flexibility.
The Presentation Key Ideas
There were multiple speakers at the event. One of which spoke of her own professional experience navigating the translation industry as a recent graduate. She shared her perspective on how the industry evolved over the past decade. This speaker offered invaluable insight into how translators can insert themselves in the professional translation market when they first begin their career. She emphasized that learning new software and embracing CAT tools is a necessary part of keeping up with the latest trends in our industry. She argued that these tools are not our enemies, but can help enrich our work and make our lives easier.
Another speaker, focused on how freelance translators can obtain work-life balance. She advocated that time management is one of the most important skills to be learned by freelance translators. She also shared tips for how freelancers can organize important, yet sometimes neglected, tasks such as invoicing and project tracking with the help of templates and digital sheets.
Our Commitment Continues
We’re proud to report that Natalia’s presentation was positively welcomed by the audience, who appreciated having a Human Resources professional’s perspective on how translators should be inserting themselves in the translation industry. After her presentation, many young professionals approached Natalia to discuss details about their own experiences as translators. At Terra Translations we always strive to support other women in the translation industry, so we would say this event was an outstanding success.
