Elizabeth Johnson spends time with our Birmingham team

Unfortunately my stay with the Translation People is coming to an end, so now it’s time to reflect on what I’ve learned…

Just to quickly introduce myself – I graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in French and Spanish with Interpreting in 2009, after which I spent some time in Montreal, brushing up on my French skills. Before returning to the UK in December 2010, I looked to get some experience in translating and was lucky enough to be accepted at the Birmingham office of the Translation People.

First and foremost I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the Birmingham team – over these past four weeks they have made me feel extremely welcome, at ease and part of their team. Working with the Translation People, I’ve had the opportunity to familiarise myself with numerous applications e.g. Worx, Ad Words and TRADOS, which have consolidated both my translation and administrative skills. I’d had some previous experience with translation software, but I feel that here I’ve been given the opportunity to get to grips with it more.

Secondly I’ve had a taste of what it’s really like to work in a translation company, learning the ins and outs of coordinating various translation services, and the importance of working as a team. There are so many equally important stages to managing a translation project which I hadn’t considered beforehand: assigning the translation to a freelance translator or agency, proofreading and formatting to name but a few.

Thanks to my time here, I have determined that translation is a profession I would love to pursue and, in fact, Project/Account Management is a career path I will definitely consider now I’ve had an insight into what it’s about.