some careers links

Hi guys, here are a few careers links that I came across recently and thought might be useful.

For school leavers thinking about how to prepare for a career as a linguist, there is basic information about translation career pathways at the CILT – Languages Work website. School leavers might also like to look at the Prospects website.

For anyone attracted by the idea of a career in the European institutions, you can find out more here. One way to start a career as a linguist with the European institutions is to apply to the (highly competitive) ‘Blue Book’ traineeship scheme which can lead to placements for suitably qualified candidates at the Directorate-General for Translation at the European Commission.

Or try your University careers service. Purple Door at the University of Portsmouth often has vacancies for translators. Interested UoP students and graduates should send a CV to purpledoor.recruitment@port.ac.uk. The University of Nottingham has a useful-looking page of translation careers stuff here.

Again for graduates or graduating students, the Tips for Translators blog recently published a mega list of translation agencies worldwide which you might find useful when sending out CVs. The post is dated 27 September 2009. Remember to target CVs carefully – it’s worth looking up agencies and finding out as much as you can about them before making contact. And, of course, make sure that your CV and covering email are lovingly burnished, polished, spellchecked, formatted and proofread to within an inch of their life. Portsmouth students and graduates can take advantage of Purple Door’s CV surgery.

If you decide to go the route of looking for an internship or placement, you could try suitable agencies in your region, or read back over this blog for companies which have advertised placements in the past. You might also like to try the translation placement page at the National Network for Translation site. Even if you don’t find an advertised placement to suit you, you may find the handbook of use in negotiating a placement with a company directly.

Lastly, a couple of blogs that I found interesting recently:
this blog has podcasts on practical issues relating to the industry in the US, and I really liked this page with common misconceptions about translation.