Poll: How many areas of expertise do you have? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many areas of expertise do you have?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | 1 (a very large one) | Aug 25 |
I started my career as a part-time generalist translator (working mostly in economics, education and training, hospitality and tourism) and then in 1986 I became a staff translator (through a selection procedure) working at a European Institution which issues opinions on EU legislation in a wide range of areas, from social affairs to economic and monetary policy, taxation, climate change, migration and asylum, public health and sustainability. I retired in 2006 and since then I’ve been working... See more I started my career as a part-time generalist translator (working mostly in economics, education and training, hospitality and tourism) and then in 1986 I became a staff translator (through a selection procedure) working at a European Institution which issues opinions on EU legislation in a wide range of areas, from social affairs to economic and monetary policy, taxation, climate change, migration and asylum, public health and sustainability. I retired in 2006 and since then I’ve been working as a freelancer. As you would expect, these are now the fields I feel quite comfortable with and I enjoy the most. ▲ Collapse
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Some people know what they know. But too many others rely on AI, MT, Google etc. to then claim expertise.
I prefer honesty.
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 11:07
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
| 4 with sub-specializations | Aug 26 |
I specialize in IT, video games, automotive and engineering and wouldn't dare market myself as a generalist, since there are areas in which I am utterly clueless.
That being said, IT and video games are very broad specializations in themselves. In the IT context, I have ended up translating some light medical copy occasionally (medical is one of the areas I usually do not serve). And obviously, video games can have any kind of subject matter and themes, so I basically only tell my game loc... See more I specialize in IT, video games, automotive and engineering and wouldn't dare market myself as a generalist, since there are areas in which I am utterly clueless.
That being said, IT and video games are very broad specializations in themselves. In the IT context, I have ended up translating some light medical copy occasionally (medical is one of the areas I usually do not serve). And obviously, video games can have any kind of subject matter and themes, so I basically only tell my game loc customers that I do not translate certain genres (I am utterly clueless when it comes to MOBA and Tower Defense games). ▲ Collapse
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One main one but it includes all sorts of topics because it is EU affairs which are about everything especially if it's about directives. Apart from that, I am an art specialist - MA in Baroque and draw/paint but never got any jobs that deal with art exhibitions, museum programmes, restoration, provenance etc.
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 10:07
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
The strongest one is legal, followed by medical, automotive, tourism and technical.
| | | | IrinaN
United States
Local time: 04:07
English to Russian
+ ...
| 2 - translation and interpretation | Aug 26 |
Expertise is a big word not to be used freely.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll be doing another 3-day multilateral simo gig involving power, thermal, navigation, legal, finance, flight mechanics, structures and mechanisms, propulsion systems, safety and about half a dozen more subjects. I am ready but am I an expert? Can I put together technical reports and slides on each subject for the audience to read? Of course, not. Can I participate in the discussions as a system engineer or a lawye... See more Expertise is a big word not to be used freely.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll be doing another 3-day multilateral simo gig involving power, thermal, navigation, legal, finance, flight mechanics, structures and mechanisms, propulsion systems, safety and about half a dozen more subjects. I am ready but am I an expert? Can I put together technical reports and slides on each subject for the audience to read? Of course, not. Can I participate in the discussions as a system engineer or a lawyer? Of course, not. Can I explain physics or mathematics of every process behind every sentence? Of course, not. Could I explain or describe certain details in my own words without a slide or a speaker? Quite a few by now, but not always. I do not have a specialized degree ensuring an in-depth professional knowledge in any of the fields I work in. In my book, that means that I am not an expert in anything but translation and interpretation.
Funny, the latter can be achieved without a special translation degree, or can not even with such . We are indeed in the unique trade. On top of the back-breaking labor, it's all about talent and being natural. I'm not ashamed to mention talent in reference to myself. All credit goes to my parents who, by the way, had forgotten to give me an ear for music, must have been in a hurry:-). Every human is born with one talent or another, I firmly believe in it. Those of us who discovered ours and turned it into money-making, mixing business with pleasure, are indeed very lucky.
So, what I have, and what makes me entitled to do such jobs is specialization, experience, 25 years of hands-on practice and bloody self-study, a truckload of terminology and the in-depth knowledge of the sequence of events to be discussed, complemented by the now obtained decent luggage of deeper understanding of what I’ll be interpreting about, enough to be able to be concise, filter the most important information when necessary, and not to blab word-per word senselessly.
But I’m still not an expert in anything that awaits me starting tomorrow at 2 am CDT. 😊.
I would say that the title should be reworded to “specialization.” ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 11:07
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
IrinaN wrote:
I do not have a specialized degree ensuring an in-depth professional knowledge in any of the fields I work in. In my book, that means that I am not an expert in anything but translation and interpretation.
This is close to my view of the profession of translator: I'm an expert in translation and that's basically all it takes to translate a wide variety of technical, medical, legal and virtually any scientific subjects.
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IrinaN
United States
Local time: 04:07
English to Russian
+ ...
Lieven Malaise wrote:
[I'm an expert in translation and that's basically all it takes to translate a wide variety of technical, medical, legal and virtually any scientific subjects.
I agreed with you yet I find this statement a bit too broad-sweeping:-). I could never get to where I am now on my own, without the interpretation part - a day-in-day-out, shoulder-to-shoulder work with the real experts talking, and technical editors correcting. No individual reading or research would have been enough with my 100% non-tech educational background. I know my limitations all too well so, say, applied sciences, neurosurgeons and chemical engineers can sleep tight - won't touch it with a 10-foot pole. To this day I decline meetings on space medicine - I can memorize only "flu" and "aspirin", my brain rejects the subject, I don't read any related popular articles unless I need to double-check some medical advise, anything medical paralyzes me and I swallow my tongue, or wouldn't know how to combine a written sentence with the found separate terms. Maybe because I fully comprehend the depth of my ignorance and dread to show the fool that I am in the field. I'm too old for this sh*t, and too used to being praised by the same clients.
On top of all, it takes a lot of luck and many aligned stars to hit the market right then and there.
[Edited at 2024-08-26 21:40 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 11:07
French to English
I got my first job at an agency on the strength of a translation test for the fashion industry. Having learned dressmaking at my mother's knee, I knew all the terminology. So that became my first specialist subject.
I learned a lot on the job and a lot of fashion stuff touched on textiles, and textiles is a separate area of expertise because obviously it's not the preserve of fashion designers.
I then branched out into other adjacent industries such as luxury and cosmetics: you nee... See more I got my first job at an agency on the strength of a translation test for the fashion industry. Having learned dressmaking at my mother's knee, I knew all the terminology. So that became my first specialist subject.
I learned a lot on the job and a lot of fashion stuff touched on textiles, and textiles is a separate area of expertise because obviously it's not the preserve of fashion designers.
I then branched out into other adjacent industries such as luxury and cosmetics: you need the same flair and style to translate their press releases as for fashion shows.
The agency that took over the agency I was working for, was specialised in tourism so I started doing translations for them. A lot of descriptions of hotels and restaurants, mostly pretty easy stuff, and then I discovered that the descriptions of places of interest was, well, of interest. So I got into translating texts about museums, cathedrals, monasteries, and hikes. As an avid traveller, I found it so fascinating I was more than prepared to go the extra mile to learn the terminology for medieval and Renaissance architecture.
Then I was asked to translate a text for an art exhibition. I have always loved art, I've attended countless art history courses and so it was truly enjoyable. I put it on my CV as an area of expertise and have been able to work with artists and art galleries and museums including a prestigious establishment in Paris.
My USP is my creative flair, which can be applied to loads of different fields. ▲ Collapse
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