28 Jul /15

Part III: A Day in the Life of Our Global Head of Human Resources, Martina Radina

Part I: EVS Translations Is Looking for New Team Members

Part II: How to Become a Professional Translator

Global Head of Human Resources, Martina Radina - EVS Translations
Global Head of Human Resources, Martina Radina – EVS Translations

We talk to our Global Head of Human Resources who gives us her international perspective on the company, tells us about the opportunities available at EVS Translations and gives some advice for aspiring translators.

1. What’s been on your “To do” list recently?

As I am responsible for the recruiting of our worldwide in-house staff, one of my tasks since January has been to fill up to 20 additional positions. These are mostly for translators and proofreaders with English, German or French as their native language, as well as additional project managers to coordinate the translation projects. Handling all kinds of issues for our 125+ employees is a daily challenge and no day is ever the same.

2. How do you think EVS Translations differs to other translation companies?

I have interviewed a lot of candidates over the years and heard about how other translation companies work. We seem to be unique in that our internal and external translators don’t have to do any document formatting and can concentrate on their translation work. Similarly, our project managers don’t have to do proofreading or formatting and can focus on their project management tasks. For us, quality checks are only done by our internal proofreaders and the formatting work by our translation engineers.

3. Do you have any advice for people who are interested in applying to work at EVS Translations? Is there any specific advice for translators?

Look at our website regularly or follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn. Speculative applications are always welcome. We have an application form on the careers page of our website and I will decide whether an applicant might be suitable for future positions. For translators, I recommend that they specialize in one or two fields and that they get some experience of CAT tools. This is very important if they want to stand out in the competition.

4. When did you join EVS Translations and what do you like most about working for this company?

I joined EVS Translations in 2006. When I started there were only 22 employees in Germany and 16 abroad. Now there are 68 in Germany and 57 abroad. It’s amazing to see how the company has grown in the last few years. And I hired nearly all of them! We have 55 native-speaker translators who are all working in-house in our worldwide offices and always translate into their mother tongue, so you can imagine that it was not always easy to find them.

I enjoy working for such an international company. I visit the other offices at least once a year and when I’m there, I usually attend appraisal meetings to hear about the development of the employees and to ask about any issues they need to address with HR. I’ve learned a lot about international employment law and so far we have 16 different nationalities in our offices worldwide, although that figure is set to rise. I am really proud to say that we have a very good team around the world at EVS Translations.

5. What makes it so attractive to work for EVS Translations?

Firstly, I think it’s that we invest in our employees. For instance, we developed a 6-9 month trainee programme and went directly to universities in the UK to recruit graduates with an MA in languages and translation. We’ve trained up to 20 native English speakers in the last 10 years and most of them have developed into expert translators with specific areas that they specialise in. Two years ago we also started a student programme for “General Management – International Business”.  After graduating with a BA qualification, the student starts his or her career in management at one of the EVS Translations offices. There are excellent possibilities for development and also for moving between our international offices.

Secondly, a flat hierarchy and our work time models are definite pros. We are a family-friendly company with mums who work flexible hours so they can cope with the demands of having children. In all our offices, we offer free water and coffee. Pension plans are available to all employees and additional social benefits are offered depending on the office location. When you’re new to the company, a mentor supports you during your induction phase. And you are made to feel welcome from day one!