Back in 2015, we wrote a blog about our trainee, Thomas Schmidt, who was in the middle of his dual studies degree. This degree combined academic study on campus with a series of placements at EVS Translations across its different departments and international offices. At Northumbria University he had the opportunity to acquire a double Bachelor’s degree meaning in the UK he has completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with First Class Honours in International Business Administration and in Germany in International Business majoring in General Management. Fast-forward to 2018 and he has really become a key member of the project management team in Germany! We caught up with him and asked him to tell us more about life beyond being a trainee…
How long have you been with EVS Translations, Thomas?
It’s been 5 years in total and 2 years as a team leader and project manager.
Did you learn any life lessons during your traineeship?
Yes! Seek help from others. Talk with your coworkers as they can always give you advice on how to handle a complicated project or help a specific client. Organisation is a very important lesson of project management, too – a project is only as good as its organisation.
Give upcoming graduates 3 pieces of advice for securing a career in the translation & localisation industry.
Don’t fear mistakes, as you are learning entirely new skills when starting your career. Learn from them and love learning in order to develop yourself. Being able to work with other people in your department and office is essential – they are the ones who have your back if you do stumble in the beginning. Being able to work together and help one another is vital to your career success. And also pay close attention to the requirements of your clients – you need listening skills!
Tell us the top 3 skills graduates need.
- Time-management and organisational skills – understand what the priorities are
- Working successfully with different personalities/cultures
- Flexibility to manage different types of projects or work with different kinds of clients. One size doesn’t fit all, so be ready to adapt and think two steps ahead.
What made you decide to stay long-term with EVS Translations?
EVS Translations has a great working environment, and it’s a very international one too. There are some really great opportunities to make a solid contribution to the company and for career development.
What’s the future of the translation & localisation industry 10 years from now?
The translation industry has a bright future and volumes will still expand despite growing competition. Whether machine translation will really impact the industry, hard to say. New technologies will speed up translation times and increase productivity, but the only way to have success on the market is to provide skilled professional human translation. For many of our clients, high-quality is not optional.
You wake up and you suddenly find you can speak a) Chinese fluently or b) Arabic fluently. Which do you choose?
Chinese! It´s one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, it’s economically important and it’s one of the most in-demand languages at EVS Translations – that’s why the company formed its in-house Chinese translator team. I could practice my skills with them!
Thank you to Thomas for sharing a little bit of busy schedule with us. He really is a super star!
If you would like to know more about career opportunities at EVS Translations, take a look at the current opportunities shown on our website, or contact our human resources department at: careers(at)evs-translations.com to find out more about our graduate trainee programmes for translation and proofreading.
