Curious about the people behind the emails and phone calls? Ever wondered what it takes to pursue a career in the translation industry? In our Meet the Team series, we introduce you to the Business Language Services (BLS) team, giving you a closer look at their roles and how they contribute to the success of the team.
This time we meet one of our Project Managers, Joe.
Can you introduce yourself and describe your current role?
My name is Joseph Smith, though most people call me Joe. I am part of the project management team here at Business Language Services, so along with my fellow project managers, I am responsible for coordinating the preparation, execution and delivery of our translation, interpreting and language training projects. I look after projects throughout their entire lifecycle, from analysing source files and preparing an initial quote for the client, sourcing and briefing linguists, through to checking completed files and delivering the final translations to the client. Alongside my project management duties, I also perform translations in my language combinations – French, German and Dutch into English – as well as English localisation tasks. I have also been involved in our SEO efforts, drafting new copy for our company website, which has added another interesting side to my role and ensures that no two days are the same.
What languages do you work with and how have you developed proficiency in them?
My main two languages are French and German, which I studied all the way from GCSE through to my bachelor’s degree and master’s in translation. I also studied Dutch for two years during my undergraduate degree, which I picked up very quickly thanks to its high level of similarity with German, and I have continued to practise and develop my skills independently since graduation. I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to work or study abroad during my degree due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that I graduated a year sooner than planned. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to maintain my academic momentum and continue into postgraduate translation studies, where I developed my passion for the craft of translation and the language services industry more broadly.
What was your background before this role, and how did it prepare you for your current position?
Before joining the BLS team, I worked as a temporary translation project manager for a similar language services provider based in Surrey. I mostly worked on large high-value marketing and corporate training materials, which opened my eyes to the organisation, customer service and meticulous attention to detail required in high-stakes commercial translation projects. This experience has been invaluable in my current role, especially when performing quality assurance checks and formatting improvements on translated documents before final delivery.
Were there any specific experiences (e.g., study abroad or previous jobs) that helped prepare you for this role?
My time working as a freelance translator alongside my master’s has been particularly useful in my role as a project manager. Not only did it allow me to put my translation skills from the classroom into practice, but it also gave me first-hand experience of the work of a translator. This has allowed me to better understand the needs and pressures of the linguists with whom I am placing translations as a project manager, enabling me to more accurately assess how much time to allow for projects and the information and resources linguists are likely to need in order to do their best work.
Can you walk us through a typical day at BLS?
Each day starts with checking through email inboxes and client portals for any new requests and updates on ongoing projects. From there, no two days pan out the same. I will analyse files and prepare quotes for any new requests that we receive, check in on the progress of ongoing projects, follow up on pending quotes, and perform quality checks on completed files and deliver them to the client. I may also carry out translations in my language combinations if my schedule allows. At any one time, each project manager could be working on a dozen different projects and quotes at various stages, so organisation, time management and multitasking are key skills!
What’s the best part of your job?
As alluded to above, the variety of work is one of the best parts of a project manager’s role. I will always be juggling multiple projects at once, each with its own unique requirements. We work with a wide range of different languages, clients and language services on a daily basis, so you never know what new and interesting jobs you will have on from one day to the next.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face in the industry?
One of the biggest challenges that translation project managers face is navigating the so-called ‘iron triangle’ of project management: quality, price and speed. Every project – not just in the language services industry – involves a delicate balancing act: maintaining quality while keeping prices competitive and meeting agreed deadlines. For translation and interpreting projects, project managers need to ensure that the rates offered to translation suppliers reflect their qualifications and expertise, give those linguists the turnaround times needed to provide high-quality work, offer clients the best possible prices, and deliver work to clients within the agreed timeframe. We therefore offer a range of service levels to our clients, allowing us to prioritise the factors that are most important to a given project and ensure that we meet the needs and expectations of our clients every time.
What advice would you give to someone considering a role like yours? Are there any particular skills that are essential for a successful career in translation?
Excellent organisation and time management are essential skills for translation project managers, as we are often juggling many different tasks and projects simultaneously and need to keep track of multiple deadlines, client requirements and project stakeholders. A good general knowledge of languages and linguistics is also hugely beneficial. You will be working with hundreds of different languages in your career, so your life will be easier if you have a basic knowledge of the broad languages families around the world and what languages are spoken where, and can identify the major languages even if you can’t speak or read them. The latter is one of the ‘party tricks’ of many project managers in the translation industry, but it is also a valuable practical asset when preparing quotes and advising clients. If you have a love of all things languages, project management at a language service provider can be a highly interesting and rewarding career!
- To find out more about the team, visit https://businesslanguageservices.co.uk/meet-the-team/
- Interested in working with us? Visit https://businesslanguageservices.co.uk/work-for-us/
