Translation as a Profession (Benjamins Translation Library)

354 Translation as a ProfessionAcademic institutionsIndustry/the professionProvide information on training profilesDefine the basic courseDefine professional aims and objectivesDefine the professionally oriented course componentsProvide the basic training(with the help of external tutors from the profession)Provide information on the various job profiles and careersProvide opportunities for ‘passive’ workplacementsSimulate ‘real-life’ professional situations(with the help of external tutors)Emulate professional practice(with the help of external tutors)Offer ‘active’ work placementsOffer employment and opportunities forself-employment9.2 Trainer profilesIn any course, there must first of all be someone, or a closely-knit group (team)of people, who know exactly where they are heading, what objectives they wantto reach, and how they think they can achieve them. This person or these personsmust be those who define the contents and learning outcomes for each coursecomponent and check the overall consistency and coherence of the curriculum.What is needed is a harmonious combination of trainers who are primarilytranslators and trainers who are primarily academics. This has a number of farreachingimplications.First of all, if it is commonly accepted that translation jobs now involve amultiplicity of tasks including file processing and management, scanning, variouskinds of quality controls, analysis, comprehension, documentation, terminography,phraseography, proof-reading, revision, disassembly/reassembly, conversionsinto and out of a variety of formats, layout, dissemination on a number of differentmedia, then it follows that training must be carried out:– by a ‘conductor’, who has a perfect overview and mastery of all the relevantoperations, tasks, procedures and tools required for optimum translationservice provision;or– by a closely coordinated team working to a carefully thought out schedulebased on finely staggered learning phases, because a critical path analysis oftranslation service provision and of translator training confirms that each and