14438_ITI_Career_Bulletin_2017_v2 (5)

ITI
What are the most important
learning points you have
taken from SUFT?
The course confirmed the
importance of offering a
specialisation and I had an obvious
one in the area of legal documents. I
also realised that a large number of
skills that I had developed in the
course of my legal career were
equally applicable to the field of
translation – for example, attention
to detail, time management and a
professional, customer-focused
attitude are all essential to the work
of a translator. The course confirmed
that my plan to develop new
contacts through networking, both
online and in person, rather than
simply sending emails to agencies,
was a sensible one.
legal translators who have not
worked as lawyers. All the work I
have had to date has been related
to my specialisation.
What’s next, after winning
ITI’s Award Best Newcomer?
I will continue to grow the
translation side of my business and
develop my network of contacts. I
will be attending the German
Network Anglophoner Tag in Chester
in September and then travelling to
Hannover to attend the BDÜ
specialist legal translation and
interpreting conference in October. I
am also going to be working on
improving my Italian with a view to
offering a second language in years
to come.
What sort of assignments do
you typically find yourself
taking on?
I launched my translation
business in February and so far I
have undertaken a mixture of
translation and proofreading of a
wide range of documents in the
legal field, working with both
agencies and direct clients.
Do you see specialisation as
an advantage?
Yes, I think that my experience of
working as a solicitor has been a
significant advantage both in terms
of attracting good clients and
delivering high-quality translations.
The fact that I continue to undertake
legal work helps keep me up to date
in my specialist field and perhaps
helps me compare favourably to
26 ITI BULLETIN CAREERS SPECIAL
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