Getting an internship, is it possible?
Thread poster: Fiorella Occhionero
Fiorella Occhionero
Fiorella Occhionero
Argentina
Local time: 16:55
English to Spanish
+ ...
Oct 8, 2020

Hi! I've recently become interested in cultivating a translating career, particularly in the fields of education, social science, literature, etc. As I'm currently pursuing another University degree that's not about translating, I'm following the advice of more established translators and focusing on accumulating some experience before actually looking for a paid project. That's why I've started volunteering at Translators Without Borders, and even though I'm planning to stick to that for at lea... See more
Hi! I've recently become interested in cultivating a translating career, particularly in the fields of education, social science, literature, etc. As I'm currently pursuing another University degree that's not about translating, I'm following the advice of more established translators and focusing on accumulating some experience before actually looking for a paid project. That's why I've started volunteering at Translators Without Borders, and even though I'm planning to stick to that for at least some months, I've also started looking at offering my services to translating agencies in quality of an "intern" or "volunteer".
Of course, the idea terrifies me. As I said, I don't think I'm qualified enough for that yet, but curiosity got the best of me and I started looking through the agency directory and looking up some of them. As expected, most of them have certain requirements for the translators they work with, and I don't comply with almost any of them.
That's when I started wondering if agencies actually take interns or volunteers, and if so, how do they manage them. Besides, how does one go about getting an internship? Emailing them a letter of presentation and my CV sounds kind of rude, and even if they were interested, can just any company take on remote interns? The legal side of it all avoids me. I would really appreciate it if anyone can shed some light on the reality of this.
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Dylan J Hartmann
Dylan J Hartmann  Identity Verified
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...

MODERATOR
I've had 2 interns Oct 9, 2020

Don't intern with agencies!!! Intern with freelancers in your area.

I've had 2 interns. The first one, since leaving me now is a full-time translator and expert in her field, owns 2 houses a car and has a wonderful family of canines.

My second intern just started recently and is a high school graduate on her gap-year, and has great potential!

I endeavour to teach them the skills that have helped me gain success as a freelancer. In return, I get great in-off
... See more
Don't intern with agencies!!! Intern with freelancers in your area.

I've had 2 interns. The first one, since leaving me now is a full-time translator and expert in her field, owns 2 houses a car and has a wonderful family of canines.

My second intern just started recently and is a high school graduate on her gap-year, and has great potential!

I endeavour to teach them the skills that have helped me gain success as a freelancer. In return, I get great in-office support while they're with me, and once skills are up-to-standard, I'll have someone who I can turn to when I need to subcontract jobs.

It's really a win-win for both parties.

To other translators, consider hiring interns! They need experience and often we need an extra hand!

Good Luck!
DJH
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 19:55
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@Fiorella Oct 9, 2020

Even if you can find a remote internship I wonder what you will learn. The idea of a translation internship is learning by working closely with Project Managers throughout the customer cycle and translation process and this can’t be done remotely. Anyway, I don’t know how is the situation in your country regarding the pandemic, but this moment in time is less than ideal to look for an internship…

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:55
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Mentoring programme Oct 9, 2020

It sounds to me like you should be looking for a mentoring programme. Some of the translators' associations run them, and there's one here at ProZ.com. So check that out.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 


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Getting an internship, is it possible?







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