Career development: embracing specialisation and navigating change
Many of us have found ourselves at a crossroads in our professional lives, agonising over which way to turn. The good news is that decision-making is a skill: it can be learnt and improved with practice. Terri White told the story of her learning-by-doing approach to her career in a talk on career development – the perfect fit for the meeting’s crossroads theme.
A tale spanning some three decades, Terri’s professional journey offered a window into our changing world through the eyes of one affirmed translator, disgruntled by the AI-fuelled discontent on social media, feeling young people are being underprepared for the workplace, and convinced associations should do more to support experienced professionals, foraying beyond the translation profession itself.
Career development is a topic I read widely on and am drawn to, especially as we delve deeper into what it means to be a human worker in an AI world. There’s always something to be learnt from the stories of others and I was curious to hear Terri’s. Judging by the lack of spare seats in the room, I wasn’t the only one.
Despite not having slides, Terri had us visualising our businesses like the nucleus of an atom: protons and neutrons orbited by three lines of thought: competence, communication and content (the electrons, in her analogy).
Competence is about investment. We need the right tools to do a good job, and learning the skills of our craft takes time. Terri is a self-confessed low-tech translator, preferring Word glossaries to CAT tools; others, she acknowledged, may flourish at the other end of the scale and delight in trying out new tech (me!). Her message was to find what works and know who we are as professionals.
Communication is about people. Terri advocates specialisation and argued, convincingly, that our clients will only treat us as equals if we show them we know our stuff. We must engage with them in a collaborative process and not shy away from asking questions, clarifying a brief or validating terminology. Communication also flows through our professional networks and Terri stressed the importance of getting involved in associations and alumni groups, supporting colleagues and seizing opportunities to connect online.
Content is about specialisation. Terri estimated she spends some 10+ hours on professional development weekly, including reading, attending trade fairs, watching webinars, doing on-the-ground research and talking to the pros in her fields. An early adopter of the specialist-over-generalist maxim, Terri shared how formal training (an MA in legal translation) led to her first specialisation (law), which fizzled out over time, supplanted by an area of personal interest: architecture. By putting in the hours (back to that learning-by-doing) and immersing herself in models and diagrams, taking on a more visual approach to the urban world, Terri found her place among architects, as well as translators. “Architects want you to love architecture,” she said. Terri’s enthusiasm was palpable and surely inspiring for anyone in the room metaphorically sitting at a professional crossroads.
The takeaway message was one of empowerment, inviting us to be active and alert, engaged in our practice and always with the bigger picture in mind, adapting to change. Terri encouraged us to focus on finding what works for our business and pursue goals with dedication; in short, taking ourselves seriously so as to be taken seriously by our clients.
The Q&A at the end showed Terri’s tale had struck a chord. The lingering note for me was the role played by professional associations like MET in providing a space for us to keep sharing our stories, learning from peers and finding our way forward, together.
This METM24 presentation was chronicled by Hayley Smith*.
Featured photo courtesy of MET.
*Sign in to the MET website to view Hayley’s profile.