Fourth-Year Student Guide to Finding a Translation Job- Step #3

You’ve got your impressive résumé, your mind-blowing cover letter and now you get to sit back, relax and watch the magic happen. Right? Wrong. 

Sorry to break it to you but this is when the real work starts. Your impressive résumé and mind-blowing cover letter are of no use to you if they’re saved on your computer waiting to be e-mailed out. 
Get yourself out there!

So, you’ve probably heard the term “networking”. If you haven’t, here you go: Business Networking. You need to use your network, whether of online connections, friends, family, the next-door neighbour you only talk to when you both end up shoveling your driveways at the same time (awkward, right?) or school alumni. This involves getting your inner salesperson out. Sell yourself. And I mean that in the most non-offensive way possible. Show people what you have to offer. When opportunities present themselves to talk about your skills and what kind of job you’re looking for, don’t be shy. I have a friend, we’ll call her Serena. She’s sitting in a Starbucks, working on an assignment and using Photoshop to design a web page. There’s a guy sitting next to her who has been talking and talking and talking on the phone the entire time cutting deals, calling Tokyo, and trading stock. She’s finished her second macchiato, closed up her laptop and is about to get up. He puts his call on hold, gets her attention and asks her if she’s a Graphics Designer. She’s not. But he’s been watching her progress the entire time and gives her his card. Turns out this guy has about 100 connections in the field she’s interested in and he ends up linking her to some people hiring. We don’t all get a Starbucks story but the point is that we have to get out there and take advantage of opportunities to show people how awesome we really are. I mean who’s to say the guy at the party you’re at isn’t looking for a Translator for his up-and-coming website?

 Let people know you’re looking

Hey, I understand, telling people you’re broke and unemployed is not fun. It’s not. But you don’t really have to let people know you’re broke, you just have to let them know you’re looking. There’s a way to do that without appearing desperate or pathetic. I promise.  How about this: 

Easy, right? I’m not saying this will happen all the time. In fact, maybe it will only happen 1 out of every 50 times you ask. But that 1 time is all you need if it lands you a job, right?

So, it’s time to practice what I’m preaching. Glendon is having their Translation Alumni Night this month and I’ve got to get out there and sell myself, round up some business cards and get the ball rolling. You never know. Maybe this’ll be the chance I've been waiting for.