TRANSLATION AS A CAREER

Translation is a way to travel beyond cultural boundaries and to share experiences. Had translation not been there, human civilization could not have travelled so far from the age of wheel and fire to the age of 'mars mission'. In an essentially diverse world, translation has provided the way to transmit great ideas to the human kind and providing them many solutions for betterment. It can be said that the first translator of the world would have been someone who perhaps had helped someone lost from his tribe or perhaps a person who had helped mitigate a conflict between two warring groups. But in modern context translation is not something to just transform a content word by word but it is something which beautifully converts the feelings of a content or statement to a quite different cultural landscape. So, a translator must be someone who has ample knowledge of two languages and more so he must also swim across the cultural landscapes of the time. To quote Gracia Marquez on translation 'it is a most difficult work and a good translation is always a recreation in another language'. In a country like India and also for the fast changing globalised world, the importance of translation is growing day by day. For the knowledge to disseminate further to the masses it is essential that good translation should be provided to the people who do not know essentially more languages than their native one. For the growth of tourism and for diplomatic purposes translators are much in demand. Even for the sake of security reasons, governments agencies are always on look for good translators. Many countries in this world do not use English or other major languages and their diplomatic visits are essentially accompanied by good translators and interpreters. In an age where geography is fast becoming history and internet is cutting across all sections of society, the English language is gradually losing its hold, thanks to the emergence of China, Japan and India as powers to reckon with. In such a scenario, the job of a translator or interpreter is increasingly being seen as a career option by many. In India where more than 200-major languages are in use and which is much diversified, translation provides tool to know the diversity of the nation. Had there not been good translations, Sharatchandra or Tagore could not have been popular among Indian or global masses. Continued on page 31 Sushant Jha facebook.com/director.employmentnews Employment News 17 - 23 October 2015 EDITORIAL www.employmentnews.gov.in 31 z Multinational companies are opening in India and are looking for well trained employable individuals. What to do? The increased number of options has added to the confusion. Hence, one needs to plan a career effectively and be updated with the changes so that one can grow with newer careers. One needs to be well informed about various choices and plan the next step accordingly. This can be done by understanding the major trends that affect jobs, which will enable a person in making better career decisions. The trends one is interested in may be as short as a few years or as long as 20+ years. Just like waves, trends move and change everything they come in contact with. If one is not prepared for the big wave he or she will be washed away like a toy in the ocean. Initially, trends start off so small that most people don't notice them. Eventually trends build up to a crescendo. Somewhere in between they make the evening news. The trick is to spot trends just as they begin, so that one has time to take action and change his or her life accordingly. An even better trick would be to predict the trends before they start. A career plan is a blueprint for success. The foundation on which one can build one’s vision- a picture of the success one aspires for. To construct a career action plan for oneself , one needs to have a clear understanding of one’s real self .To discover oneself, acquire knowledge of what one is good at, one likes to do or is not happy doing it. This will help a person to develop his or her personal career plan and map out the route for career. Choosing the right path is vital to finding balance, happiness and success. Hence, it is very important to select the career in the field of interest. Facets of Career Decision- Making Career decision-making is a process & a skill that can and should be taught. The purpose of career decision-making is to help one organize one’s thinking about factors important in choosing a career. It’s important to assess one’s style of decision-making to help overcome obstacles that might inhibit the process. The goal of career planning is to link academic knowledge and real-world experience to determine the path of one’s future professional life. The following definitions are important to understand the concept of career... z A JOB is a paid position requiring a group of specific attributes and skills that enable a person to perform tasks in an organization either part-time or full-time for a short or long duration. z An OCCUPATION is defined as a group of similar jobs found in different industries or organizations. z A CAREER is the sequence and variety of occupations (paid and unpaid) which one undertakes throughout a lifetime. More broadly career includes life roles, leisure activities, learning & work. z Career DEVELOPMENT is the process of managing life, learning and working over a lifespan. z Career GUIDANCE is an inclusive term that has been used to describe a range of interventions including career education and career counseling. “The decisions you make about your work life are especially important, since most people spend more of their waking lives working than doing anything else. Your choices will affect, not only yourself and those closest to you, but in some way the whole world.” —Laurence G. Boldt CAREER PLANNING Frequently Asked Questions 1. Why is Career planning important? Career planning helps you to take a close look at your current role and assess your values, skills and interests. It provides a framework and tools to assist you in planning for your future. Career planning focuses on improving your employability, value, engagement, motivation and performance. 2. Can most of my career development be done on the job? 90% of our professional development and learning comes from a combination of on-the-job experience, observation of others and receiving feedback. Most learning happens by doing. Only 10% of our development comes from formal training. 3. Who is responsible for my Career development plan? You are responsible for preparing and executing your career development plan. Your manager/supervisor and the University can provide guidance and support along the way. 4. What obstacles might get in the way of achieving my career development goals? It is a good idea to give some thought to the challenges and barriers you may face. Although some are unpredictable, it is important to try and identify these when preparing your career development plan and think of strategies to overcome them. The obstacles can be internal or external: External Obstacles are: Time, Money, Distractions, Family expectations and needs, Peer pressures/societal expectations, Childcare arrangements and cost, Stressful work life, Difficult working relationships, Organisational changes, Changes in field of work, Financial difficulties. Internal Obstacles are: Procrastination, Fear of failure, Fear of success, Perfectionism, Lack of motivation/apathy, Depression, Anxiety, Lack of assertiveness, Low self-esteem, Poor time management skills, Career indecisiveness 5. Why should I explore career clusters? Don’t you have to decide on one job eventually? You might believe there is only one career, and what if that career doesn’t work out. Many different careers require similar tasks and skills. If your interests and abilities match one cluster, there are many occupations within that cluster that may match your interests and skills. 6. I don’t have clear career goals or know what I want to do long-term. Is there a test that can tell me what career is right for me or what skills I need in order to be successful? There is not a test which will magically tell you what to do next or for the rest of your career. You can use a combination of tools to help. A selfassessment is the first step. 7. What is a Psychometric Test? Psychometric test is a tool used mainly in the recruitment process. It is recognized as an efficient way to gain insight into a person’s personality and psychological thinking. It can help in developing team spirit in the workplace and assess an individual’s priorities.Psychometric testing usually falls into three main categories: Ability testing, Aptitude tests and Personality questionnaires. Such test are used in various engineering and management examination 8. Which is the best stream: Management, Engineering or Medical to study? All have the potential of providing you a platform wherein you can have a sense of achievement in all possible respect. All provide the opportunity of bringing tangible change in the existing system. As far other incentives are concerned the achievers of all the three streams are mighty in their own respect. As a management student you can aspire to head a multinational giants like the Coke and the Pepsi where as an engineer or technocrat you stand the possibility of achieving the heights of the Indian President (Dr. APJ Kalam). Thus it should have been clear by now that potential is not in the stream it is your determination and the will power that help you scale heights. 9. What are values? Values are the principles that people use to determine how much something means to them. For example, you value your personal time, so you may not want a job that requires travel or weekend work. If you don’t want a stressful or risky job, you may not want to consider being a police officer. If prestige is important to you, you may want a job that will cause people to look up to you and respect you. 10. How can work skills and values help in successful career? The value of reliability, honor, dignity, and effort in the work and in own self respect may help you. Household chores, volunteering, and part-time work can help young people develop these traits. These experiences teach responsibility, decision-making skills, and that there are consequences to the choices we make. (The author is noted psychiatrist and life skills expert. He can be reached at email: jnagpal10@gmail.com, Contact No. 011- 64594939) EFFECTIVE CAREER... Continued from page 1 The writings of Munshi Premchand or even Shakespeare could not have been known to the people of the world. Also, for the welfare programmes of government or international agencies , good translation is essential for the success of these programmes and for the spread of messages they possess. Translation has a deep relationship with the language. Though, translation kills some essence of the content but good translation sometimes enhances the essence of the content as well. It is true that one's mother tongue cannot be equated with even best of the best translation as Michel Foucault correctly said that language is not just a means of communication; rather it is a thought process. Obviously, translation does not fit well with this definition as it comes from a different thought process but it helps different civilization come together and builds bridge between them. For the same reasons many great scholars of the day have preferred to read even poorly translated content in their own language; rather than reading it in an alien language difficult to understand or move them heartily. So what quality should a translator possess ? Obviously he must be master of both languages and their traditions and also master of the subject which he translating. He should translate the feelings; not the words without tampering the facts. Moreover, he should be having more command over the language in which he is going to translate or re-produce the content. In India with growing literacy rate and explosion of internet communication, translation is going to be much in demand. Government and non-government agencies, courts, security and diplomatic institutions as well as corporates are always in need of translators. Though, translation could be learnt through self study but there are several institutes which are providing translation degrees and diplomas which could be useful for the youth to seek employment in this sector: M.Phil. in Translation Studies University of Hyderabad - Centre for Applied Linguistics and Translation studies M.A. in 'Translation: Theory and Application'-University of Pune Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi for German, Alliance Francaise New Delhi for French, Cervantes for Spanish and so on. In West Bengal, Calcutta University (CU), Jadavpur University (JU) and Ramkrishna Mission offer language courses. The Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) in Hyderabad also offers language courses. Many other institutions and universities in the country have been offering translation courses. Again, a growing literacy rate in India is pushing publication houses to enter into the zone of local language translations and many global publication houses have started translation in Hindi and other national languages. Penguin and Harper Collins have entered into Hindi in a big way and they are also getting some success. So, there are opportunities spurring up. However it is not essential that a newcomer coming into this field would get instant success. Since, there is lot of competition in a large country like ours, one should create his name first and do the work at low rate for some month. He should also be a good networking person to get constant work. Generally, foreign agencies pay well in translation and there are many websites like proz.com which provide translation work. Even many government and non-government agencies and publication houses offer translation work on regular basis. But there should be quality and timely delivery assurance. Obviously, English to Hindi/other language or vice-versa is the main translation work happening in India but in terms of payment, Chinese, Japanese or Spanish are more paying. For example, the rate of English to Hindi translation varies from Rs 0.75 to Rs 3 per word depending upon the client, quality, deadline and reference. The same for the Chinese to English or Chinese to Hindi may vary from Rs 2 to Rs 6 per word. Generally book publication houses pay less for a new comer, it is good to gain experience there and create his name. For students of universities it may also add to their bio data if they translate a book or article of a great author. With the explosion of internet and social media, good translation will be in huge demand in future as the character and trend of the social media is mother tongue friendly. It has suddenly happened that people are communicating more and more in their own language rather than the languages of the professional world. The post in someone's mother language gets more hits and shares than a post in a major power language. So, internet is opening up plethora of opportunities and bringing new dimensions which have yet to be understood. Again with the world being more connected and being more decentralised, translation is the key word in this world and it will be there for sure. (The author is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He can be reached at jhasushant@gmail.com)