My CV is anything but traditional and linear: the ideal preparation for a successful career as a translator.

My work history prior to my freelance career is very varied and spans experience from training as a medical secretary in Germany to Sales & Marketing support roles in technical environments alongside engineers. Deciphering handwritten notes is my speciality!

But don’t just take my word from it, check out some testimonials from some of my clients

My translation experience started in 1990 with an in-house translation role for the Hong Kong buying office at mail-order company Quelle. Working with English source text written by non-native English speakers, turned out to be excellent preparation for post-editing Machine translations.

I gained my Undergraduate degree in  Chemistry as a mature student with the Open University whilst working in a full-time role in Medical Device Sales. In other words: Continuous professional development is second nature to me, as is tackling new challenges, because I wasn’t satisfied with my upper second class degree, but instead decided to take a year out of employment to complete a Masters degree by Research in Organic Synthesis at the University of Nottingham. I also had the pleasure of spending a summer internship, gaining valuable experience as a Medicinal Chemistry researcher in the labs at GlaxoSmithKline—my special interest in Oncology and research in rare diseases including Genomics and Therapeutic Antibodies is not just supported by desk research but time actually spent in research labs.

 

With my membership of the ITI I am now qualified to translate from German into English, as English – technically my second language is at a native-level standard after spending several decades working in the UK in a wide range of industries.
Naturally, with German as my actual native language, I don’t need to spend hours on source text analysis, meaning I can deliver quality translations with short turnaround times.

My work experience included roles as Marketing Manager for a number of UK subsidiaries of German companies, including industrial weighing specialist Bizerba, the construction formwork company Peri, followed by Sales roles ar Rehau and its medical device spin-off Raumedic, and most recently as Technical Sales Agent for the Rockwell Automation subsidiary Lektronix who specialise in the repair of Industrial Automation Equipment. All of these roles involved Liaising between customers and technical staff in the UK and Germany giving me further exposure to technical vernacular language that might leave many translators with a more traditional CV stranded.