Recently we caught up with three of our interns and asked them about what they expected from their internships, what they’ve learnt, what their challenges have been and what they’re proud of achieving in their three months with Sandberg.

Jere is a student of English translation at the and interned as a Finnish Account Linguist. “When I began my internship at Sandberg in June, the world was, as it still is, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the remote nature of this internship, I was very excited for my first professional LSP experience.”

“Although this wasn’t my first internship, this was my first internship in a setting focused on language services, so I set some goals for myself: learning to use new tools (and getting better at using some I already knew), becoming a better translator and generally learning what it’s like to work in a professional setting.”

“Despite the unusual conditions, I feel like I’ll end this internship having reached all my goals and then some. I’ve got to use multiple tools and become quite comfortable with them. This could have been difficult to do remotely with no one physically present to show you how everything’s done, but I’ve been happy to see that even ‘silly’ questions have been met with supportive guidance all the way to the point where things are clear.”

“This patience is definitely important and encourages you to keep asking those questions that might seem silly: for someone starting their internship (or anything new really) in a new setting, things could easily seem a bit scary or overwhelming without this kind of supportive environment.”

This kind of constructive feedback boosts your confidence and encourages you to embrace learning new things.

“Constructive feedback from more experienced translators has been invaluable, even more so in cases where the subject matter might be familiar but the client has their own unique style that requires you to adapt, for example.”

“This kind of constructive feedback also boosts your confidence and encourages you to embrace learning new things: when you’re confident, the bar to try and learn new things is much lower than if you’re afraid of failing.”

“I’ve worked with many different people and every interaction has been pleasant and everyone has offered help when I needed it, for which I’m grateful.”

Lotta is a master’s student in translation at in Sweden and interned as a Swedish Account Linguist. “My goals for the internship were to learn as much as possible about what it’s like to work as a translator, about translating and about how to handle getting stuck on segments, retrieving information and working to tight deadlines.”

“I feel like I’ve learnt to translate much faster and how to find translations of tricky words. Both of those things will be useful to me in the future and I’m very grateful! I’ve translated very different texts and I’ve learnt project management. I feel like I’ve really developed my skills.”

It’s easy to doubt yourself and your capability, but if you’re persistent you will prevail sooner than you think.

But what about the challenges? “Project management for sure! It was difficult in the beginning, but it got easier and easier and now it is not difficult any more. There was a lot to learn in the beginning about translating as well, but it all sticks eventually and you shouldn’t worry too much.”

“It’s easy to doubt yourself and your capability, but if you’re persistent you will prevail sooner than you think. As I mentioned before, I do feel like my translation skills have improved significantly, which I am certain will help me during my last year at university. It’s been a challenge but also a blast!”

Jesper has a degree in Spanish, another in video game translation and localisation, and has just finished a third in Swedish. He’s based remotely in Manchester and interned as a Swedish Translator. “When I started this internship, my main goal was to learn as much as possible and really get a sense of how it is to work as an in-house translator, and as a translator in general. I had previously done some freelance work, however I never received any feedback and felt a bit stuck. At Sandberg, not only did I receive constructive feedback on a lot of my jobs, but I also felt like a valued member of the team.”

“The Swedish translator team were extremely helpful and always willing to help me and provide me with great feedback and useful tips. With regards to the ISO quality standards, they now finally make sense to me and I understand how they are implemented in an agency and in a translator’s daily work. Finally, with regards to the tools, I have learnt how to work with five different tools.”

“I’m very happy about the achievements mentioned above, and equally happy about the relationships I have been able to make here at Sandberg. Even though everything was remote, I still managed to make some friends. I have thoroughly enjoyed my daily contact with the Swedish translator team, the project managers and of course, my team manager.”

“Prior to starting the internship, I was a bit nervous whether I would be able to measure up to what was expected of me. I was questioning whether my language skills were up to par and whether I would be creative enough for the marketing jobs. I’ve found that these insecurities were just that, insecurities.”

I appreciated especially being treated as a valued member of the team, and not necessarily as an intern.

“With regards to being creative, it’s true that I have at times felt a bit scared to alter a text too much. This is as well something that my peers have pointed out. I believe this to be my biggest challenge moving forward, to trust myself enough to focus on translating meaning and not merely words, and thus creating the best translation possible. With all the help I have received from the rest of the team I am sure that this will come with time, and of course with effort from my side.”

“I’ve also learnt that investing some extra time in doing the proper research and reading through the references does make a great difference. This is especially important for a generalist, with so many different clients that all require different solutions and wordings (a lot of them being merely preferential, as I’ve learnt).”

“Overall, I’m very happy with my experience here at Sandberg. I’ve learnt a lot and my time here has passed incredibly quickly. I appreciated especially being treated as a valued member of the team, and not necessarily as an intern. It was clear that not only was I here for my own learning, but also in order to have a positive impact on the company. This, for me, makes all the difference and encourages you to work harder and feel a lot more motivated.”

Why not start your career at one of the world’s top specialist translation companies, getting guidance, support and training along the way? To find out more about what we do and the employment opportunities we currently have available, take a look at our jobs and vacancies pages.

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For us, quality is all about our culture, our people and their skills. It means meeting the expectations of every client, whose demands may vary significantly. For a mature translation buyer, achieving high volumes of quality translated material is a complex production process. For a client with a one-off translation request, a translation and revision workflow will provide the quality they are looking for.

In all cases, a high-quality translation involves the following:

1. Adherence to the standards and requirements of the target language
2. A linguistically correct rendering of the source text
3. Adherence to the linguistic conventions of the target language
4. Compliance with client-specific style guides and glossaries, and consistency with existing texts
5. An idiomatic style appropriate for the target audience

Looking behind the scenes at STP, we see other factors contributing to a quality service: from the management and company culture through to talented translator and project management teams and advanced language technology specialists.

I’ve always respected the way quality of service is engrained in STP’s ethos, from our company vision, mission and values through to our business planning and strategy.

I asked my colleagues to tell me what quality means for them. Here’s what they told me:

Jacob Hansen, Account Linguist Team Leader

“When training new translators for a specific account, one of the objectives is to encourage linguistic creativity while ensuring a certain level of uniformity with others working on the same account.

You want the linguist to use their own style of writing to ensure a naturally flowing target text, but at the same time you don’t want the external reviewer or consumer to be able to tell the individual translators apart.

From my experience, the best way to ensure consistency without tying the linguists’ hands is to get nerdy and have open discussions on how best to phrase even the most common expressions.”

Janina Kosma, Senior Swedish Translator

“I have to run thorough quality checks with specialised software before delivering my work, and of course the all-important spellcheck, but in truth I find the best quality assurance tools to be a keen eye for detail and an ability to envisage the translation in its intended environment.

In a way, starting a new job is like a brand-new morning – I have to open my eyes to whatever lies ahead and let my mind loose in the realm of Who? – Why? – How? to produce an accurate text that sounds natural – that does not read like a translation.

Then, the best way to end my day is to read through only the target text to make sure I got it right. If it’s marketing, does it make me want to buy? If it’s instructional, do I understand what to do? Would my sales rep, doctor, accountant or IT support guy speak like this? Pausing to ask myself these things is just as important as the automated glossary check that reminds me of the terms required.”

Mattia Ruaro, Language Technology Specialist

“With the way the industry is developing, it is absolutely pivotal to stay up to date with the latest tech developments.

In my team we look after production workflows, software and training to make sure everyone in the company is confident using translation tools to their full potential. A project managed by a well-trained project manager and translated by a linguist who is a proficient user of CAT tools will result in a delivery of higher quality text in the end.

That’s where we can make a difference: we take care of the technology in the background so they can focus on the details of their work.”

Jennie Bentley, Vendor Manager

“As well as ensuring the ISO compliance of all our freelance translators, we also offer on-going support to our translators both via our project management team and our online FAQs on processes and tools. We also work with our language technology team and training manager to provide training for our translators on pertinent topics within the industry, which serves as worthwhile CPD.”

Megan Hancock, Project Manager Training Specialist

“Training every PM begins with a week-long induction, orienting them both within STP and the translation industry as a whole. Formal induction is then threaded together by a modular training structure spanning their first year at STP; this covers the specifics of translation technology, selecting suitable linguists, and successfully meeting client expectations.

Each new PM also has an in-team learning plan, which outlines the work they’ll deal with in their first months, generally introducing them first to a defined set of accounts, projects or CAT tools, which they are then able to apply to a wider context.

In this way, we balance the practical advantages of learning on-the-job without compromising our high service levels and focus on a quality deliverable.”

Emma Tamlyn, Project Manager

“Ensuring quality starts as soon as we get a request email. We always ask for a source or sample file, so that we can check the text type and find the most appropriate translators for the job. This is particularly relevant for medical, legal and marketing texts. We pass on all reference material provided by the client so that the translator has as much context as possible. We offer query sheets to the linguists in case they need to check anything with the client. We also maintain project management instructions for all our clients to ensure necessary information and preferences are shared with all of our PM team.

After the job is completed, if the client comes back with any changes or feedback, we make sure that this is passed on to the linguists for any future jobs, and we will also ask them to update any translation memories or term bases to help future jobs stay consistent too.”

The quality standard we adhere to defines our quality processes, but it takes the talent of the right people to implement them.

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We could boil it down to the following key ingredients on most translation buyers’ shopping lists:

• high quality translations;
• prompt turnaround times;
• efficient and polite communication;
• competitive pricing;
• technical compatibility.

The provision of a perfect service will exceed expectations in all such elements, but the precise definition of each of these ingredients is unique to the business context and expectations of individual clients.

As a service provider, our inherent aim is to build the most effective and efficient solutions tailored for each client. How does that translate (excuse the pun) into real terms? We encourage open two-way dialogue between teams from our respective companies across the board – mutual collaboration at all levels allows us to find the right synergies.

So, what do our people talk about?

Client services, sales and management teams

• The rates the client needs and the volume of work they would send at those levels; rates discounts and rebate schemes may be offered in return for committed volumes.
• Their service level agreements and expectations, such as special security or data requirements; we can share our own security processes to confirm our sound set-up.

Technology teams

• The systems used for project management, file processing, translation, vendor management and invoicing; our respective teams can discuss how to streamline processes for handing off and delivering work, using automation to save human hours in routine processing tasks.

Key Account Managers, Project Managers and Vendor Managers

• The client’s typical turnaround expectations and volumes on a granular basis and how many linguists they would like in their pool; the client benefits from having the continuity of translators experienced in their projects reserved for their daily drops.
• The client’s translator qualification criteria; this allows us to select appropriate linguists and provide reassurance in the quality of the supply chain.
• The life-cycle of a client’s typical project, including quality and review processes, so we can prepare to respond in an appropriate manner.

Language and cultural experts – our translators and client reviewers/product experts

• The style and tone the client is looking for, as experts in the field of their target market.
• How to share regular and constructive feedback; this could be a monthly report, or a regular conference call where both parties share their professional viewpoints on linguistic matters.

So, we have finalised our agreement, the work starts to roll in and the collaboration matures. The client is receiving translation services according to their requirements, and we are receiving our sales volumes with our invoices being paid on time. Have we created the perfect recipe?

Delivering quality service is an evolving art. The industry’s technology, expectations, systems and processes are always moving forward. Therefore, the final ingredient in successful, long-term collaboration is for both partners to embrace a relationship where they continue talking and listening to each other, responding and adapting accordingly.

It is arguably a simplistic notion, but such continued open dialogue really can be the icing on the cake.

Susan Hoare is STP’s Operations Manager.

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