Natalia A.

Valencia
March 22, 2016
COMM637
Professor Luigi Luccarelli
Career Strategic Plan
Career vision:
My main career objective is to work as a full time professional translator. I am
also open to work in other positions in the field of translation and language services, such
as: administrative, proofreader, project manager, marketing, or editor. My focus is on
staff positions that can offer job security, health and retirement benefits, and opportunities
to grow as a professional. Although I would prefer to stay in the area (MarylandWashington D.C., Virginia), I am open to relocating if the right job opportunity arises.

Skills: translation (Spanish < >English), non-profit administration, HR,

Microsoft office, Spanish, English, social media, customer service, SDL

Trados, proofreading.
Values: hard working, family, honesty, helping others, friendship, team
work, respect, balance, commitment, collaboration, transparency, growth

and integrity.
Interests: fitness, health, literature, social justice, religion, social media,

technology, history, travel, art, sports and journalism.

Industries: non-profits (La Clnica del Pueblo, LULAC, Latin American
Youth Center, Catholic Charities of the Archdioceses of Washington),
government (NIH, US Census Bureau, Voice of America), private

industries (ICF International, translation agencies).

My strong points: fluent in two languages, cultural knowledge of the
Latino population, professionally trained in translation, research skills,

good writing skills, extremely organized, and knowledge regarding

translation software.
My weak points: editing, not specialized in an specific area, not too many

professional experiences in translation, and I just work in two languages.

Jobs of interest: medical translator, literary translator, translating
educational material, project manager, administrative assistant for

language services and freelance translator.

Experience I can site as a translator: intern medical translator at ICF,
volunteer translator at Portafolio Verde, volunteer translator at the
Guatemalan Human Rights Commission, summer intern at La Clnica del
Pueblo in the interpreting and translation department, intern marketing and
translation assistant at GALA Hispanic Theatre.

Present Goals:
There are two main objectives I need to focus on the present moment:
successfully completing my graduate studies and searching for job opportunities in my
field of interest, which hopefully would lead to getting a staff position as a translator. In
order to accomplish these objectives, I would do the following steps:

Attend more translation practice sessions with classmates in order to keep

improving my translation skills.
Search for job opportunities on the following website:
o Idealist.org
o Careers.umd.edu
o Usajobs.gov
o Craiglist.org
o LinkedIn.com
Look for volunteer opportunities that would help me gain more experience
as a translator, which at the same time would allow me to keep working on

my language skills. A lot of the nonprofit organizations for Latino

immigrants in Washington D.C. always need help, such as:

o Marys Center
o CARECEN
o Ayuda
Develop targeted resumes and cover letters for possible job opportunities.
Attend NCATA meetings to do networking and make more connections

with people in the field.

o NCATA monthly meetings are on Tuesday nights.
Look for job opportunities at my current internship at ICF International.
Talk to professors about the areas they think I should focus on improving.
Do weekly job/internship searches in companies and organizations Im
interested in, such as:
o The government: NIH, US Census Bureau
o Non-profit organizations that focus on the Latino population: La

Clnica del Pueblo, CARECEN, Marys Center, CASA Maryland.

o International organizations: OAS, IDB, World Bank
o Hospitals: John Hopkins, Children's National Medical Center.
Look into staffing companies that could possibly help me find jobs in my

areas of interest.
Improve my online presence in Linkedin and get in contact with

translators I have met during the program.

Look for freelance opportunities that can help me gain visibility in the

industry
Take advantage of the website I create for the final degree examination
and use it to promote myself as a freelance translator.

Future Goals (3 to 5 years):

Hopefully, by this time, I would be working as a staff full time translator, or at
least in a position related to translation and language services. I would like to work in the
same place for about 3 to 5 years to gain stability and experience. During this time I

would like to focus on polishing my skills and acquiring more knowledge. In order to
accomplish this objective, I would do the following steps:

Search for training opportunities in translation to keep improving my

skills.
Join the ATA as a full member and take the certification exam.
Attend the ATA conference to do networking and get more involve in the

industry at the national level.

Do some freelance work to try other areas of translation that my interest

me and can possibly lead to other job opportunities.

Contact people in the industry I know to start inquiring about other

opportunities in areas that interest me, such as:

o Monica Valencia
o Valeria Ibarra
o Linda Saucedo
o Javier Larravide
Attend job fairs to look at other opportunities in the area of translation or

related fields.
Use my spare time to volunteer as a translator in areas that interest me
such as art and social justice.
o Smithsonian Institute.
o Advocacy organizations: CASA Maryland, National Council of La
Raza.

Future Goals (5+):

My main goal for this time is to become a full time freelance translator after
acquiring the necessary experience from previous years. In order to accomplish this
objective, I would do the following steps:

Buy/ update a translation software to start my freelance business.

o SDL Trados
o Wordfast
o MemoQ

Promote my services as a translator on the Internet by updating my

website.
Attend translation conference and other events related to the field to do

networking as a freelance translator.

Reduce the hours I work in my full time job to spend more time working

on my freelance projects.
Look into the possibility of creating a translation company with a former
classmate in order to have more contacts and another translator that can

help with the workload.

o Sandra Gmez
o Emily Leavitt
o April Cruz
Look for training opportunities to keep improving my translation skills

and learn what new techniques are in the field.

Accept jobs that I know I can handle and make sure that I have enough

resources available if I receive a job in a field Im not familiar with.

Work as a part time staff translator to balance the months where I do not
get to many projects as a freelancer.