Life after a Master's in Audiovisual Translation - an interview with Sara Santolini

Hi Sara, thanks for accepting my invitation to give an interview for Apertis Verbis. To start with would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?

Hi Ele!

Sure, I’m Sara. I am a language lover with a passion for films and I have recently graduated from the University of Leeds with a Master in Audiovisual Translation. I am now living the big city life in London where I work as a project manager in a localisation company.

Great, so what made you decide to apply for the MA in Audiovisual Translation at Leeds and what were your expectations of the course?

I was initially drawn to Leeds because I had heard of the great quality of its masters especially at the Centre for Translation Studies. While looking through the options, I realised there was an audiovisual translation course which was something I had longed to do since I received my BA in Italy. At the time, I made some research into subtitling, fansubbing and dubbing American TV shows into Italian and I absolutely loved it. I guess I didn’t really have to think about it too much. I knew it was the right choice for me. I had really high expectations of the course, specifically I couldn’t wait to start playing around with subtitling software and learn all the tricks to make those extremely long lines fit into the tiny space allocated to subtitles. I was also looking forward to sharing the experience with like-minded people and language lovers, which I totally did and it contributed to make the experience an extremely valuable one.

Now that we are out in the world as professionals do you miss anything about being a student?

Oh well, of course. I think one of the aspects I miss most is spending hours at the Laidlaw Library wandering between shelves while looking for resources for my essays. I found the quality and quantity of resources provided by the university an invaluable one. Then obviously, the translation-centred debates with my classmates, which would turn into little verbal fights in class when one side opted for a particular translation strategy while the other was totally against it. Exploring different points of view has been useful as it helped me develop critical thinking about my own work. Last but not least, coffee breaks and post-exams nights out with classmates, of course!

Haha yes that all sounds very familiar to me, especially about our shared translation class! Can you tell us about what you’re doing now?

I’m living in London now where I am a translation project manager at an international localisation company. I am mainly involved in translation projects ranging from technical to copy translation and transcription. We also source for, and organise interpreting assignments, and edit in attendance projects for production companies and other clients.

Okay and what’s a typical day like for you in your new role?

I usually start my day by having a nice cup of espresso because that’s what gets an Italian up and functioning in the morning, after which I head to the office where I usually check my emails as first thing. I organise my calendar so that I know what deadlines I have for the day. I check the progress on each project due on the day: filing target files appropriately when they come in, making sure the translators have all the necessary information and material from the client, sending deadline reminders to suppliers – mainly for long-term projects, it rarely happens for short-term ones. I also take care of quotes for new projects coming in and I help my colleagues quoting and/or sourcing for bigger projects they take on. I try to save part of the day to take care of admin tasks – although it is quite hard on busy days – like invoicing, organising emails, sending forms or filing POs. I usually finish my day by checking all new projects have been set up and by making a list of the tasks to carry out/remember doing the following day.

It sounds great and like you're learning a lot of useful skills. Have you received any training or developed a specialism that you think has been particularly valuable?

I have been trained on the company’s project management software, which we use for all admin-related tasks to keep track of all present and past projects. I have also been showed the standard workflow for each client, particularly the ones that have special requirements in terms of QC and DTP. I don’t think I have developed a specialism just yet, but I have been assigned a wide range of projects that will eventually allow me to broaden my project management skills to include different types of services.

What is the most important tip you would give to freelance audiovisual translators from your perspective?

I would say be persistent and make some research before jumping into anything straight after university. It is important to know – at least vaguely – where you are heading with your career. Of course, there is a time to make mistakes and change direction. However, I believe that having a plan is a good idea. There are a lot of opportunities out there and with enough nerve and a bit of hard work, a lot of them are accessible. I know that the world of audiovisual translators, particularly, can be a tough one to get into, especially when you don’t have any contacts, but if you try to get involved into the type of activities that might lead you to build up your network, everything will unfold naturally. I don’t think I have much advice to give for now because I am barely starting out myself, but this is what I have learned so far. I hope it will be helpful.

I know you also did an internship at the ILO in Turin, how did that go, can you tell us a bit about what you enjoyed and how it helped you get your current position?

My internship at the Training Centre of the ILO has been a very formative and interesting experience as it allowed me to learn how the UN works and how important translation is for international organisations. I had a chance to translate and edit the training materials and web content that the centre was sharing with the participants to their own training courses – which were grouped according to their main topic and were called ‘Academies’ – and with their website’s users. Thanks to my supervisor, I could get an insight into the activities of the centre and of their translation unit where a small team of project managers handles translation projects for both internal material circulating within the centre and external documents, particularly coming from ILO’s headquarter in Geneva. I learned about how the unit handles their workflow, how project managers go about choosing the right freelancer for each project and how they negotiate rates. I think this experience was extremely important as it helped me secure my current position as a project manager.

It sounds fantastic! Would you recommend other people who have just graduated from an MA in Interpreting and/or Translation/and or Audio-Visual translation apply for a similar position to the one you're working in now if there are openings?

Yes, I definitely would! I think being a project manager is a very good starting point before plunging in the translation world as it gives a lot of food for thought for whenever graduates decide to start a freelancing career – in every specialisation, being it within the translation industry or in other fields. I think it’s definitely good to start off as a project manager because you really learn to manage your time as well as other people’s and be productive. Above all, it teaches you how to be organised, how to solve problems quickly and effectively and how to always have a back-up plan in case things don’t work out the way you planned. I believe these are transferable skills which can become useful in a wide range of fields.

And what are you enjoying most about living in London?

Oh, I’m loving all of it except the tube strikes and related inconveniences!

The city truly offers everything one can dream of: classes of the most bizarre disciplines, courses of all sorts, exhibitions, festivals, art. Everything is available in London as long as you are – again- organised and know how to spend your time – and especially your money – wisely. The city is constantly buzzing and sometime you might feel like it swallows you up, but it’s part of its magic, I guess. You have to find a way to keep yourself sane from the stressful lifestyle of a city dweller and I found that having a hobby is a very healthy way to unplug for a couple of hours every now and then.

No pressure but, where do you hope to be in 10 years’ time?

I’d love to know, or maybe not, I don’t know. I hope I will be happy and satisfied with my career. I want to be able to look back and don’t regret the chances I haven’t taken and the experiences I haven’t had because I was afraid to fail. I like to set personal goals that excite me and scare me so that I can be constantly challenged to improve and I want to keep doing that in the future whichever path I will eventually decide to go down to.

Finally for a fun question - what’s your favourite word in Italian and/or French and why?

My favourite word in French is flâner. It is a concept more than word and, to me, the sound of the word itself already gives away a hint to its meaning: it literally means wandering around a little aimlessly, a little bit like idling around. I have recently found out that there is such a thing as a flâneur, which The Guardian defines as “the keen-eyed stroller who chronicles the minutiae of city life” and that it was mainly seen as a men’s role in the 19th century. Ah, the things you learn when you have access to another culture through its own language!

What a great answer, I definitely share your love of being a flâneur around London! Apertis Verbis hope you continue enjoying the city life and your job which sounds like it's going fantastically.