Virginia Diaz has spent two decades working as a project manager in the localization industry — for companies including Globalization Partners International (GPI), Moravia, and Vistatec. Now a Localization Program Manager at software company Degreed, she shares the inspirations, perspectives, and ambitions that have shaped her career.
Why do you enjoy reading MultiLingual magazine?
From innovation to integration, from globalization first steps to the latest artificial intelligence (AI) enhancements, MultiLingual magazine has always been at the cutting edge of localization industry news — presenting a snapshot of the present and a window into the future. With the evolution of worldwide communication, the well-designed printed version and the excellent online editions help me to get a better understanding of the latest news in the translation industry directly from the most outstanding language professionals. This integration of the latest technologies along with the human voice of the most prominent leaders of the industry provides a unique experience as a user. The trendy topics in the podcast episodes make me feel a closer connection to the global business community and serve as inspiration for my personal and professional development.
How did you get involved in the translation business?
We could say that it was simply by chance, destiny, or the perfect alignment of the planets. Like many important events of life, it was just a matter of being in the right place within the perfect time and with the right people. Everything is just perfect.
I was working for a mobile company as a Customer Support Assistant and just started my translation studies at the University in Rosario in Argentina. One of my friends from the information technology (IT) industry got a job interview for a translation company based in the United States but did not have fluent English at that time, so he asked me to join him during the interview at a local pub to act as an English-Spanish interpreter. That was the exact moment where my life changed forever. Meeting the CEO of that small US-based multi-language vendor (MLV) was the door to the localization industry, and I immediately fell in love with this new world. My friend got the job as a localization engineer, and I left the pub with a new job as a hybrid business development manager and project manager.
The first day on the job, the CEO gave me the printed copy of MultiLingual magazine and asked me to carefully read all the articles, extract contact details and data of potential new clients (companies that were mentioned in the magazine), and collect details of the available freelancers for the different languages that were promoted on many of the pages at that time. I can simply say that my professional career started and evolved hand in hand with the magazine.
Since you entered the translation industry, how has the business landscape changed?
I’d witnessed the evolution of the localization industry within the globalization of all businesses and technologies. I was part of the group of pioneers that handled email communication via a cell phone for the first time, and I discovered the great benefits of working remotely for many international companies — thanks to the expansion of technology. I was part of the re-creation of translation roles with the arrival of machine translation (MT). I had to re-adapt my skills and project management models following the evolution of the latest translation management system (TMS) and content management system (CMS) technologies many times. I found my own new organizational ways to keep myself up to date with the integration of new methodologies and technical processes that are growing day by day.
The translation business landscape is continuously evolving within the perfect combination of new technologies and the discovery and development of human skills. We have to interpret, understand, and find the best possible way to apply the benefits of the latest technology to fulfill industry needs. We are part of a non-stop cycle, but we know how to accomplish all of these challenges. After all, we are “translators” with the great mission of interpreting messages to build new concepts into our own language and spread the word across all cultures, led by our inner inspiration and adapting our own pulse for the integration of new tools and technologies.
Could you share your experience working with your first client or on your first project?
I still feel the emotion of my first client every time I see any scene of the Las Vegas landscape in a movie. I was living in a dream while walking across the Strip on a Monday at 8:45 AM with my formal suit, laptop, and a small fancy bag full of dreams, hopes, and many fears. I had to meet the board of one of Vegas’ most popular hotels and give those people the trust and confidence that the localization of their new website into a few languages will be handled within the perfect process, time, and budget as they planned. Expectations were truly super high, but they were aligned with my own enthusiasm and my full team support to make this happen. Requirements were intensively discussed, clearly defined, and followed by working very closely as a single team of translators, editors, and managers along with the hotel’s board; the “dream team” made an amazing final product. I still feel the emotion of visiting this hotel’s website and seeing that all the team’s efforts led to such a unique piece of art that still brings new business and revenue for all parties.
Do you believe it’s a good time to enter the translation business?
Always. The translation business is growing more than ever with great new opportunities for all freelance translators, editors, and proofreaders (just to name a few) to be part of the continuous evolution of the industry — not only by leading unique projects within existing professional roles, but now also through new pathways to as AI professionals. By providing all our linguistic knowledge and cultural awareness at the service of the AI evolution, we can work, for example, as AI trainers for specific languages. We just need to find the perfect place within the latest innovation and adapt our skill-set to continue our personal and professional expansion and growth.
Where do you see yourself professionally in the next 10 years?
The evolution of the localization industry can’t be fully explored without the curiosity of linguists and localization professionals to support the processes behind the scenes. We have the mission of re-adapting ourselves to fit in the most successful way into this brave new world and joining efforts for the re-invention of better processes, fastest resolutions, and more cost-efficient proposals for users and consumers to continuously build bridges across cultures and help clients to take their products beyond the known limits.
I’m personally focused on building the knowledge and practices to help localization professionals and multicultural teams develop their personal skills so as to be even more productive and adaptable for different management roles. I strongly believe in the idea of personal and collective collaboration within a healthy environment, following simple routines and daily practices that help professionals to keep their attention, focus, and productivity aligned with their personal welfare. I’m pretty sure that fostering the discovery of personal strengths and integrating the right personal motivations will lead to big changes in project management and how we build boutique approaches for different products and content types. Using all possible technologies to reduce human effort and making room to re-build the daily workflows and processes in our management will nourish the teams’ collaboration towards greater quality and a better user experience.
What predictions do you have for the future of the translation industry?
Evolution of human skills development is the new must. The focus is on not only the formerly “soft” skills, but also the recognition of specific natural skills that professionals still need to explore and develop to build the flexibility and abilities required for the new techy world. If we discover our best strengths, work hard to maximize our personal potential by focusing on doing what we know how to do, and combine all of that with the latest AI enhancements to provide a tailored solution for each client, we will contribute to a better experience of the different products and be part of the international expansion of the many industry brands to bring solid revenues for companies. We are ready to positively jailbreak the translation industry — the question is just how to make this happen.
