Marketing Internship at Surrey Translation Bureau

My role as a Marketing Assistant

Being a Marketing Assistant involves promoting the company and services to a target audience, i.e. those looking for translation and other language-related services.

Alongside written, communication and collaboration skills, being a Marketing Assistant requires time management and organisational skills when planning and implementing ideas to reach out to potential clients in a wide variety of ways.

I have developed my informative and persuasive writing skills during my time at Surrey Translation Bureau: from responding to adverts requesting translation services to writing a blog post for the website about the Spanish to English translation services that Surrey Translation Bureau offers.

It is rewarding and fulfilling when a ‘reach out’ campaign results in new clients and new projects.

Direct insight into the translation industry

Surrey Translation Bureau has provided me with multiple invaluable opportunities to discover some core aspects of the translation industry, including using Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools, understanding the translation workflows and learning about related add-on services such as notarisation, legalisation, monolingual editing, proofreading and revision.

Seeing how human translation is combined with the use of technology to produce translations has increased my interest in becoming a translator in the future. I now see ‘translation’ as more than a linguistic product.

Each team from Sales, Project Management, Resource Management and Operations, alongside the in-house translators and freelance translators, is integral to the translation process, from the initial stages of quoting to the delivery of the finalised product.

During the second month of my internship, I helped to complete a ‘Terminology Management’ task, which involved crosschecking and examining web pages related to a specialised subject area and associated key terms (terminology).

This task taught me about compiling specific resources as a point of reference for future translations.

I also used translation management software and invoicing accounts software to gain insight into the administrative side of the translation industry.

Developing digital skills

Since the translation industry is predominantly digital, interning as a Marketing Assistant has helped me to acquire new IT skills and build on my current technical expertise.

I gained exposure to several digital marketing applications and platforms, using them on a regular basis to create artwork and videos, and to schedule blogs and posts for the future.

I have learned about the importance of running regular social media campaigns to represent a brand, and to increase a company’s digital presence from the internal and external training opportunities.

Moreover, I managed several social media campaigns, such as infographics related to economic trade of various countries, motivational language quotes and factsheets on different world languages.

I was also able to contribute my creative skills to our International Translation Day 2022 campaign, combining visual and written content into one artwork piece for this year’s theme: “A World Without Barriers”.

Being able to combine my artistic abilities and written skills provided an excellent outlet to demonstrate what I have learned about marketing whilst at STB.

Additional opportunities to grow

Whilst interning at STB, I have benefitted from a plethora of learning opportunities, including CV writing and LinkedIn sessions to improve my professional profile.

With assistance from the Marketing Manager, I recorded a series of fortnightly vlogs on my internship experience. This allowed me to reflect on the professional skills I have acquired, and additional areas that I would like to develop going forward.

Having the vlogs on our social media networks, such as YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn, allowed me to share my experience with prospective interns and discover new connections through likes, comments and shares.

As someone who identifies as neurodiverse, developing my social interaction skills is a significant area I aimed to develop over the course of my internship with STB.

Participating in a freelancer event and other teambuilding events allowed me to network with others who share a mutual interest in translation and languages and also helped me improve my interpersonal skills.

Thanks to these opportunities, my confidence in social situations has grown tremendously.

Broadening my horizons

Completing an internship with STB has been a transformative opportunity to develop my professional, interpersonal and creative skills, as well as my knowledge of translation as an industry and process.

My time at STB has also opened my eyes to potential career paths: I would now consider a role in Marketing as a result of interning as a Marketing Assistant.

Everything I have learned during my internship at STB is valuable preparation for a future career in translation or marketing and the world of employment as a whole. It has been a tremendous pleasure to work with such an inclusive and experienced team.

If you are interested in an internship with Surrey Translation Bureau, please find more details at https://www.surreytranslation.co.uk/internships/. We look forward to hearing from you!

Maxine Fontaine-Anderson