Last year, I completed the advanced online certification as a Terminology Manager offered by TermNet (Vienna). I think it was the best professional investment I have ever made to enhance my resume. Although it is not my intention to promote that course or any other, I do want to share my thoughts about the two years I have spent researching on this fascinating subject.

I have been reading a lot about terminology for the past two years. I completed the Basic level in 2014 and as a result started my blog on terminology. Little did I know that it would take off so quickly. Apparently people were more interested than I had originally expected when I wrote my first post back in April 2014.

I have mentioned it in my blog but I think this is also a good platform to say it: Translators are missing out on a great opportunity to adding value to their resumes by not getting some basic training in terminology management. And it is not just me. I have read enough and interviewed experienced translators and terminologists to know that they agree with me.

Terminology will be taking off as a promising career and also will offer endless possibilities to translators to specialize in new topics. Just look at the Internet of Things or any of the other new developments in technology. Who will have an edge? ‘m sure it will be the translator who knows how to manage terminology effectively.

So, now that we are just starting this New Year I wanted to give you that little piece of advice. As I said before, I do not have the intention to promote any courses here, but you can keep an eye on social media for opportunities. Universitat Pompeu Fabra offers a Master’s in Terminology but also gives you the opportunity to take their courses separately. My plan next year (they don’t offer it this year) is to sign up for one of their terminology workshops. I even sign up for free webinars on anything related to terminology research. Also think about following the University of Lancaster for their very popular course on corpus linguistics.

The possibilities are endless!

Patricia

P.S.: While I wrote this post I felt nostalgic and had to go back to read my first blog post. I thought it would make you smile too. I entitled it Beginner’s Luck but if you look at the link’s address it was originally titled What am I up to? I guess I wasn’t so sure!

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