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Gaya Saghatelyan Shares Her Summer Experience Interning at Autodesk

Posted by Emily Weidner
Gaya Saghatelyan MA Translation & Localization Management English/ French
Gaya Saghatelyan
MA Translation & Localization Management
English/ French

Growing up in a multicultural environment, Gaya Saghatelyan has always been passionate about languages and culture. In college, Gaya studied Business Administration at a French business school. As an undergraduate student, she worked for the Embassy of Switzerland in Armenia as an in-house translator and interpreter (English/French/Russian/Armenian) — that’s how she discovered her passion for the language profession. Upon graduation, Gaya decided to leave the language industry and start a career in business administration. But not for long. After a year of working for a software company based in Los Angeles, she began to feel that something was missing in her career and decided to “go back to her roots,” as she puts it. Gaya is currently pursuing an MA in Translation and Localization Management, where she combines her passion for languages, technology and business.

This summer, Gaya did a 3-month Localization Program Management internship at Autodesk, a 3D design software company based in San Rafael. Gaya talked about her experience at Autodesk during my Career Management class. I did a follow up interview with her to learn more about the internship.

Q1: What were your top 3 criteria as you selected your internship(s)?

  1. Location: I looked for an internship in the US and abroad. I was especially interested in doing an internship in France to practice my B language and learn from a different business culture. On the other hand, I wanted to expose myself to software localization, and the Bay Area was perfect for that.
  2. LSP or Client: I wanted to gain experience in project/ program management working for an LSP, because it offers a versatile learning environment. I also wanted to explore software localization and experience what it would be like to work for a big company.
  3. The environment: In the process of interviewing for different internships, I paid attention to the overall dynamic and atmosphere between myself and the hiring manager. It was important to me that the company (and the hiring manager) have specific objectives for the internship and an internship plan. I wanted to make sure that the hiring manager could be my mentor.

Q2: What did you learn about your field during your internship?

I learned that localization can sometimes be perceived as a cost center, therefore one of the most important roles of a program manager in localization is to control cost, evangelize localization best-practices and create a long-lasting relationship with stakeholders.

In addition, I learned that software localization is evolving rapidly in response to changes in software development practices. The cadence of software localization is strongly dependent on the software release cycle, which requires localization teams to adopt a continuous localization strategy.

Finally, as a localization program manager, your role is very diverse: from cost management to vendor communication, from knowledge management to stakeholder analysis — there’s never a dull day!

Q3: What did you learn about yourself during your internship?

Autodesk Localization Team
Autodesk Localization Team

During my internship I discovered, once again, that human interaction and collaboration are very important to me. I also learned that I thrive in a dynamic environment where I can learn new things and work with different teams. Lastly, I realized that although I didn’t particularly enjoy accounting and finance in college, I love numbers! Anytime I was faced with a new task or wanted to understand how a project was structured, I turned to the data.

Q4: From the employers’ perspective what does a good intern look like?

A good intern takes initiative to benefit from the experience and contribute to the team. As an intern, you may think you don’t have a lot to contribute, but you do! A good intern observes and asks questions with the purpose of understanding the business and contributing fresh insights. A good intern also interacts with everyone on the team and takes initiative to become a part of the company culture.

Q5: Any words of wisdom you would like to share?

These are things that I think made my internship successful and I hope they will help students during their future internships:

  1. Find a mentor: Work closely with your manager and express interest in projects.
  2. Be open to new opportunities: You may be set on a specific career path you want to pursue, but you never know where the road may take you! Be open to exploring new opportunities.
  3. Use what you learn at MIIS: I didn’t know all the tools and processes when I started my internship, but what I learned during my first year at MIIS taught me to think like a localization manager.
  4. Do a final presentation: At the end of your internship, ask your Manager for a review of your work and suggest doing a final presentation for the team you worked with. This will leave a lasting impression on your team and showcase, once again, your growth throughout the summer.
  5. Stay in touch: Make connections with everyone at the company and stay in touch! Don’t underestimate the power of human interaction.

Do you have a question for Gaya? You can connect with her via LinkedIn or reach her at saghatelyan.gayane(at)gmail.com

 

–Winnie Heh
Career & Academic Advisor
wheh@miis.edu

Career Management – a CEO’s Perspective

Posted by Yung-Chung Heh

Lou Provenzano 011116

 

Louis F. Provenzano, Co-founder of Certified Medical Interpreters, LLC and former CEO of Language Line Services was the guest speaker in my Career Management class in December, 2015. Lou speaks 6 languages, has worked in over 10 countries around the world and has successfully started, acquired and sold over a dozen businesses with an aggregate value exceeding $500 million.   Many of you are familiar with the two medical certification exams in the U.S.  Lou started to organize conferences and other activities in 2007 to push for the certification exams.  He was one of the two co-founders of the Certified Medical Interpreters exam that is now administered by the National Board for the Certification of Medical Interpreters. (www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org)  I was able to take part in this historic movement thanks to his vision.

 

WH: Lou, thank you for making the time to meet with my students. I bet in all those years that we worked together, you had never thought that you would be speaking to MY students at MIIS. 

LP: No, I didn’t.  I guess anything is possible in life.  (Laugh!)

WH: And I think that just goes to show that career management is not some static end state that we choose upon graduation and it shall remain unchanged. A professional who cares about their growth needs to be ready to make positive changes that they may not have planned.  With that in mind, I want to point out to our students that you have had a very successful and varied international career.  Please tell us how you started?

LP: Thank you Winnie. My father was active in the student exchange program with Kiwanis in Europe.  He and his colleagues observed how European children learn multiple languages and conceived the idea of starting a similar program.  I, along with 25 other lucky children, was in an experimental program where we studied Spanish in first grade, added French while keeping Spanish and then added German while keeping Spanish and French.  With this program and my higher education, I learned Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Russian.  I studied Romance languages and international law in college.  My language and business training opened up opportunities in my international career.

 WH: That’s fascinating. Now starting a job is one thing, to keep the growth momentum going is another.  How do you approach keeping your career growth?

LP:  I am not an interpreter by trade, but I understand the importance of bridging language and cultural barriers.  I have always been ready to use sound business protocols, my experience and my languages to build relationships.  In addition, it is important to have a growth mindset – always learning and growing.  I work as if I were looking for a career change every day.  And you have to be well-prepared to function this way.  I have found that every experience I have seems to be more exciting than the previous one.

WH: The two most “anxiety-inducing” topics for our students are “networking” and “compensation.” If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to focus on those topics for a bit.  You are one of the best networkers I know.  It will take us a while to get to your level.  Please think back on your earliest professional life, what are the approaches that you used at those early stages of your professional life that you think our students can learn from?

LP: In terms of networking, I’d say the more you give, the more you will get.  Networking is about contributing.  For example, early in my career at Northern Trust, I volunteered to serve in a community outreach program because I am naturally outgoing and gregarious.  The unintentional benefit from this volunteer activity is that I made amazing contacts with Board members and community leaders throughout this process.  As a young professional, this opportunity also allowed me to hone my presentation and communication skills not the least of which was to develop new business opportunities for the bank!

You also have social media at your disposal. LinkedIn, Twitter and FaceBook are your friends.  Use them wisely.

When it comes to compensation, I’d say: “Get over it!”  (Laugh!)  Do your research.  Understand your value and stand behind your value.  Start high and have the confidence to believe that you deserve what you are asking for.  Salary negotiation is not confrontation.  It is an opportunity for both parties to understand their assumptions and positions.

 WH: You came into the language industry in the last 15 years after having achieved great success in other industries. Your language skills and your world view have given you the passion and unique perspective on this industry.  Where do you see the language industry going and how can the new graduates from MIIS with their unique and excellent education prepare themselves for the test of time?

LP: Our world is becoming smaller and smaller. In today’s world, the ability to exchange goods and services are limited only by the ability to communicate.  This makes interpreters essential for the global market.  We have seen 10% to 15% annual growth within the language industry per year driven by migration and trade.  Spanish speakers are predicted to be the majority in this country in 25 years.  All that is to say there are tremendous opportunities for language professionals if you are open-minded and manage your careers diligently.  Always look for and acquire the new skills needed in the future market.  Getting your degree does not mean the end of your education.  To future proof yourself, you need to keep learning.  This is something I heard from Winnie:  “Interpreters need to read a daily a day, a weekly a week and a monthly a month.”

WH: One of the questions that was raised by our students is this:

“I would like to know what the CEO looks for in an employee when hiring or promoting an employee internally. I’m hoping the answer will be something more concrete than just ‘leadership potential’.”

LP: I believe in performance-based recognition and reward.  I look for someone who is creative, goes above and beyond their job description and who acts on the best interest of the company.  At the end of the day, the most successful employees are the ones who make concrete and on-going contributions to the organization’s growth.

 WH: One of the questions that was raised by our students is this:

“What steps can an employee take to make sure that every one of their jobs are fulfilling and educational?”

LP: Seek out learning opportunities and mentors.  Ask for and take feedback.  The biggest mistake any professional can make is complacency.  Nothing stays the same for long.  Always ask yourself:  “How can I improve myself?”

WH: Thank you for your generosity in sharing your insights.

LP: My pleasure and best of luck to all of you.

–Winnie Heh
Career & Academic Advisor
wheh@miis.edu