Conversamos com a Virginia Katsimpiri, sobre alguns aspetos da sua profissão, sobre a importância do associativismo e ainda sobre alguns conselhos para a nova geração de profissionais.

APTRAD: Tell us a little bit about yourself, how you started out in this career, and what made you choose it

Hi! My name is Virginia Katsimpiri and I am a Greek certified translator since 2007. I studied translation at the Ionian University here in Greece and got my first in-house position as a translator before I get awarded my degree and started my own translation business in 2014. I hold an ΜA in translation and an executive MBA in client acquisition strategies; since 2016 -when I created the first voluntary mentoring program for translators on behalf of the Greek Association of Certified Translators- I have been helping other freelance translators & interpreters from all over the world to attract international clients and rapidly build their profitable business through my mentoring programs.

APTRAD: How would you describe a “normal” day in your working life?

For many years I used to wake really early in the morning so as to go to my translation company office in the center of Athens and serve my clients both individuals and companies; the last few years I have a team working with me and I am able to work remotely as well while managing several projects, coordinating my team and running both of my businesses vtranslations.gr & vmentoring.com

APTRAD: Are you a member of any professional association/organisation? If you are, what made you join it? If not, why haven’t you joined yet?

I strongly believe in the importance of being a member of a translation association. I became a member to the Greek Association of Translators before even I started my freelance career because I wanted to be updated about the developments in the translation industry. I could have never imagined my career without the help and support of an association. Currently I am a member of both Greek Translators’ Associations, the ATA and IAPTI. I wish I could be a member of APTRAD as well 😉

APTRAD: From your experience, what makes a “good” professional in this area?

First and foremost, delivering high quality of work (translation or interpreting) but at the same time I find really important meeting deadlines and responding promptly via email. Communication and technology skills are an asset as well in our industry.

APTRAD: What do you like the most and what do you like the least about your work?

I love the fact that I never get bored by translating so interesting and different texts; I could live without the strict deadlines and stress of our profession as well.

APTRAD: What advice would you give someone who wants to become a translator and/or interpreter?

To work a lot on their skills both hard and soft. Become a VERY good at translation/interpreting having in mind to offer high-quality service to their clients. Have a mentor so as to avoid so many mistakes that we did without having one and achieve their goals much faster.

When I started out as a translator there were no offline or online resources on how to write a translator’s CV for example… It is a shame that nowadays so many years later starting out translators are facing the same issues. That was the reason I started mentoring other colleagues as I wanted to be the person I never had as a starting out translator myself. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and look for advice.

Find out several free resources to get started here: https://vmentoring.com/freeresources/

APTRAD: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Very proud to be a part of this initiative as APTRAD is one of the best associations. I really admire your work, guys! Keep up the good work.

>>Get my free resource on “60 ways to find clients as a translator”: https://vmentoring.com/ebook/

To know more about Virginia Katsimpiri, you can follow her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vmentoring & https://www.facebook.com/groups/mentoringfortraslators, Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiakatsimpiri/, or twitter https://twitter.com/ViniaKatsimpiri

Se quiser saber como se tornar um associado da APTRAD, consulte aqui [https://bit.ly/3eTVpK0] ou acompanhe as nossas redes sociais em Facebook [https://bit.ly/32Mrkde], Linkedin [https://bit.ly/3humLZe], no Twitter [https://bit.ly/30IZICW] ou no Instagram [https://bit.ly/3metM5R].

Biografia:

Virginia Katsimpiri, PhDc, is a certified translator & business strategist with over 15 years of experience. Holding an ΜA in translation and an executive MBA in client acquisition strategies, she has helped hundreds of freelance translators & interpreters worldwide attract international clients and rapidly build their profitable business through her mentoring programs. 
Virginia is the creator of the Fully Booked Translator Formula & the Ultimate LinkedIn Prospecting System, the first comprehensive, results-oriented Business Mentoring Programs for Language Professionals. She is also the founder of the Ask Your Mentor Anything initiative; a virtual live show where she and other experts discuss translation business-related issues on a weekly basis. Virginia teaches translator mentoring methods and provides seminars, webinars and eBooks such as “60 Ways To Get Clients As a Translator”. She gives talks at the biggest international conferences of the industry and has appeared in numerous online publications, podcasts and marketing shows. Currently Virginia studies translators/interpreters’ business performance at a PhD level and runs two businesses: www.vtranslations.gr & www.vmentoring.com.

Certified translator & business strategist with 15+ years of experience. Holding an ΜA in translation & an eMBA currently studies translators’ business performance at a PhD level & runs vtranslations.gr & vmentoring.com.