In-house translation – outside the box

Category: Universitas

  • Announcement: Article in Universitas Fachmagazin 4/26

    Announcement: Article in Universitas Fachmagazin 4/26

    I co-authored a short article in German with Katarina Rohsmann for the latest edition of Universitas Members Magazine (Fachmagazin), which has just been published. Thanks are due to Tamara Paludo and her editorial team at Universitas for putting together a beautiful edition of the magazine. Last Friday I also held a physical copy in my hand before reading online. Even in 2026, the haptic quality of print media remains satisfying!

    In addition, thanks are again due to the participants at the 9th ASTTI Financial Translation Summer Conference at which I spoke in July, especially Michael Dever and Beata Marchand for all their hard work in organising the event in Spiez.

    Katarina and I wrote a brief summary about the event – its USP as far as a CPD event goes lies in the fact that it has a focus on expertise. It is also an event that is genuinely interesting to attend for mid-late career translators, where traditionally the self-reflection upon leaving an event is about what you have got from it. Spiez is an institution and I always return with new ideas and insights (and often a new book or two from other speakers!).

    Katarina also wrote a great piece about tips for freelancers – check out pages 6-11.

    In addition there was a very pleasing “hat-tip” from Universitas President, Thomas Musyl about my XITL approach, in which he stated:

    „Zum Schluss möchte ich noch einen Beitrag auf LinkedIn von unserem Mitglied Michael Bailey hervorheben. Er hat sich dafür ausgesprochen, dass wir Übersetzer:innen & Dolmetscher:innen das Narrativ ändern müssen. In Anlehnung an meinen letzten Leitartikel (der auch in europäischen universitären Kreisen positive Reaktionen hervorgerufen hat) setzt sich Michael Bailey dafür ein, dass wir als Berufsstand nicht den Marketingsprech der Techkonzerne übernehmen, sondern unsere Rolle im Umgang mit LLMs klarer definieren. Wir sollten XITL etablieren – Expert in the Lead. Genau das ist es. Mein Vorschlag aus dem letzten Leitartikel war SPIC, Specialist in Control. XitL oder XITL erscheint mir aber noch einmal punktgenauer, trifft den Nagel nochmals besser auf den Kopf! Danke, Michael, für diesen tollen Beitrag. Ich werde mich ab jetzt ganz in den XitL-Dienst stellen!“

    Thomas Musyl, Universitas Fachmagazin 4/26

    The article appears on pp. 37-38 in edition 4/26 of the Universitas Fachmagazin.

  • Announcement: Article in Universitas Mitteilungsblatt 4/24

    Announcement: Article in Universitas Mitteilungsblatt 4/24

    I wrote an article in German for the latest edition of Universitas Members Magazine, which has just been published. Thanks are due to Tamara Paludo and her editorial team at Universitas for putting together a beautiful edition of the magazine. It was also particularly satisfying to hold a physical copy in my hand before reading online. Never underestimate the haptic quality of print media!

    In addition, thanks are also due to the participants at the ASTTI Financial Translation Summer Conference at which I participated and held a workshop, especially Michael Dever and Beata Marchand for all their hard work in organising the event in Spiez.

    My article contains a summary about the event, as well as some thoughts about the role of the “Expert in the Lead” in human-machine translation as well as my role as an in-house embedded translator in banking supervision. Some thoughts originally came from fruitful and enjoyable chats with other participants in Spiez and on Lake Thun.

    The Mitteilungsblatt also contains some really interesting articles by the speakers at Universitas’ 70th anniversary event, which I attended back in September.

    The article appears in edition 4/24 of the Universitas Mitteilungsblatt.

  • Why attend a professional association AGM in person, when it is offered in hybrid form?

    Why attend a professional association AGM in person, when it is offered in hybrid form?

    On Friday evening, I attended the AGM of UNIVERSITAS Austria – Berufsverband für Dolmetschen und Übersetzen – an association that I joined in 2020, just as the pandemic was taking hold. Consequently, this was the first event that I had attended in person. The AGM was held in hybrid form, and previously I had attended events in virtual form – as had been the norm during the pandemic.

    I chose to attend in person to take advantage of a new members’ networking session beforehand and further chances to network afterwards. I know some people might struggle with in presence AGMs – but they are really worth attending in person if you can. If you find physical attendance daunting, arrange to meet someone you know there.

    An AGM is a good networking event

    It was great to talk to other members – catching up with some after a long time and also speaking to others for the first time. It provided me with a good opportunity to catch up with other translators and interpreters. Some I hadn’t seen for several years, and I was able to meet others in person for the first time, although some of whom I knew from posts on LinkedIn – as fellow #litranslators. It was a good opportunity to also have a chance to finally meet various board members in person.

    For me, membership of an association is not a one way street: it is not just about “taking”, but considering and acting upon what I can also “give back” to a profession I have been part of for 24 years. So many professionals work on their own in an industry dominated by BigLang, so solidarity with my fellow professionals is essential. After all, I remain a SPLSU, albeit as part of an organisation with a far higher headcount.

    Events, certification and mentoring

    Universitas certification and mentoring are areas that I hope to be contribute to. Associations are also vital for relevant CPD measures, and Universitas is very receptive in this area. There are some exciting events planned for this year – the association’s platinum (70th) jubilee year.

    As a full-time in-house translator, in a predominantly freelance/self-employed industry, or one with many people for whom translation/interpreting is only a component of their working life (job splitting), it is important to appreciate the issues affecting the profession (and not just the industry).

    Turning a corner

    Attending an AGM in person is also a way to gauge the health of an association – to see at first hand how the work falls on the (few or many) sets of shoulders of the board and its committees. The previous winter had been a tumultuous one – with a series of meetings that at one stage had even had the dissolution of the association on the table.

    The outcome had been to have a paid administrator – an option I supported from personally having been an executive secretary of a non-profit organisation at an earlier stage of my career. It was pleasing to see that the association is turning a corner and making progress to a more stable and professional footing.

    Thanks should again go to Universitas’ board and volunteers dedicating their time to furthering our profession. I’ll definitely be looking forward to attending more in-presence events.

    Why not join?

    If you are a translator in Austria, or even outside of Austria, and have not joined, why not reconsider? Universitas is a nationwide association, with logical ties to the ZTW in Vienna, INTRAWI in Innsbruck and ITAT in Graz. While the lion’s share of members translate into or from the “Big 5 EU languages”, there are many members covering far more languages.