An expert. Everyone seems to be an expert these days, and that is not totally wrong as we all have some sort of expertise on something. But what does it mean to be an expert?
Having the know-how
A person that is skilled and has all the know-how to help with certain problems is an expert in that particular field. Years of experience dealing with a specific situation and having a deep knowledge of what to expect in that situation and how to solve it. Years of study and research on a particular field to be able to know that field in great depth. All of these factors make you an expert, but to be a good one you need passion and love for helping others achieve their goals. The passion is what moves us to research more, learn more, improve ourselves and be better and better at what we do. The love for helping others is what moves us to get better, the fact that our expertise can help another person solve their problems and achieve their goals is the ultimate reward.
My expertise
When I embraced this career, I joined my love of writing with my love of languages and helping others. Over the years I have been helping my clients and, for me, there’s nothing more rewarding than knowing their applications have been approved, or the leaflets or press releases I helped them translate were an absolute success.
As a Certified Translator, one of my main areas of expertise is certified translations of documents and applications. Some may be more simple than others. Clients need all sorts of documents translated for an application and I must get them ready to be approved by the Portuguese authorities. A Driver Licence or Marriage Certificate may not take long to do, but a School Report or a contract may need more time and research to make sure I use a language that is appropriate for that type of document.
My other main area of expertise is press releases. Over 8 years, I worked with an airline and I have helped them with the translation of their press releases and brochures. I am also an aviation lover, so working directly with an airline helped learn more and more about this amazing industry. In this particular field localization is always in mind, as localisation errors can be made and be very costly. Being creative is also extremely important, unlike some may think being accurate is also being creative. If you need to translate the slogan of a company, it’s not easy, the literal translation may fit, but will it cause the same impact? It won’t for sure, so it needs to be accurately adapted to the Portuguese language. That means, being accurate with the translation, passing the same message and being creative to use words that give it the same impact.
In the end, these challenges are what makes my job so great. To overcome each one of them, I studied, I learnt, I researched and ultimately I became an expert. And I am ready to use all that knowledge to help you solve your problems.