"I looked at different career options within Linguistics and felt like the translation/localization industry had a lot of things I was looking for: relevance, global impact, and application of linguistic principles and mindset. The biggest thing that prepared me for this job was definitely the localization-related, on-campus internship program at BYU (through HCOLL). The program gave me relevant experience to put on my resume and helped me develop soft skills like working on a team, communicating with stakeholders, and being a solution seeker."

"I majored in Portuguese, and did the Translation and Localization minor because I really hoped to get into doing Portuguese to English translation as a career. While I did the classes for the minor, I found that my skills actually really lined up with the duties of a project manager, and I really enjoyed it. It led me on the path to finding an internship doing project management at Lingotek, where I ended up being offered a full-time position after graduating.

Over the past few years I worked my way from Intern to Project Coordinator, to Junior Project Manager and now to Project Manager. I'm so grateful I did the Translation and Localization minor, because it helped me learn about the different career paths within the localization field and the on-campus internship gave me some great experience to learn from and put on my resume. I was also able to apply for and receive funding to go to the GALA Localization Conference, which was a great opportunity to learn more about the field and meet people in the industry.

I really believe participating in this minor is the reason I ended up in a career that challenges me and helps me grow, and allows me to work with people all over the world. I would recommend it to anyone who loves language and translation, but doesn't know how to make a career out of it."

"I found out about the Translation & Localization minor through a Linguistics career exploration class and was very intrigued by it. At that point, my goal was to become a translator, not really knowing much about the industry itself. I joined the T&L club to learn more and felt like it was the perfect place for me to find my place in the language services industry! I was active in activities and club meetings and was blessed to network with people from the industry and find an internship in Vendor and Project Management at Acculing.

I currently work for ICON plc, a pharmaceutical research company and am a Project Analyst in their Language Services department. The internship along with the classes required for the minor prepared me to know exactly what to expect and how to be successful in translation management.

I am beyond grateful for the T&L minor! It helped me turn my love and passion for languages into a valuable marketable skill that has given me career purpose and success. I can’t recommend it enough!"

I learned about localization at BYU when I met Jeff Beatty, head of Localization at Mozilla. I applied for the Spanish Translation program that semester. I then met with Dr. Hague who advised me on looking into the Middlebury Institute for graduate studies in Translation and Localization Management.


My current role is Senior Localization Project Manager. My responsibilities include handling daily production deliveries in the morning, launching new projects during and at the end of each day, client meetings, production updates, new project timelines, new client onboarding meetings, planning, and internal training with PM teams or translation teams.

BYU is a great environment to network with real, respected members of the localization industry. If you want to pursue higher education, BYU has a great relationship with top graduate universities that offer related programs. The localization industry is very big in Utah, much more so than it otherwise would be without the influence of the Church and the multilingual culture that missionary service brings. Regardless of where you work in the U.S., you will likely run into either another BYU alumni or someone that has worked directly or indirectly with BYU or the Church’s translation department.

My advice for students is that experience is key. There are a million LSPs that would love to have you work for them. You will likely have bad experiences working with some of them. This is because much of the industry was created in the 90s and early 2000s and has yet to properly update its processes and technology to run efficiently. This is frustrating but a very good learning experience. Critical thinking is key for any localization position. Keep an eye focused on how you can make your current process more efficient, whether by automation or by using better software solutions. Try new things until you find what you like. Some people hate being project managers. Others hate being involved in sales. Many don’t want customer-facing positions. Try everything you can until you find the position that’s just right for you. Then, become the best at what you do.

I graduated in 2016. My major was Spanish Translation. I am a Software Engineer in Globalization. I was lucky to join a great team that has established a sturdy globalization process. The best description of a normal day in my role is "fostering international-oriented development across teams." On a good day, I'm maintaining a reliable internationalization infrastructure; on a longer day, I'm trying to improve the reliability of that infrastructure. On any given day, I could be resolving bugs in our software, scripting a smaller project, using CAT tools, analyzing data or be in a meeting with another team.

While I was at BYU, I spent a lot of time at the Humanities Advisement Center to maximize the professional value of my degree. One of the advisers, Sherami Jara, helped me connect with a few alumni in the localization industry so I could see if it was a good fit for me. There were a few other students that were interested in localization too and Sherami helped us create a club that would enable us to hold events, create a professional network, and possibly arrange internships related to localization for BYU students.

BYU has a strong network of alumni in localization. Becoming part of that network helped me find internships and part-time jobs during school, find mentorship as I moved on from BYU, and was how I found out about the posting for the job I currently have.

My advice for students is that you can learn to do anything. Find out what skills people are looking for in candidates for the jobs you want and learn those skills. You may not be able to learn everything on the job or in school, so seek out opportunities wherever you can. If you can get a paycheck or course credit while you're at it, all the better. And be confident in your decisions along the way. You're probably better at making decisions than you give yourself credit for, and you can always make adjustments as you grow.