2.2 How did you get to where you are, and how did your Spanish degree help you?
Allison Yakel and Whitney Chappell
Many careers are not completely linear (for example, you study computer programming and then become a computer programmer), so first, let’s learn more about Allison and how she got to where she is.
Transcript: “I got started doing this really back in college when I decided to major in Spanish. After college, I moved to Texas and I started working in the insurance industry. I worked at a worker’s comp insurance company, and the manager, the hiring manager, actually told me they probably wouldn’t have hired me if I didn’t have a Spanish degree because at the time they needed Spanish speakers. So, first job, thank you Spanish major. After that I decided to go to grad school, and you know, that was a great option for me. Did my masters, I did my PhD, I became a professor, so I got to go work in education, and that was wonderful. I worked in the mental healthcare field, running the language access department at a psychiatric hospital, and now I work in tech, so it opens doors to really anything.”
There is a common misconception that the only real career option for students pursuing a degree in Spanish is to become a Spanish teacher in the K-12 system. While this is an excellent and highly respectable professional path, it is not the only one. A degree in Spanish can open doors to countless areas in tech, including localization, which is like translation with some extra requirements, and it is a crucial area in the tech industry. It also involves converting information in one language to another, maintaining the same message, tone and style in the target language. It may also involve converting one regional variety into a different regional variety of the same language. However, localization extends beyond accounting for linguistic differences between languages and dialects. A localization professional is also expected to convert objects such as URLs or other location-specific items within the text. Localized content often appears in chatbot content or on websites that are tailored to a specific country. Many large companies use in-house localization services, while others rely on external localization companies to manage their needs.
Allison herself works in conversation design. Conversation designers play a crucial role in the customer experience at any company that relies on a chatbot, voice bot or virtual assistant to engage their customer base. Designers are tasked with the development of logical, natural-sounding conversations that can provide solutions to clients in real time. Designers who are also language experts also participate in tuning the language model that helps the bot interpret human language correctly. A graduate degree is not required for this profession, but it doesn’t hurt. When applying for positions in particularly competitive fields, a graduate degree can offer a huge edge.
