Posted by Laura Maderal graduated from NYU in 2009 and currently works as a Department Manager at TransPerfect.
I graduated from NYU College of Arts and Sciences in 2009 where I studied History and French. I studied abroad in both Paris and Madrid, which I strongly recommend to all students who are able to partake in such an experience! I was born and raised in Miami, Florida with a Cuban American background, but knew I wanted to spend my 20’s in NYC. I’ve always been drawn to large, vibrant, and multicultural atmospheres, so it was only natural that I chose the same for my career.
After graduating, I had dabbled between a few jobs, working for the government and then for a small law firm downtown. I got bored quickly at both of them and found myself being used as a glorified assistant, which was just not challenging enough for me – not to mention the unbelievably slow pace! I couldn’t see a future at all and spent most of my days counting down the minutes to leave. I found an opening for the Project Coordinator position at TransPerfect on NYU’s CareerNet a year after I graduated and applied right away. I now work in our Multicultural Marketing Department, which is focused on highly creative translations and cultural consulting through report writing. Luckily, my focus at NYU had already prepped me for this role. First, as a History student, I was used to writing paper after paper and learned to be analytical from Day 1. Secondly, my background in French and Spanish through living abroad helped me understand the cultural and linguistic barriers my clients were trying to overcome.
I’ve been with the company for almost 5 years and worked my way up to Department Manager. I oversee 19 people from New York to San Francisco to Montreal and our team is a very diverse, motivated, and lively group. Since we tend to hire a lot of new graduates, I don’t focus too much on their work experience since naturally they won’t have much. Instead, I look for passionate and motivated self-starters who will bring innovation and positive energy to the team. I always look for someone with a story and who brings personality to the table. (Word of Advice: Always do your research on the company and the role and come with questions. Hiring Managers can always tell the difference between someone who is looking for a job vs. someone who is looking for a career, and that will often be the deciding factor between an offer or not!)
Working for such a global company and having a team in various corners of the country has opened up a myriad of travel opportunities; which works great for someone who can never sit still! I visit my team in California a few times a year, travel from state to state with my salesteam on new client pitches, and have even had the chance to go abroad and train some of our global offices, like Barcelona!
If you ask most Project Managers their favorite thing about TransPerfect you’ll hear the same answers – the people and the opportunity! The reason being that both are extremely unique! We are passionate about our projects, our clients, and our jobs, and we have fun while we do it! Our motto is simple – we work hard and we play hard!
Interested in learning more about TransPerfect? Follow them on @NYUWassEmployer as they tweet a Day In the Life on 4/1!
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