Middlebury Institute graduates discuss where they are working today, how the Institute helped them get there, and what advice they’d give to current and future MIIS students.
My name is Cissy Liu and I graduated with an MA in Translation and Localization Management from the Middlebury Institute in 2019. My language of study was Chinese. Prior to coming to Monterey, I earned my BA at Peking University.
I am now a senior localization program manager at Salesforce in San Francisco, where I oversee language strategies and resource allocation and lead end-to-end localization programs while fostering robust relationships with cross-functional teams (engineering, product, design, doc, etc.). I partner with localization vendors and in-country stakeholders, ensuring projects are delivered on schedule and in compliance with internal requirements. My role requires close collaboration with product and content leaders.
Do homework before networking to get to know the professionals you’re about to talk to, and make sure to interact with your network in a professional way.
I applied for a summer internship in localization at Salesforce during my first year at the Institute, via a job posting on the Institute website. My coursework and class projects were very helpful, as was my practicum, where we localized a popular Chinese subtitling app into English for the first time.
My best advice for current students is to research the market and create a strategy for your job hunt, considering your advantages and disadvantages, your story for interviewing for different roles, your résumé, etc. Do homework before networking to get to know the professionals you’re about to talk to, and make sure to interact with your network in a professional way. While in school, prioritize the courses related to your planned career path and devote your efforts to get the most out of them.
Master of Arts in Translation and Localization Management
Chinese
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