The TLM Mentorship Program, founded by Translation and Localization Management students Caitlin Quiat MATLM ´21, Veronica Fried MATLM ‘21, and Xinyang Chen MATLM ‘21, is dedicated to building connections between students and alumni in localization, allowing them to share their perspectives and develop new skills together.
The idea behind the program is to pair current students and alumni with similar interests or areas of expertise to make the most of opportunities for career mentorship and networking. Quiat, Fried, and Chen say they also hope that alumni will gain insights from students, and from the practice of providing mentorship.
“When the official program team formed, things took off quickly,” Fried says. “Then once we got into the creative aspects - making the website, designing a logo, building forms - it started feeling tangible. All of us were excited at what we were making, and we wanted to get the word out as soon as possible.”
Another challenge the team faced was determining what data they wanted from the applications in order to match people. “The basic methodology is based around pairing 1st-year mentees with 2nd-year mentors, 2nd-years to alumni, and alumni with senior alumni,” explains Quiat, and adds that the main issue was establishing how to prioritize everyone’s personal preferences when creating matches. “The two main deciding factors we chose were language preference and focus area, also taking into account any comments about their goals for the program. We have put in great effort to match people with those we believe are the best fit for them, so it will be interesting to see how things play out.”
We have put in great effort to match people with those we believe are the best fit for them, so it will be interesting to see how things play out.
“We just finished the first round of applications, and our expectations were completely blown away,” Chen says. They have over 100 participants already, including many experienced alumni who are donating their time to work with current students or recent grads. “We’ve already gotten many people saying they’re excited to work with their new partner, or can’t believe what a great match we found for them. We can’t be thankful enough for everyone’s enthusiasm and cooperation, because this program wouldn’t be possible without the time, effort, and dedication of every person who joined!”
See sites.miis.edu/tlmmentorship for more details and the application!
Eva Gudbergsdottir
eva@middlebury.edu
831.647.6606
| by Eva Gudbergsdottir
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| by Jason Warburg
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