A Day in the Life of a Localization Engineer

This post continues our “A Day in the Life” series, where we spend a day with some of Argos Multilingual’s most prominent personalities. Our most recent visit is with localization engineer Agata Sierka.

Please tell us a little about your background and how you found your way to Argos.

Agata Sierka: I studied Automation and Robotics at the University of Science and Technology in Krakow, and I began working for Argos in the final year of my studies. It’s hard to believe that was 10 years ago! It was my first full-time job, and I have to say that I knew basically nothing about the translation process before I started.

What does your role usually involve?

AS: I prepare a variety of content types for translation. Sometimes it’s quite tricky, but I don’t mind – it means that the job is still challenging and fun!

What does a normal day’s schedule look like?

AS: Usually I multitask, taking care of a longer task first that can take a few hours and, in the meantime, handling some quick 15 to 30-minute tasks. Very often I get some urgent but small task that needs to be processed immediately – so I stop what I’m doing and take care of it.

What’s a common question you get from clients/end users, and how do you typically answer it?

AS: There is no typical question! Each client is different, and we treat each one individually. Sometimes we get to translate a word file that looks like a copy-paste from some platform. In that case we work together with the client to find out the best process. Very often it happens that the client can export content to XML or other files that we can work with, and just as often a client isn’t aware that we can work with a variety of file types – not only DOCX or TXT files.

What equipment/tools/software do you use on the job?

AS: I take tasks from our translation management system, where project managers assign jobs to the L10N department. To prepare or post-process files I usually use SDL Trados software. But there are other more specific tools that we’ve created in-house to address client needs. 

When and how do your team members give feedback to one another?

AS: My department is not a big one. We chat a lot and we feel we can ask everything and that there is always someone ready to help. Very often another person already knows the problem and can help you search for a solution.

What’s the most interesting thing you’re working on at the moment? 

AS: I got a software installer from a client and I’m checking to see if I can install it properly, whether it is completely translated, and if we can see everything. It’s in German, so a lot of texts are longer than the source and may need resizing. If I find any problems, I will ask a reviewer or translator to shorten some strings if there is no other way to resize it.

What’s on your work-related “wish list” for the next 12 months?

AS: I’d like to be able to anticipate as much of what the clients want as early as possible.

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