Katherine Tutschek

Katherine Tutschek
BA’09 (Asian Language and Culture – Mandarin)

Could you go into some detail about your career path until now?

While I was in university, I worked part time as a TA and an office assistant to gain basic work experience. After graduating from UBC I went on to complete a language diploma in Cantonese in Hong Kong, and stayed on to build my career there. My first permanent position after finishing studies was as a personal assistant in the finance industry, which gave me an introduction to Hong Kong and mainland business culture, alongside which I built up experience doing freelance translation and interpretation. Following this, I moved into my current role as Communications Executive at an architectural firm, where I do business and design-end translation and interpretation work, in additon to assisting business development, marketing, and project coordination. Most of the projects done out of our office are located in the mainland, so all materials, negotiations, and coordination need to be bilingual.

How did you get your first job after graduating?

Getting my first job was a little tricky, because I was looking for visa sponsorship at the same time. Not every company is willing to sponsor a visa, and not every visa sponsorship is approved by the government. In Hong Kong, the first visa application is the most difficult, while subsequent extensions are relatively easy. Luckily I had a friend from the Cantonese program who could advise me on how to write a compelling application, but aside from that, I just had to look until I found a willing employer.

Personal recommendations from friends and networking as well as online job postings were all useful in the search, although I found that local firms were sometimes less familiar with sponsoring than international firms, or less willing to try, as it added time and an extra step to the employment procedure. In the end, though, it just comes down to the individual employer. Adjusting my goals so that they still find a way to move forward despite taking a unexpected path has been an important skill.

How has an Asian Studies degree helped you in your endeavors?

Asian Studies gave me the foundational skills I needed to function in my current role, most notably, in terms of language, critical thinking, theory, and writing. The Asian Studies program also enabled me to move my career overseas. The department’s diverse course offerings and flexible program structure allowed me to tailor my degree to suit my goals, such as choosing a concentration in language, offering exchange opportunities, providing upper level modern and ancient language courses, and the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of perspectives, honing a sensitivity in me that is useful when working with written and spoken words, as well as non verbal gestures and statements.

I especially found that Asian Studies courses, as a part of the greater Faculty of Arts course offerings, strongly reinforce the shifting nature of signifiers in our world and the fluidity of labels and identities, encouraging the deconstruction of stereotypes and prescriptive thinking, whether it be in written narrative or social discourse. This form of thinking makes it possible to identify and hold a concept in your mind, at the same time as seeing past it, allowing you to shift between paradigms, identify similarities and differences in terminology and concepts, and successfully bring a text from one reality into another. This, in its essence, is what interpretation is all about.

In your field what does a typical entry level position entail?

An entry level position as an interpreter or translator does not require you to be certified by a translation society or to have a degree in translation or interpretation; so long as you can do the work, you can work in this industry. That being said, most employers will require you to have a degree in language, culture, or a related field, and will make you take a job-specific written translation test during the interview.

If you are interested in growing into a particular business role but lack the experience, management will often be willing to help you develop your skill set if you already have the language. In my case, management got a sense for my strengths and personality while I worked with them as an interpreter, then put forth some suggestions to me to expand my duties.

Although learning Asian languages has grown more popular, it is still a relatively small portion of the overseas business community that can conduct business fluently in these languages. As such, interpreters and translators are still very much in demand, and if you bring those languages with you into another role it saves you a step.

What is the best way to get your foot in the door?

The best way is to meet people, a few good contacts will go a long way. Get to know people in your class, friends, professors, employers, and attend networking and social events. The people you know in class now will have contacts in the workforce later on, and knowing people from all walks of life will lend you perspective and insight. Another good way is to do part-time assignments. Don’t charge much at first, do it just for the experience, it will pay off later.

Do you have any other advice that you would like to impart to students/recent graduates?

The two traits that I have found the most crucial to success are determination and resourcefulness. Whether you’re learning a language or building your career, treat every situation like an opportunity, go out and make what you want happen. To me, it’s similar to rock climbing, you use whatever you have at the present to get yourself to the next step, and so on, always keeping your eye on the goal.

Make sure to follow your gut as well, even if you’re not entirely sure of the end point. It’s not always clear how every piece fits into the puzzle until later on.

Can you recommend your favourite location in your region?

Every place I’ve visited in the Greater China Region has a unique air and energy about it, wonderful people, delicious food, and beautiful scenery—both natural and urban.

In Hong Kong the same holds true, different districts have their own distinct character and attract different crowds. Personally, I spend a lot of time in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, Central, and Soho, but there’s nothing quite like recharging on one of the many hiking trails or outlying islands to refresh your body and mind.