When I was first offered an internship at Cartier et Lelarge, I was not quite sure what to expect. I had just gotten my bachelor’s in translation from the Université de Montréal, and I felt like a little fish in a big pond. At first, I was a bit afraid of what was to come—after all, this was my very first internship, and we were in the middle of a pandemic. However, not everything was uncertain. I knew had a good feeling about Cartier et Lelarge, and I knew I wanted to become a translator.
From day one of my internship, most of my fears melted away. I was pleasantly surprised to find how warm and welcoming the team was, despite that we were speaking from a distance because of COVID-19. Even though I was the new kid, I felt at home right away. My colleagues were fun—and patient! Someone was always there to answer my questions.
Throughout my internship, I translated texts from a variety of different industries. I had my struggles, and the workload was heavy, but my colleagues took the time to revise my work properly, support me and give me advice. I was a little sad not to be able to see them in person, but overall I found working from home rather pleasant, as I live quite far away and am comfortable being on my own. Still, building relationships with other team members is difficult when you only communicate via online chat! Fortunately, before the end of my internship, we finally had the chance to meet one another in person to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Cartier et Lelarge. That was a really lovely experience!
During these last three months, I have learned so much—about translation and about myself. I got to know some translation tools that I had not used much before, learned how to stay more organized at work and better manage my time, and most importantly, learned how to love the work I do. At Cartier et Lelarge, I was never bored once. The team made sure that I enjoyed translating the types of text that I was assigned, which made the work all the more enjoyable.
All in all, my internship only strengthened my love of translation. I am astonished at how quickly the time passed! This company shares my values, treats its employees with respect, takes the time to train newcomers and knows how to work hard and have fun doing it. I am happy with my experience, and I hope that future interns will have as much fun as I did during my time at Cartier et Lelarge!
This article is part of our Intern Perspectives series. Read more here.
