Wolfestone Translation Blog

I always wanted to work in a company which offers the possibility to apply languages and Wolfestone Translation was just the right company to do so.

I was well aware of the fact that it is not going to be easy. After a few days I figured out that it really wasn’t going to be a walk in the park after all. The tasks I was given were rather complicated and time consuming; Internet research, database extensions and various translations kept me busy the whole day. I also was able to look behind the curtain of translations and many other things connected to it.

Despite my Knowledge of languages and all work related topics I had to deal with, I soon realized that I just scratched the surface of all that things I was involved in. The difference between the things known to me and the tasks I had to accomplish was bigger than I expected at the beginning. Languages and everything else I was working with was on a level that did not tolerate delays, failure or inexperience. But with friendly colleagues, good technical equipment and some motivation the time passed by pretty fast.

I recommend such an internship to all those who are willing to extend their knowledge of languages and office related skills as well as having an insight into the real work and life that awaits every single one of us in the future.

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

Wolfestone is currently looking for student Interns who wish to gain experience in the Translation and/or Marketing industry. We will consider students with all language pairs but would prefer those who can translate French, Spanish, Italian and German in particular. These are the languages we can guarantee the most translation work for.

As we are a small company we can offer students experience in all aspects of the business not only translation but also in marketing, research, project management and also interpreting and transcription occasionally. Wolfestone is a young and dynamic company who can offer an intern a great experience both socially and professionally.

If you are interested in applying for an internship please visit our website.

I arrived nice and early at Afan Park ready for whatever the day could throw at me. At first it mainly threw rain at me, but fortunately at about midday it stopped. Until then we did the various challenges which could be done in our rather spacious tent. This started with a challenge of what objects would be most useful should we ever happen to capsize our boat in the middle of the Atlantic. Both teams got the exercise largely correct, guessing that water, food and a mirror to signal would be the prerequisites for survival. We then moved on to determining which 6 of our entire team should be rescued in the event of a nuclear winter. This was fun, although we spent so long discussing the issue that the rescue helicopter took off empty.

After this we played a game involving participants writing three facts and one lie about themselves, and then having to guess who had written what, and which “fact” was a lie. There we discovered various interesting aspects of each others’ personalities. Following on from dinner we moved outdoors to attempt to make a square with a piece of rope. This might have been somewhat easier had Anna not decided to blindfold all of us, but the results were entertaining. We then moved on to a slalom race, with one person blindfolded, and another guiding the first person up the course before the pair switching roles for the return leg. The times posted were very competitive, the routes followed occasionally hilarious. We finished off by attempting to make a sturdy robust bridge from old newspapers. Here, we discovered that the one team had missed its obvious vocation as construction engineers.

After all of this, we gathered round the campfire for a sing-song and a nice cup of tea, reflected on the day and had an enjoyable night. I personally enjoyed myself thoroughly, but it wasn’t just me. A good time was had by all, exactly as it should be.

Rendezvous for the team building was at 10am on Saturday morning where we compared waterproof clothing and discussed the fact that it was definitely raining as we all suspected.  After getting lost once or twice, driving round the same roundabout a couple of times and admiring the beautiful roadside scenery we finally found the right turning.

When we arrived the next step was to set up base camp, we found a suitable spot and proceeded to dominate the campsite, whoops!  By this time it was time for lunch and then the real fun could begin.  The first tasks were to take place in the main tent, where there was a large enough sitting area that we didn’t need to get to know each other TOO well.  These tasks ranged from a lateral thinking exercise involving plastic forks, to a survival rescue task which involved having a list of 20 items and deciding which were most useful whilst floating on a dinghy in the Atlantic. Needless to say each team’s answers were an interesting insight into the individuals in the team and the way that people think.

When the rain stopped we were able to venture out doors to start tasks testing trust, patience, team work and resilience to constant drizzle!  It was interesting to watch the teams working together and to discover people’s strengths and weaknesses outside of the normal working environment.

I believe the team building camping weekend was a success, the whole experience, from setting up tents to making tea and preparing food were team building exercises in themselves, which I believe we all benefited from.  The aim was to get to know each other better and have a little more faith in the Wolfestone team and we definitely achieved that.

I can see that this is going well..

Lying in bed listening to the rain battering my window on that Saturday morning, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the prospect of the Wolfestone team building camping experience! Nevertheless I summoned the Wolfestone ‘can do’ attitude and headed for Afan Argoed forest park in as much water proof clothing as I could find.

Once we had found an area big enough to accommodate our physical tasks and set up the tents, (unfortunately surrounding an unsuspecting pair of cycle enthusiasts who had a bit of a shock once they returned from a peaceful day on the tracks!), we commenced the activities. With the rain still coming down strong, the possibility of any outdoor tasks seemed slim to none, so we kicked off with our indoor activities. Once the rain had eased slightly we all braved the elements to complete our more physical tasks. One task which I found particularly interesting was an open mindedness task where we were told there had been a nuclear blast and a helicopter was arriving to take people to safety but it could only carry 6 of us. We then had to evaluate each other and decide on a way to choose who would go who would stay, be it random selection or based on certain criteria, such as if we had to build a new society who would be of more value? One member of the team suggested it would be the six who could run fastest, I won’t name names!

I would certainly recommend this experience to other small companies as a way of getting to know each other better. I can honestly say that when I saw the rain that morning I was not expecting the day to go as well as it did. Every member of the Wolfestone team came up with interesting and insightful tasks that helped us to bond as a company and to discover everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.

Our team-building camping trip started off badly with lots of rain and drizzle, but Wolfestone team proved intrepid and we hit the road in our cramped cars, overloaded with camping and survival equipment, Polish sausages and crates of…Coke. After we finally managed to park our cars without blocking other campers, we put up our tents on what at the time seemed to be a harmless slope but at sleep time turned magically into a giant side of a mountain, which we were rolling down in our tents. We all got soaking wet and very muddy so we gathered in our huge tent’s living area and practised our team working skills while preparing lunch, each of us responsible for one of the following sandwich making stages- cutting, buttering, „hamming”, „lettucing” and „tomatoing”. We then played lots of fun indoor challenges prepared by our colleagues. We have learned that we should not set fire to the water while drifting on a (possibly rubber!) raft in the middle of the Ocean and that a shark repellent is something each of us should keep handy! When the rain had finally stopped, we completed our outdoor challenges: built 2 extra durable bridges out of newspaper that could hold a man’s weight (well, almost!), made 2 extra straight squares out of rope with our eyes closed and without talking (well, almost!), showed incredible balancing skills while group-walking on tiny bricks (well, almost!) and saved the planet by neutralising radioactive liquid that Roy had inadvertently brought with him to the campsite. After all the challenges and a major bog-related accident, we burned the bridges and enjoyed a nice warm fire (well, almost!) that we managed to light and barbecued till the wee small hours, playing guitar and singing „Delilah”…

With only one day to go everyone is frantically preparing their tasks for our team building day on Saturday. Everyone has a theme to work with for example, trust, patience, survival or communication and each task will be kept a secret until Saturday. We do however have a list of all the equipment that people need and this varies from rope to pen and paper to eggs!
With the weather being reported to be anywhere in between 26 degrees without a cloud in the sky or snowstorms (according to our staff!) anything could happen. We have chosen Afan Forest Park for our campsite for the stunning location and we are hoping the fresh air will mean we come back with a head full of ideas.
We feel that team building is important for us as we have such a small team and we all have to work very closely together. It is essential that we communicate properly, are aware of each other’s skills and that we can trust one another. As well as getting to know each other properly we hope that this weekend will make Wolfestone even more dynamic and successful.

After battling my way through the heavy morning traffic in the centre of Swansea, thanking my lucky stars that I don’t have to start until 9.30 a.m, (a usual 10 minute journey from home takes 45 minutes at that time of the morning), I arrive at the office (just about on time) and head straight to the kitchen for my morning caffeine fix.

Like most of my colleagues I have to wade through a deluge of emails offering Viagra and porn before reaching the important ones i.e from customers. Most of my emails are from new customers asking for quotations, I always respond within 30 minutes as I myself am impatient and realise that these quotations are very often urgent.

No two days are ever the same here which makes the job so interesting, everyday I receive quotations for languages that I have never even heard of, but then I am told to my surprise that Wolfestone do in fact have a translator it!

As the morning goes on, the busier it gets, quotations, orders, queries via telephone. When things are quieter I usually have a chance to do some marketing and follow up calls, which is usually in the afternoon after the morning rush. I am so lucky that I work with such a great team and things seem to run so smoothly here, unlike my last job which would have turned my hair grey if I had not left!

For more information visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

From 2006 to 2009 I studied International Business Administration in Germany and during that time I did two internships at Wolfestone Translation. The first internship started in January 2008 when I spent 3 months in Wales. During that time I learned a lot about Marketing, translating and how to run a company. I felt very comfortable in the company and made a lot of new friends. After leaving Wolfestone and Wales in March, I missed it so much that I decided to come back for a second internship by the end of 2008. In the meantime the company had grown a lot bigger and it was interesting for me to see how things had developed in such a short time. There were a lot of new projects and a lot of interesting tasks to do. The second internship gave me so much confidence that when I left in December I knew I would come back after finishing uni.

It’s hard for me to describe what it is that connects me to Wales. I just feel at home here and I feel comfortable in Wolfestone. In Germany I always had the desire to go somewhere else and do something else. I don’t have this desire when I am in Wales so I guess it’s the place where I have to be. Of course I had doubts. In fact I was sceptical until the moment I left the train in Swansea. The hardest parts in moving to another country are leaving your friends and family behind and start a new life on your own knowing that now, mum and dad are not there to help you anymore. But the fact that I met a very special person in Wales made the decision easier and it gave me a little peace of mind since I knew I wouldn’t be completely on my own.

I left Germany for good in July 2009 and started working for Wolfestone. After one week working as a marketing assistant I don’t regret my decision to leave Germany for good and start a new life in Wales. I am very happy to be a part of this company now and I am looking forward to see where it will be going in the future.

For more information visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

Prepare yourselves for a brief gripping insight into the daily tasks of the Senior Project Manager for Wolfestone Translation.

As with most jobs these days the average day starts with checking my emails. This involves wading through on average 50 emails which have reached my inbox with usually at least 20 of these offering me the latest Viagra deals or hot nude pics. Pretty standard stuff! The remaining 30 or so emails will be translator’s delivering work, invoices or with general queries regarding current translation projects. They may also be clients requesting information on how their project is progressing or simply thanking us for our good work, always good to hear! I ignore the negative remarks… just kidding!

My next step is to consult TOM, our Translation Office Management system to check on ongoing projects and deliver any translations that are complete. The system will highlight any projects that need my attention such as due dates or unconfirmed assignments which I will need to chase up. Throughout the day the sales team will be sending me messages alerting me to new jobs which have been put into the system. As Senior Project Manager it is then my job to distribute the work between myself and the three other Junior Project Managers at Wolfestone depending on the complexity of the project or the language pairs involved. If I take on a project myself my next step would be choosing the correct translator with the correct expertise for the job.

At the same time as performing these functions I will be at hand for any questions or problems the student interns may have or indeed that the Junior Project Managers may have. I will also be overseeing all projects regardless of who is managing them to make sure everything is progressing as it should be. At some point in the day I will also have my lunch! Though this may be whilst also sitting in front of the desk proofreading a translation. I heard a statistic last week at a Management course which I think is rather apt here, most Middle Managers work 40 hours a month more than they are paid to, I can certainly see how that can happen!

To conclude and after reading through the article once more I would like to take the opportunity to retract my statement at the start of this article, my job is perhaps not as gripping as I thought and you may actually be quite bored at this point, you may in fact have stopped reading halfway through but nevertheless, no day in my job will be the same as the next. Today we may be translating documents for a court case but tomorrow we may be translating the subtitles for the latest Hollywood Blockbuster, or even voice over’s for an Adult Website, it certainly keeps things interesting!

For more information visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!