Having graduated from Ryazan State University in 2009 with a BA cum laude in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication (plus a BA in Economics, so I hold two diplomas), and after analyzing the local job market, I decided to try my luck in Moscow. As the capital was the main employment hub, I often received interview invitations, and I came to realize that it would be more efficient and more budget-friendly to move to the capital (200 km from my hometown) and rent a flat there, rather than traveling back and forth for interviews.
Pretty soon, I got a job as an English language teacher at a private language school. My students were initially a teenager and a child, but just a few weeks after my first lesson, I was assigned to teach adults, namely bankers and IT specialists. I also gave lessons to two CEOs of large Russian corporations.
The job was rewarding; it brought me joy to see my students’ progress. However, I felt that teaching was not my vocation, and I kept looking for other opportunities. And one day, around the end of November, on a headhunting website, I saw a vacancy for a Translator/Interpreter at the Royal Thai Embassy. Without giving it a second thought, I immediately applied.
I arrived a bit late and apologized, calling the administrator at the reception. She reassured me that it was fine, as there was a queue of other candidates. Interestingly reassuring.
There were many young women in the hall outside the meeting room. I remember it clearly: I sat down on a chair in the far right corner, looking from the perspective of the meeting room exit. I took a critical look at what the other girls were wearing and noticed that some of their outfits weren’t quite right for an interview of this level—their style was casual and not formal enough—which made me wonder how I looked myself. When I was called into the room, I was directed to sit across from the diplomats at a long table. If I remember correctly, there were five diplomats in total, and we exchanged radiant, polite smiles. They asked me about my current job, and I told them that I teach English and enjoy it, though I was never formally trained as a teacher—and the diplomats nodded politely and understandingly with a smile (oh, that magical Thai smile). I told them about my internship and mentioned that I had done translations for the customs service (specifically for their public relations department). They asked if I had ever been to Eastern or Asian countries, and I replied that I hadn’t yet, only to Turkey. The sight translation wasn’t difficult; the text was about a cultural event, and I had to translate it from Russian into English.
The next task was a written translation, from English into Russian, of some sort of political event. There were several English words I wasn’t sure how to translate into Russian. “Come what may” and “So be it!” — were my thoughts, and I used a dictionary on my smartphone to check the translations of the words in question. A few minutes after I started writing my translation, one of the diplomats (I later learned it was the Consul), passing by one of the candidates who was also doing the test translation, politely said: “Sorry, but your time is up,” to which the girl simply replied: “I know,” and continued writing the task.
I numbered all the pages of my translation, thinking that this way I would demonstrate attention to detail and care for the person who would check my work. I also folded the sheets to show my neatness.
A few days later, I received an invitation to work. I was head over heels!
The Chancellor said the salary would not be very high; here we (they also hired one translator and one administrator) would work for a foreign governmental organization, and we would work on our resume ( meaning, this work experience will add a great value to our CV’s). That was bespoken truth.