Business Communication Degrees in Master Translation

In an msnbc.com article titled, "Where Will the Jobs Be in 2012?" writer Jenny Lynn Zappala interviewed Lena Bottos, director of compensation at Salary.com, who predicts business professionals with "international experience or knowledge" will have the advantage in the future considering, as Bottos puts it, "the borders are falling away."

Zappala also spoke to Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster in Silicon Valley, who says business career candidates should anticipate "living in different countries over their careers to succeed," because the "hot jobs are worldwide, and the ambitious must follow." People who are not fluent in a second language will be at a "huge disadvantage, even if they never leave this country," he believes.

It's not surprising, then, that a whole new wave of business degrees has emerged to train us to think differently about our business practices. It's not just accounting and marketing that comprise business basics anymore. There are a variety of new business degree specialties that teach students how to think not only globally, but in a responsible, culturally-sensitive and ethical fashion. One popular degree program is sustainable business—another is a business communication degree in master translation.

Master translation is, according to the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a fusion of translation, technology and business management. With the world getting smaller due to the globalization, mobility and migration of international business practices, as well as the explosion of business transactions conducted via technology, it's vital for businesses to communicate effectively and understand each other when making deals that affect future company health and robustness.

Master translation provides translation and localization services, integrating technical translation, localization and multilingual components, to create successful business strategies. People who hold a business communication degree in master translation will most likely work in IT as a technical or communications writer, project management, in office management, as a business communications interpreter or translator, or in economics.

People who earn a business communication degree in master translation must have the special ability to convey the sensibility of a particular culture in their work. Sensitivity is needed to establish the bonds between cultures, and to ensure that accurate messages are being translated for the foreign customer or company. This includes linguistic phrasing and custom usage. These may be conveyed through software, technical documents, public relations—or any of the many modes of reciprocal information transfer that e-commerce, teleconferencing, social networking and other methods of communication that technology offers.

A business communication degree in master translation will teach you to analyze the communications needs of a company and to develop a successful strategy for achieving the company's communications goals. Students earning a bachelor's degree will focus on many of the core basics of an undergraduate business degree, but will also study communication science, specialized writing skills, and linguistic and cultural skills.

Most students pursuing a career in business master translation will choose to earn a master's degree in a subject such as translation, interpreting, journalism, or most likely, business communication. In this area of specialty, the focus will be on scientific and humanistic theory, global communications and ethics, and leadership skills.

Another option is a Master of Arts in Technical Communications, which, upon completion, offers a wide range of career opportunities, including technical translation, information design, technical authoring or project management. This master's program will prepare you to produce documentation for a variety of different audiences using software in which text, graphics and sound as well as translation memory, are effectively integrated.

No matter which business communication degree in master translation you select, you'll be readying yourself for a cutting-edge career in which you'll solve complex communications problems that will bring all types of businesses together for mutually-respectful—and beneficial—transactions, free from linguistic, technical and cultural misinterpretation.