Experience or training?

In my Research and T&I as a Profession courses this question has come up a few times. 

As I see it, on the one hand, we can have very highly qualified graduates from respected academic institutions that have no experience despite their “practical training” in class. I am not saying that that training is negative or does not count. Unfortunately, no matter how much you try to reproduce real world conditions, it is not going to be the real thing for one main reason: you are in a classroom for educational/ training purposes, and you are going to be assessed accordingly, not by real world standards.

On the other hand, we have highly experienced professionals that had little or no training in the field, maybe because it was not available at their time, that are also excellent at their job.

And then, we have a wide variety of combinations of both in between these two extremes.

There are academic papers that make a robust defence of training as well as others defending experience. I will not cite any of them, but in most cases, there is a problem with the amount of quantitative or qualitative data, and sometimes even both. Sometimes they are plainly biased. My point of view is that you need a combination of both, but you cannot rule out anyone for lacking training if they are well experienced or experience if the have a solid training.

However, I have been hearing from many people that experience is not important at all. They argue that having a degree of training will not only compensate for but, have more weight than having experience.

Please excuse me: if you are going to tell me that my almost twenty years in the field (yes I’m old) account for nothing, I am sorry to tell you that you are wrong. We, people with experience (and also training,) know the ropes of the trade precisely because of our experience, and that is something no diploma or certificate can provide. It is something that comes with time and, of course, experience.

Of course, training is important, but it is not enough on its own.

I am not going to say there is a right amount of training or experience to make the perfect professional if there is such a thing. In my opinion, there are different optimal combinations for various positions, and we all need to find our niche. We are all different, and that is good.

So, what’s your take: experience or training? Both?

Women in Localization – Silicon Valley Chapter Mentoring Meeting

Last Thursday I was happy to attend the Women in Localization – Silicon Valley Chapter Mentoring Meeting.

It was incredible.

It took place at Netflix, in Los Gatos, and they provided dinner, even for me! I am vegan and celiac (sugar intolerant too), and therefore my options are usually pretty scarce. I went with two classmates: Erérndira Saenz, the goddess of networking, and Emma Aguilar, the best TLM computer savvy technician in the world, she has saved my computer and devices, along with my life, more than once. I would advise everyone to keep an eye on them because they are really good, and I’m sure they will make it big. They are not only amazing professionals but also amazing human beings with high standards and ethics, something we don’t find that easily lately.

The event was excellent, the mentors were amazing and have incredible careers: Siobhan Hanna (Lionbridge), Katell Jentreau (Netflix), Katja Zuske (eBay), Teresa Marshall (Salesforce), Magdalena Enea (HighTech Passport), Manuela Furtado (Alpha US), Mimi Hills (VMware), Monique Nguyen (Welocalize), Yasmin Vanya (PlayStation), and Pia Bresnan (Moravia).

They were all inspiring. I attended the speed mentoring sessions given by Katell Jentreau (Netflix), Katja Zuske (eBay), Yasmin Vanya (PlayStation), and Mimi Hills (VMware). They all provided excellent points of view on the profession and on career development, as well as interesting insights on what mentoring is and what it is not.

If I had to choose one thing, it would be Katja Zuske’s “don’t rush it, enjoy every step of your way” and Siobhan Hanna’s “we have to support each other.” Oops, that was two, having to choose is always hard.

A mentor is someone who is there to guide you on your way up. Someone who might not be working in your same area, but that is able to provide valuable insight so you can improve in certain areas or acquire/ develop new skills. Someone who does not provide straight answers but helps you get on the right track. Someone who supports you.

While I was there, I realized I already have someone like that in my life. She was my boss for a few years and said “go for it” with a big smile when I said I was considering going to MIIS. Someone who has been there through all my ups and downs at MIIS and had full trust whatever I’d do would be the right option. This woman runs an amazing LSP called Tick Translations (if you haven’t heard of it, here’s some help http://www.ticktranslations.com/en/) that has just gotten a not so little sister, Cultural Connections (http://www.ticktranslations.com/CulturalConnections/). I have no words to express my immense respect and admiration, as well as how grateful I am, so I hope this will make it: Thank you, Silvia.

So, what's your take on mentoring?