How to become a Terminologist
Terminologists are vital to many career areas including the medical field, the legal profession, the industrial sector and the government, particularly in areas of foreign affairs. Their main responsibility is to collect and record terms and definitions that represent concepts and fill in gaps, provide answers to questions or solve problems in the particular field they work in.
People working in this career love language, words and searching for meaning. They enjoy discovering the unknown and finding the missing piece to an intriguing linguistic mystery. They know how to use and utilize a wide variety of resources, anything from books to interviews with individuals who possess important information to a particular project they are working on to Internet resources and beyond.
The work environment of a terminologist is usually an office setting where they have clerical roles. They perform a wide variety of administrative tasks, conduct a great deal of research, maintain and update databases, and compile reports. Their work is crucial for their superiors as the information that terminologists uncover and discover generally is critical in solving problems, cases or in understanding meaning or making necessary connections.
Becoming a terminologist involves earning a two or four year degree from a university or community college in English, language, or another linguistics-related field and displaying an obvious passion for language and learning. It's also a good idea to be very familiar with at least one foreign language, if not more than one.
Good communication skills including speaking, writing, and comprehension are also very essential in this particular career area. Additionally, it's important to be well-schooled in the career field that you are interested in working in. Having a few connections in high positions in that career field is also very beneficial to a terminologist landing an initial first job and having opportunities for advancement in the future.
Terminologists get the opportunity to meet and interact with a wide variety of people in their everyday work. At times, they also get to travel and engage in new experiences and see new places. However, they are generally not all that well paid and always work under someone else, sometimes under several people. Their work can be both challenging and rewarding and stressful when the pressure is on to complete an assignment or finish a project.
