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Tag: academic careers

  • Career Profile: Linguist

    Career Profile: Linguist

    People work with all kinds of materials. Sometimes they build bridges or put casts on broken bones. Sometimes they sew clothes or paint pictures, and sometimes they work with words. Linguists are people who study what words mean and how people use them. They use this knowledge in many different areas of life, including crime detection, language teaching, psychology, and in other professions where words are important.

    You might think that linguists are people who speak a lot of languages. It can be true, and these types of linguists often work as translators or find jobs in different countries. However, the main point of linguistics is not learning languages but analyzing them. Linguists might learn other languages in the process, but that is not normally the focus of their work.

    Analyzing a language involves working in areas like phonetics (the sounds of words), grammar, word origins, and the relationship between culture and language. Linguists try to find out why people use words the way they do and how the structure or vocabulary of a language reflects what people think.

    How does a linguist’s field of study relate to everyday life and work? Linguists can become English as a Second Language teachers or professors in fields like language, history, or anthropology (the study of human cultures). They can work as speech therapists to help people speak more clearly. They can even become crime fighters, becoming forensic linguists. This field is still quite new, but it has already helped solve many crimes.

    Forensic linguists analyze many different aspects of the language used in crimes. Sometimes, they look at the words used in ransom notes or other documents. Each person has a slightly different way of using words, and linguists can help find these differences. At other times, forensic linguists try to identify people’s accents or find out where they’re from based on their word usage. They might be able to help people who have lost their memory to find their way home again or discover the origin of a criminal’s accent. Anything that relates to language can be part of a forensic linguist’s work.

    Working as a linguist can involve a lot of hard work and study. Developing an interest in language is probably the most important way to start. If you don’t enjoy looking in dictionaries or playing word games, linguistics might not be the right field for you.

    If you decide that you enjoy language enough to work with it all day long, you’ll probably need to get an education. A general Bachelor’s degree with some courses in linguistics is probably a good start, but you might want to continue your education further. Because requirements vary, it might be a good idea to talk to an adviser at the university before you get very far in your studies. Choosing to study linguistics might not give you a clear career path, but it can be a rewarding field.

     

    Bibliography:

    Freeman, Jan. “What Do Linguists Do?” Boston.com. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/06/18/what_do_linguists_do/.

    International Association of Forensic Linguistics. “Forensic Linguistics.” http://www.iafl.org/.

    Jitt, Jack. “Words on Trial: Can Linguists Solve Crimes That Stump the Police?” New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/23/120723fa_fact_hitt

    Language Translation, Inc. “What Do Linguists Do for a Living? http://blog.languagetranslation.com/public/blog/136455

    Memorial University, Department of Linguistics. “Careers in Linguistics.” http://www.mun.ca/linguistics/home/career.php.

    World Wide Learn. “Guide to College Majors in Linguistics.” http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/social-science/linguistics-major.htm.

  • Career Profile: Archivist

    Career Profile: Archivist

    For some people, an old letter is just a piece of paper which is ready for the garbage. For others, the same letter is a piece of history, showing what life was like, long ago. It could show where people worked, what they ate, and what they read. The letter could be a window into the past, showing us what life was like for previous generations and also for the more recent past. Old letters, concert programs, financial statements, and other documents are all part of an archivist’s job of preserving history in documents.

    If you write a message to your friends using an online program like e-mail, your message will probably not last long. In other formats like paper, however, documents can last a long time. Archivists collect these documents and then organize them so that people can find them again. Exactly what they collect depends on the focus of the archives. Collections can be small, with documents that tell the story of a village or a special group of people. They can also be very large, with information on an entire country. Archivists receive donations from people and sort through the documents to see what fits with the collection. Some collections also include objects, such as candlesticks and old lace. Books and music can also be part of many collections. Media archiving is a very common area of archiving that includes the sorting of video, film and audio recordings.

    Working with archival collections requires experience in working with old documents and knowledge of the subject matter. Paper tends to fall apart when it gets old, and other materials can also be damaged as they age. Knowing how to preserve old documents and objects is an important part of what archivists learn. Many archives have climate-controlled rooms where they can keep the most fragile items at the best possible temperature to preserve them. Organizing the materials so that people can find them is also important. Archivists label the collections using combinations of numbers and letters and then compile finding aids which tell people where to look for what they need.

    What kind of training do archivists need? It depends on the collection and the community that supports the archives. A master’s degree in librarianship or archival studies, or an Arts subject such as history or English literature, is often the best preparation. People who are still completing their studies can also sometimes get a good job if they have experience. Good organizational skills are essential.

    Many archivists also work with volunteers who come into the archives help sort through documents, label photographs, or do other small jobs. If an archival career sounds interesting to you, volunteering is a good place to start. Archivists generally earn between about $36,000 and $71,000 per year. Although the number of jobs is limited, a career in archival work can be very rewarding. It can also be a good second career for people who have worked in something else related to information, restoration or history.

    Do you enjoy learning about the past? Do old documents interest you? Maybe a job as an archivist is right for you.

     

    Bibliography:

    Association of Canadian Archivists. “Archivist Assistant/Technician.” http://archivists.ca/jobs/archivist-assistanttechnician.

    Consador, Kat. “A Job Description for an Archivist.” http://www.ehow.com/about_6502171_job-description-archivist.html.

    InfoNation. “Assistant Archivist.” http://www.cla.ca/infonation/jobsamp3.htm.

    Payscalecom. “Archivist Average Salary.” http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Job=Archivist/Salary.