Training and Employability: What are the LSPs looking for and what can the graduates offer?

Abstract

Training and employability are two terms that frequently appear in the speeches in those in charge of designing educational policies as well as in reports of economics or market trends. Training is necessary for integration into the job market. The aim of this article is to provide data extracted from several studies on university–language service providers (LSPs) relations in the European Union (EU) for the period 2010–2017. The EU Directorate-General for Translation through the European Master’s in Translation network (EMT network) and European Union of Associations of Translation Companies developed those studies. The first and last studies focused on LSPs’ companies while the second offers information on graduates and their training. The results obtained can be summed up as follows: what are employers looking for and what can the graduates offer? and indicate that translator education and training is a shared responsibility of universities and LSP in a highly competitive market.

Keywords: Optimale, European master’s in translation (EMT) network, training, labour market, language service providers
(LSPs), translation.