Interview with Viktoryia Baum

Viktoryia Baum has been holding her role as new President of the New York Circle of Translators since January 2025. Wanting to introduce Viktoryia Baum to our members, the Gotham Translator newsroom asked her a few questions. Learn more about Viktoryia’s long journey within the industry, her views on how to keep up enthusiasm for a translator’s profession, and why linguists are special people.

By Sylwia Ogrodniczak, contributing writer to the Gotham

Q. You have been elected for the position of President of the New York Circle of Translators. What should we learn about you for a start to get a bigger picture of you – as a linguist and as a human being with diverse experiences?

A. I’m incredibly proud of the New York Circle of Translators trusting me to become their president. It is an honor and a privilege, and I am hopeful that I will be able to deliver to the membership in such a way that I at least meet their expectations.

I’ve been volunteering with many different language not-for-profits including ATA and NAJIT for years now. The NYCT presidency is my first leadership position. Working alongside an amazing team helps tremendously – everyone is very gracious in helping me settle into this new role, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I think we have a great Board team handling everyday business aspects and we are a fun group to be around. So far I have learned a lot and I look forward to having a fulfilling and productive year. I hope for it to be filled with many more exciting events that we can put up together.

Speaking of my interesting experiences, there are plenty of them! I got into this profession by accident – when I was a student at the University of Warsaw in their TESOL college for English language, another university department encountered a huge problem for their graduating class. That particular year, the faculty of economics mandated that all diploma theses for graduating students had to be translated into English and presented in two languages, Polish and English. Needless to say, the students scrambled to figure out a way to translate their theses, many of them not speaking English, and they came to the English departments and colleges for help. That was my first paid (accidental) job back in 2000. I made some money! Most importantly, I liked it. I realized that this is an actual profession, at the same time realizing that teaching English to speakers of other languages isn’t really for me.

Fast-forward ten years later, in 2010 I graduated from the Monterey Institute of International Studies with a degree in Conference Interpreting which helped me land a full-time job with TechTrans International, an LSP based in Houston. For the next three years, I worked for both commercial and non-commercial projects including the International Space Station program. This was very difficult and demanding work, but I got to meet a bunch of phenomenal people. I learned not only from my senior colleagues (to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for sharing their knowledge and materials), but from engineers, scientists, and the best management I could hope for. The company was eager to cultivate and promote potential, and they were truly the driving force that turned me into a professional interpreter and translator, not just a fresh graduate with only a paper in hand.

Q. What would you define as a success in the translation and interpretation industry these days? What skillset is fundamental to stay strong in the market?

A. In Polish (and in other Eastern European languages), there is a saying “nogi karmia wilka” (literally “the wolf eats by the grace of its legs”), with a more appropriate EN saying being “the dog that trots about finds a bone,” which I believe is a quote from Golda Meir. Aphorisms aside, success in the translation and interpreting industry (and actually ANY industry) whether these days or in yesteryear will always be defined as how much you work and how much you are willing to try new things and go outside your comfort zone in order to make a living.

My best advice to anyone either already in the market and struggling or just entering the market: Diversify. Explore. Learn. Embrace. Network. These days, to keep a lucrative business, it’s tough to limit your skillset to just one genre. If you’ve always worked as a conference interpreter, you may want to try signing up for a translation workshop and seeing if you like it. And vice versa. I’ve heard stories from colleagues who worked as translators for 20+ years, always dreading interpreting, but once they tried, they liked it (or realized they could do it) and made it part of their business. The key is to remember that as linguists with a passion for languages, we can always find something we are good at. We just need to identify this new or reinvented skill.

Perhaps the biggest advantage any linguist can have is the ability to meet new people and network. For me personally, going to conferences has been a great help and an enormous asset. I’ve met fantastic people, many of whom have become my lifelong friends, and I’ve learned a lot from everyone. This year I plan to continue attending as many conferences as I possibly can, and if anyone reading this article sees me at an event, please stop by and say hi!

Q. Could you describe the moments of your career path where you felt: “I love what I do and I will do everything to keep this feeling with me as long as possible”?

A. I think for me the best moments happen when I am approached by clients desperately needing third-party advice because they have been struggling with quality and facing issues with their end clients rejecting translations as not good enough. When someone asks that you review a product, to me that signals they have confidence in me and my skills, trusting my judgment to deliver a verdict. It’s a cozy and warm feeling, letting me know that I’ve accomplished something and that I’m a very good professional. When someone says “thank you for all your expertise and service,” this is what makes you think how much you love what you do.

Sometimes there are moments that are also quite comical. I recently worked with a private client who had a fairly typical one-page translation need, and it was a local client. We’d agreed on the terms and the price, and I managed to deliver it a day early. The client needed a hard copy, which meant either meeting them physically or mailing the paperwork. I don’t mind meeting clients within a certain distance area, and she suggested a coffee shop not too far from my office. To my bewilderment, the client wanted to not only pay me at the agreed rate, but also extend gratuity for exceptional service and fast turnaround, which I politely declined. To me, it was quite an amusing story; the client, on the other hand, found it strange that I would refuse a tip (I guess we both learned something new that day).

Q. What are your favorite words in the languages you speak (name 1 in each language)?

A. This is a question that no one has asked me before…..honestly, I’ve never thought about it. But if I were to name some words across all languages, they would be “kindness” and “gratitude.” These days we aren’t kind enough or thankful enough to each other, whether to a relative, a colleague, a friend, an employee, or a supervisor. We can do better, especially in this uncertain time that we live in.

Q. What goals are ahead of the President of the Circle to achieve for this year and what can we expect to come in the coming months? Are there any special subjects in the industry that you think the Circle should pay more attention to?

A. This year we are working on putting together an in-person conference for the first time in many years. As the conference is in its early planning stages, I don’t have much information to share, but it’s shaping up to be an exciting event. The date has been set for September 06, and there will be more announcements on all platforms as time goes by, so if you aren’t following us on our LinkedIn page, please check us out at https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-york-circle-of-translators/. This of course is in addition to all NYCT monthly educational sessions, the annual picnic in June, and the holiday party in December. Hope to see you there!

Q. Are there good relaxation techniques that a translator/interpreter could incorporate in their routine after a long workweek?

A. For sure! Thousands of them 🙂 It depends on finding what works the best for you personally. Whether it is having a nice cup of tea and reading a book before bedtime, taking a stroll with your pet animal or a significant other, hiking a mountain until it gets dark, or simply meditating, the choice is yours. Everyone is different and there isn’t a winning or a losing combination either way. I like to spend time in the garden planting flowers if time allows it. Some years I have a blooming field, some years I don’t. Another side hobby that helps me is building things. As in literally building a shelf or a small structure, or remodeling something in the house. I am not a professional carpenter, but I picked up a thing or two from a good friend of mine. We can spend the entire Sunday doing some fixit project, which makes me feel accomplished at the end of the day. I like the feeling and I like to see a project to its end, whether it’s editing a translation or editing a piece of wood.

One thing to keep in mind is that time is precious and we don’t have a lot of it as working professionals. It is important to take care of yourself, but if all you do is work, work, and work, that’s ok, too. Working all the time might be someone’s way of relaxation, right? As long as it is the right choice for you, since no one knows you as well as you do, and only you alone can make that right choice.