Elizabeth graduated in 2017 and realised translation wasn't her ideal career. She taught herself coding and used knowledge from her degree to purse a new career.
Choosing to study at Southampton
I originally planned to study German and Spanish, then after a taster lecture in linguistics at a different university open day I knew I wanted to incorporate that, too. However, most universities only offered courses that combined linguistics with one foreign language, not two. I loved that at Southampton I wouldn't have to drop one of my languages and could still try out linguistics.
After leaving Southampton I started working at a small translation agency in Southampton as a Translation Project Manager (TPM). I was interested in a career in translation in the future and knew a TPM role would be a great way to develop my skills and get familiar with the industry. I worked there for around 3 years, then did another stint with British Council in Germany. I then worked as a freelance translator, which I did for about 2 years.
Changing career paths
I'm now working as a Software Developer after realising that translation wasn't right for me. I taught myself to code and landed a role as a Pega Apprentice, getting promoted one year later to Pega Developer.
I discovered that the reasons I like learning languages - grammar, logic, and underlying patterns - are the same reasons I like coding. I still think of myself as a linguist, and since university I've learnt Italian and am now dabbling in Norwegian, but career-wise I definitely think that coding is better suited to me. I think if I hadn't made the snap decision to add linguistics to my degree I might never have made that connection.
My favourite modules at university were the syntax ones. I loved using logic and patterns to break down language, and that same problem-solving approach is essential in programming.
Elizabeth Gardiner, German and Spanish Linguistic Studies graduate.
The value of transferable skills
Perhaps surprisingly, honing my writing and proofreading skills during all those essays has proved useful for writing code, where simple typos or incorrect punctuation can stop the whole thing from working. Soft skills like communication and teamwork should not be understated, either - they are essential in many jobs. I think linguists are very skilled in both thanks to the nature of the course and, if relevant, the year abroad.
Although at first glance it might seem that linguistics and software development have nothing in common, I think my degree has been really helpful in getting me to where I am today. To me, linguistics feels like perfect blend of arts and sciences, which opens up many opportunities in different fields.
