Tim Jenkins BSc BA
BSc (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, NottinghamUniversity, 1984
On graduation, I joined ICL (aka Fujitsu nowadays) in Reading as a computer programmer and worked for 2 years on an engineering change module for a mainframe manufacturing control system, similar in functionality to SAP.
In 1986, ICL opened a systems development centre in Düsseldorf with the intention of selling software packages “Made in Germany” to compete with SAP on the European market. I was chosen as part of the team for the new operation, and took full advantage of the opportunity to learn German, practising my newly acquired skills by night in the Düsseldorfer Altstadt. By day, I continued my software development work, with additional responsibility for trade fair (2x Hannover Industriemesse) product demonstrations.
18 months later, ICL decided to pull the plug on the Technical Application Centre, having made negligible sales and millions of pounds in losses. English employees were invited to return to Reading (UK). I chose to stay in Düsseldorf, working until autumn 1988 as a mainframe customer support technician for ICL's German subsidiary.
In September 1988, I joined ICL Austria as a freelance localization specialist for the manufacturing control package (OMAC) I had been working on for 4 years in Reading and Düsseldorf. However, between signing my contract and moving to Vorarlberg, ICL Austria’s largest mainframe customer made the decision to cease further ICL software development and switch to SAP on an IBM platform. Thereafter, I was employed in pre-sales and training roles before finding a more challenging project with ICL in Switzerland.
Between March 1989 and March 1990, whilst contracted to ICL in Zürich, I was responsible for the design, programming and testing of an employee uniform distribution system for the railway company BLS in Bern. The database system was integrated with the core stock control and purchasing modules of OMAC.
Returning to Austria in April 1990, I was employed as a freelance localization specialist for ICL Austria’s remaining mainframe customer, König KG in Rankweil. This manufacturer of bespoke pistons, piston rings and cylinders for the automotive and leisure industries was in the process of installing the OMAC production control system. My involvement commenced with the design and execution of data load programs, together with the customization of the standard production control, stock and purchasing modules to customer specifications.
König's next project was the installation of a mainframe-based sales system, where I again played a leading role in the localization/customisation of ICL's standard UK product and the design of interfaces with other systems.
The main focus of my 6 years freelance employment with König was the design, programming and implementation of an in-house costing and financial reporting database system. This was devised to be fully integrated with all other installed mainframe modules.
At the beginning of 1995, on expiration of one König contract, I returned to the UK where I worked briefly in the IT department of the AA (Automobile Association) in Glasgow. Four weeks into a six month contract, I received a call from Austria asking me to return and train new staff to work on the maintenance and development of installed systems. They made me an offer I could not refuse and a month later I embarked on another year in Rankweil before returning finally to the UK in May 1996.
During these years with König, my language skills were also regularly called upon. I was involved in ad-hoc translation work and for a period of 2 years I was providing the company CEO (Herr König) with daily English lessons. Prior to my departure, Herr König offered me a permanent senior management position with the company. Had it not been for my personal situation at the time, I would probably still be in Austria.
ICL mainframe programming work was still widely available in the UK and within a few weeks I was contracting for the Department of Social Security in Longbenton. Between June 1996 and June 1997 I was part of a development team, programming and testing changes to the benefits system.
In July 1997 I moved to Northern Rock in Newcastle. This leading mortgage lender had recently acquired a building society competitor, and I was involved in programming the required computer system changes. My contract was extended and I progressed to join a team looking at necessary system modifications for the year 2000.
Demand for ICL mainframe professionals increased as companies sought to ensure Y2K compatibility of their systems. In August 1998 I joined ICL’s dedicated Y2K project centre in Edinburgh. I worked there for three months on modifications to Scottish Power systems, before being posted to Aberdeen to join a team making similar changes to Scottish & Southern Electricity database programs.
In May 1999 I rejoined Northern Rock in Newcastle where I was involved until the following summer in further programming and testing of Y2K system changes.
Following the Y2K bubble, I decided to take a welcome break from computing and pursue a long-standing sporting interest. I became a windsurfing instructor, spending 3 summers in Greece and a winter in Barbados. My specialization here was the tuition of German speaking children.
During this time I made initial approaches to UK-based translation companies, seeking advice on becoming a professional translator. The response was generally aloof and very lukewarm. I was informed politely that without an academic linguistic qualification, I stood no chance of finding employment in this field.
Not to be deterred, in November 2002, I signed up for a German A-level course at a local college and applied to university. I achieved a grade A for the A-level with the somewhat amazing score of 97% and commenced a BA degree course at the University of Northumbria in Newcastle in September 2003.
In my initial two years studying German and Spanish, I excelled at German and made remarkable progress, ab initio, with Spanish. I also took a TEFL option. For my year abroad, I chose to spend the whole 12 months in Spain and further improve my Spanish, studying Translation and Interpreting at MálagaUniversity.
Translation and interpreting also formed a large part of my final year studies at Northumbria. My dissertation, in Spanish, was a critical evaluation of Spain's anti-smoking legislation and I took an optional module in international trade finance. I found I had a talent for translation into English, both from German and Spanish, consistently coming top of the class in our weekly assignments with grades of over 80%.
I graduated in June 2007 with a BA (Hons) German & Spanish, 1st class, with a distinction in spoken German and prizes for outstanding performance (i.e. best student) in both German and Spanish (sponsored by the Instituto Cervantes). In so doing, I obtained a “first class” classification (70%+) for ALL modules studied.
Since graduation I have specialized in the translation and proofreading of DE->EN & ES->EN texts in the following subject areas: SAP, automotive, business, engineering, IT, legal, financial, travel, marketing, publishing and education.
There has been no shortage of work with most orders coming via translation agencies in Germany, Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom. Clients include: Aldi, Alstom, Audi, Cegasa, Eternit, Fill, G Data, Henkel, Iberdrola, Johnson Controls, Kiska, Lekkerland, Medion, Rexroth, SebaKMT, Smith & Nephew, Viessmann, Volkswagen, Woerle.
One highlight - in August 2007, I flew to Cologne to work as a senior translator (DE->EN) on a 2 month SAP localization project. Here, I was involved in the translation of the client’s customizations for use in their Belgian subsidiary. The texts covered many areas of SAP, centring on the Sales and Distribution, Purchasing, Business Warehouse and Logistics modules. I spent another 10 days in Cologne in November 2007 completing this work.