This is no run-of-the-mill vacancy: starting salaries of €4,000 a month are up for grabs for anyone interested in the Maltese language.
The European Personnel Selection Office is recruiting Maltese translators to work at the European Commission in Luxembourg and the deadline for the closing date is tomorrow.
Since its inception in 2004, the Maltese translation department has never managed to achieve its full complement and constantly relies on temporary translators who work on a contract for three years.
“We still need people. At the moment we have a large percentage of temporary staff and, although these do a brilliant job and are essential for us to do our job, it would be good to have more permanent staff and a more stable situation,” department head Helga Zahra said, explaining that 14 of the 50 translators are temporary.
The staff turnover is quite high, she said, for reasons not always linked with temporary contracts. “However, many stay and some actually leave and return after a couple of years. Luxembourg is a pleasant place to live and work in and the Maltese community is friendly and helpful without being intrusive.” The application procedure is known as a ‘competition’ and the pre-selection process can be quite tough and lengthy. “It’s a procedure that guarantees that recruitment is transparent and fair.
“The posts for translators are not only open for those who studied languages or linguistics – any first degree in any subject be it pharmacy, Maths or engineering, will do. However, applicants must have a good command of two EU languages other than Maltese and an excellent command of Maltese.
The job can be rewarding especially for those who have the promotion of Maltese language at heart. “Various translation units set up in the EU institutions have managed to do what many thought was impossible: they have shown that documents on all subjects can be translated into Maltese and that the Maltese language is extremely versatile,” said Ms Zahra.
The translated documents in Maltese are then made available by government entities and authorities and are read and used as a basis for administrative documents.
With the gap inching closer to the full complement, the translator opportunities are becoming fewer. “There is no guarantee that there will be another competition for Maltese translators in the near future,” said Ms Zahra.
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Anthony Gaffiero, a familiar face on the State broadcaster for many years, has been a translator in Luxembourg since 2005.
Although he misses the Maltese media, he finds his work in languages very rewarding. “I miss the adrenaline rush of being in the centre when things are happening... But, then again, life is made up of chapters and episodes. One acts, one learns, then one moves on,” he said.
Translating can have its spicy moments. “In our work we are tied by professional secrecy. So what’s in the documents will remain forever a secret,” he said.
He recently translated documents about the excessive deficit procedure which the European Commission had initiated against Malta earlier this year. “The documents were in our hands quite a few days before the announcement was made. But our job is also a position of trust and integrity,” he said.
He describes Luxembourg, as “a quaint little city”. “Here, you are right in the beating heart of Europe – a 90-minute drive out and you’re in another country.”