At Comms, we are very proudly celebrating our 20th birthday.
An awful lot has happened since I set up Comms in February 2003. Having worked for a company that produced Psychometric assessments, I had developed a real understanding of how such assessments are put together, of the science behind them, and of what it takes to produce a good, valid and reliable assessment.
I combined my background in languages with her knowledge of psychometrics and Comms has specialised in this area ever since, covering not just I/O Psychology, but also clinical and educational assessments and professional certifications, plus all the related materials such as interface text, voice recordings, training materials, contracts and much more. If fact, if it is challenging to translate, it is perfect for us!
We have seen many changes over the years, not least because of the recent pandemic, which forced major changes in the way that assessments and certifications are delivered.
We have never been beaten yet by a language request! In our early days, we had a request for translation into Maori. A British lady was marrying a Maori man and wanted a short speech to be translated into Maori to be played at their wedding.
We were recently tasked with translating some clinical assessments into 3 languages for The Philippines. We had done 2 of them, Tagalog and Cebuano, several times before. However, I had to confess that she had never heard of the third one, Hiligaynon. We set about testing and recruiting suitably qualified linguists using our multiple resources and are working on the project now.
We are also very proud of all the processes and procedures we have developed over the years. We have not only followed best practice in the testing and translation industries, but have actually gone above and beyond recommendations to build a solid set of guidelines to ensure the validity of our work and to meet and exceed our clients’ needs and expectations.
Over the years, we have hosted many translation graduates and employed many of them after their studies. We have also worked with hundreds of linguists around the world. We are very proud of the teams we have formed and the impact we have had on people’s lives. We are often referred to as the “Comms family” and we regularly receive messages and updates from former employees, providers and even clients! It really has been a wonderful journey!
Testament to our commitment to creating an inclusive and positive work environment is the length of service of some of our employees, some of whom have been with us for over 17 years! In 2006, Sonia Sala joined Comms as a Project Manager and she is now the Operations Director with ultimate responsibility for all our project managers, translation and other projects and quality.
In 2007, Manda Patel joined Comms as Administration Manager and she is responsible for all our accounts and other admin functions. In 2011, Karolina Cisek-Ndlovu joined Comms as an Intern and she is now Vice President, Business Development. Later in 2011, Annalisa di Nicola joined Comms as an Intern and she is now Senior Project Manager and Team Leader.
We are now in our 4th different office and have been in Epsom since 2007.
Please join us in raising a suitable glass to Comms 20th birthday and here’s to many more of them!
Cheers.
Sue Orchard
