In today’s world, where fast and accurate communication crosses borders, the quality of translation services is becoming increasingly important. To ensure that our translation services meet the highest standards, we are proud to announce that we have once again received certification according to the ISO 17100 and ISO 9001 standards.
ISO 17100:2015 and ISO 9001:2015 are international standards that set requirements for translation service providers. The standards ensure that translation services are consistent, accurate, and reliable. It applies to all parts of the translation process, including translator qualifications, project management, translation review, and quality control.
We proudly announce that we have reobtained certification according to the ISO 17100:2015 and ISO 9001:2015 standards. This quality reconfirmation reflects our dedication to high standards and continuous improvement in the translation services we provide. By going through the entire certification process, we have demonstrated that we meet and exceed all the requirements of these standards.
This reconfirmation brings several benefits, both for us and for our clients:
1. Quality: Our clients can rest assured that our translation services comply with the highest international quality standards. This means that translations will be accurate, consistent, and reliable.
2. Trust: The certificates confirm our commitment to quality. It increases our clients’ trust in our services.
3. Consistency: A standardized approach to translation ensures consistency in all our projects. Our clients can expect quality regardless of the type of text or language.
4. Continuous Improvement: The ISO certificates are not just a reward for past achievements but also an incentive for continuous improvement. With this reconfirmation, we commit to continuing to enhance our services.
Re-certification represents a significant moment for us and an opportunity to provide even better translation services to you, our clients. Our commitment to quality and continuous improvement makes us reliable partners for all your translation needs.
Thank you for the trust you have placed in us, and we look forward to continuing our successful collaboration.
The Career Week in Osijek, hosted by Josip J. Strossmayer University, showcased a wide range of workshops, events, and activities, among which was the prominent Career Fair (Karijerni korzo).
We proudly participated in the Career Fair, as part of the Career Week event, one of the most important events dedicated to connecting students with potential employers. Our booth was a central spot for all interested students, with an incredibly energetic and inspiring atmosphere.
Due to bad weather, the Career Fair took place on the ground floor of the Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences.
Throughout the day, we played educational and fun games, providing students with an opportunity to relax and showcase their skills. We rewarded the winners with fantastic prizes, such as Sinonim t-shirts, stress balls, water bottles and various others!
Our interaction with students was not limited to games. We engaged in informative conversations, providing them with insights into different career possibilities and sought-after skills in today’s dynamic work world. We were ready to share our experience and advice as well as answer their questions to help them gain a clearer picture of their professional goals.
Through interacting with students, we met many talented and motivated individuals who share our passion and vision. The conversations were incredibly inspiring, and meeting new people allowed us to establish valuable connections and potential collaborations in the future.
We are excited about the success of this year’s Career Fair and extend our gratitude to all the students who visited our booth. We hope that we provided them with useful information and inspiration to continue building their careers.
Thanks to the organizers for flawlessly managing the event and providing support.
Read about last year's experience at the 2022 Career Week!
See you next year!
We look forward to future opportunities to participate in similar events and further connect with talented young individuals who will shape our future.
Author: Dora Nikić
The title may be confusing since it is assumed that after completing university (especially faculty of humanities) one does not have a future in their own field, but bear with me and let me explain my career path.
I studied English and Croatian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek and then we come to the fun (stressful) part when in the first year of the graduate university study program you have to choose an orientation in your future profession – will I be a teacher, translator or philologist?
There were no choices when it comes to the Croatian language study program because the lack of students interested in studying literature as a scientific discipline led to everyone in my generation going towards the orientation to become a teacher. Now we come to the most fun (the most stressful) part since in the English language study program there was a choice between the orientation to become a teacher or a translator.
So, the first conclusion is – I don't wish to be a teacher, I don't fit in that profession, and working with young minds is something that would bring too much stress for me. The second conclusion is – if I do enroll in the study program oriented towards becoming a translator how will I ever get a job (Google Translate, this one is on you), especially due to the fact that I don't have a combination of exotic, rare languages in addition to English and Croatian. Arguing with my mum, listening to the comments of society, indecisiveness, crying and all the other dramas of being a young intellectual led me on the path to my final decision. Finally, I decided to become a translator and then attend numerous additional courses after university just to find any kind of job. Those were my thoughts backed up by comments of a small town's society.
"Arguing with my mum, listening to the comments of society, indecisiveness, crying and all the other dramas of being a young intellectual led me on the path to my final decision."
Dora Nikić
This is when we come to a turn in this pessimistic outlook because something important happened. Dora (myself, not the cartoon character) started to really enjoy the translation studies. Everything else became irrelevant, I envisioned my success in the field that I studied. Let's jump to the next conclusions. First, I have to try harder during university and prove to my professors that I have what it takes to make it in the translation industry (yes, it is its own industry). Second, I have to take every opportunity to gain practical experience the sooner the better. It can be a volunteering activity offered by professors or something every young translator starts with – usually Translators without Borders and TED Translators. The third conclusion is that I have to connect with as many colleagues as I can who are looking for a job in the same field, every conversation with them can lead to a potential job offer.
After putting those conclusions into practice, here we are in the company I work for today. When the day came to select if we want to attend student practice as part of translation studies my answer was obvious. In my opinion, everyone who enrolls in translation studies should attend professional student practice if offered, because every opportunity to show one's skills is important. When deciding where to attend student practice, students have many options to choose from, but it takes a bit of luck to get to the place you want based on the number of students.
Then Dora took her mobile phone and embarked on an adventure of searching all translation agencies and trades in the area of Osijek. One blue name popped up, Sinonim. What I first liked about Sinonim is the fact that the agency works with all sorts of clients and thus all kinds of texts from different fields. It was also important to me that Sinonim offers copyediting, localization and certified translation services (as one day I wish to become a certified translator). Sinonim checked all my boxes, and I told my professor about it being my ideal choice for student practice. My wishes came true and I got the opportunity to work in the place of my preference. After that everything came into place, when you work in a field you love and at the place of your choice led by people who are easy to work with, success is guaranteed.
It didn't take long until the student practice became a student job, and the student job a real employment. The process itself was very easy-going. A few weeks after student practice I got an e-mail saying I could come to an interview for a student job, and after hard work and getting along with my work colleagues I immediately got an offer to continue our cooperation after graduating from university. There is so much more I could say, but the most important thing is not to give up and invest yourself in what really interests you (I know, I know, boring inspirational speeches), because then you'll get a chance to meet talented, young people, like the ones working in Sinonim, who will give you a chance and a starting point for professional development.
Hemco is a family-owned company established in 1992, and three decades of tradition and experience have enabled it to bring its vision to life, always offering top-grade workwear and gear in compliance with the strictest standards.
In-house development, manufacturing and a logistics center are the cornerstones of Hemco's innovative and high-quality solutions as well as its ability to quickly meet any requirements by professionals.
By constantly investing in its people, innovation and technology, Hemco has become one of the leading work clothing and equipment manufacturers in the region, which is why they need a reliable partner for all language solutions given their growing focus on exports.
In the challenging year of 2021, Hemco successfully expanded to markets such as Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia.
Since leading translation agency SINONIM covers more than 60 languages with its services, it is a perfect match to support Hemco in all its future projects, both in Croatia and worldwide.
Sinonim is a quality-focused language service provider, as attested by its ISO 17100 and 9001 certification. More than 98% satisfied clients and long-term partnerships are even greater indicators of the quality of work done by Sinonim and its nurturing approach when it comes to relationships with clients. They include the likes of HP, Xerox, WilmerHale, World Bank, Microsoft, FOX Networks Group and HBO.
Both companies are guided by the philosophy of continuous improvement, and in addition to investing into new technologies and growing innovation in their respective industries, they place the utmost importance on quality, client relations and organizational culture, thereby creating a success story from the heart of Slavonia region.
Sinonim is proud to support Hemco with its experience and outstanding language services in their future market endeavors!
Osijek – a university city with the largest and most modern student pavilion in Croatia hosted a Career Week organized by the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek.
Students were given the opportunity to meet with potential employers and to catch a glimpse of the useful and necessary information for taking the first step in their careers after graduation.
The central event on Wednesday was the Career Corso, where companies that continuously cooperate with J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek presented themselves. Amongst many growing companies, students and everyone interested in the event were also given the opportunity to get acquainted with career opportunities at Sinonim, our services and the challenges we face in the translation industry, as well as useful tips on how to successfully overcome them.
Sinonim offers a wide array of services, such as translation, copywriting, subtitling and localization. Because of that, our team is looking for language students with an extensive variety of skills and we are open to freelance cooperation, along with the possibility of remote work.
Sinonim is always in pursuit of talented young people to be shaped into experienced translators considering that our services include as many as 60 languages.
On Thursday, at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek, we organized an English language competence test for interested students. All students who participated will receive feedback on the result, and the one with the result that meets the minimum criteria will be rewarded with the opportunity to get to know our company and organizational culture, as well as to talk about the opportunity of working for us and joining our team.
See you at the next Career Week!
Sinonim Translation Agency is guided by the philosophy of continual improvement of its operations based on the PDCA cycle, one of the main concepts in modern-day management theory, which is also a basis for ISO 9001:2015, an international standard for quality management systems.
It is based on eight principles of management, which reflect good business practices, and its full implementation leads to improved overall performance of the organization:
The ISO 17100 standard stipulates the minimum requirements a translation agency must document and meet for its translation process to be acceptable under the professional standards. At the same time, the standards give clients confidence in the quality of the requested service. The basic purpose of ISO 17100:2015 is to establish the requirements that enable translation agencies to provide high-quality services.
Sinonim used the challenging and unpredictable year 2020 to improve the quality of all its operations because we see every obstacle as an opportunity for further progress. In 2020, we successfully completed the certification process for ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17100:2015 standards, and we continue to improve our operations and processes.
At the end of October 2021, we successfully met all the requirements during the supervisory audit carried out by leading international certification company Bureau Veritas.
In the same month, we received a certificate of creditworthiness excellence as proof of stable operations for the previous year, which places us among the top companies in Croatia in terms of credit rating, as a follow-up to the certificate received for 2019.
We continue to operate according to our principles of a culture of continual improvement, hire young talent in an environment that enables further development of their business competencies, develop new tools and technologies and increase the number of satisfied customers in both domestic and foreign markets.
We are extremely proud that our vision and effort are confirmed by these certificates, but the biggest indicators of a well-established business are the growth of long-term partnerships and an excellent organizational culture with a high degree of motivation and proactivity as a result of continual training and care about the well-being of our employees.
You can work out a few key words into a veritable novel?
And yet, you’re able to stem the verbal tide because you can’t stand Proustian sentences and you know that Yoast SEO traffic light can't stand them either?
Sinonim Translation Agency is looking for a person to write blogs about the translation industry and linguistics in Croatian and English.
Requirements:
Proofread and factually accurate content is a must – we expect your blog to be ready to post with no further interventions!
If you are a logomaniac and a linguaphile who is familiar with the basics of digital marketing, send us your CV and examples of your work at posao@sinonim.hr by November 30, 2021.
Sinonim Translation Agency has recently celebrated its 7th anniversary, in a year in which it continues its growth in both domestic and international markets.
From our earliest days, we have been aware of the challenges of the translation process, and made excellence in our services and our relations with clients and associates the cornerstone of our success.
Thanks to this approach, Sinonim offers linguistic services provided by native speakers in more than 60 languages, holds ISO 17100 and 9000 certificates and has an enviable base of satisfied long-term clients.
Regardless of the recent pandemic, we continue to grow, opening new jobs for young talents to further their professional skills, investing in the latest and best translation technologies and perfecting our workflows.
We have overcome the recent period of uncertainty by treating challenges as temporary obstacles that need to be removed to get to the next level of progress and development, which is always our focus. For Sinonim, there are no problems, only challenges to conquer, as our performance in the preceding period can attest.
Following these principles, we have, in spite of the challenging period, once again qualified for the credit rating certificate as a worthy addition to the other certificates we are currently holding.
We were awarded the certificate at the meeting of top credit rating companies in Osijek, organized by Dun & Bradstreet. This has been another confirmation of the results of our vision, which emphasizes innovation in all segments, alongside the 8.96% companies in Croatia with excellent credit rating.
Continuing to develop in all segments of our operations, with an emphasis on state-of-the-art technologies, keeping pace with the latest developments and organization culture, Sinonim is fast on its track to become a leading European translation agency.
The rainbow has seven basic colors. In Iran, cats have seven lives. In Japan, the seven gods bring fortune. Numerologists place much importance on the number seven as it denotes creation, representing the sum of the spiritual number three and the material number four.
Seven years ago, Igor Jurić, Mario Džido and Siniša Bućan set out to create a successful business story from the heart of the Croatian region Slavonia, with a vision for a company that will follow the best trends and use the latest technologies in the translation industry to serve as a reliable language service provider in Croatia and on the international markets.
Seven years later, thanks to unyielding enthusiasm, dedicated and hard work, commitment to professionalism in service level and client relations, Sinonim Translation Agency has achieved its vision and is proud to celebrate its seventh anniversary, continuing to develop and perfect in all the segments of its operations, always having in mind the demands of high-quality human translation.
Completing challenging projects within tight deadlines, irrespective of source industry and language pair and thanks to its associates, native target language speakers, Sinonim continues to fulfil its mission and expand its business network, always putting client satisfaction first. These are just some of the reasons we are celebrating our seventh anniversary of success.
Over 98% of satisfied clients and long-term partnerships are the best indicators of the quality of work at Sinonim and the company's continuous investment in client relations. Some of those are HP, Xerox, Valamar Riviera, Microsoft, FOX Networks Group and HBO.
Our team works with numerous renowned international companies who have recognized our approach, based on dedication, persistence and continuous improvement, as attested by the ISO 9001 quality management system and ISO 17100 translation services certification.
We also hold the Bisnode AAA certificate, which places us among the top companies in Croatia in terms of credit rating.
In addition to continuous advancements to our processes and technologies, a growing base of satisfied clients, the secret to Sinonim's success are its employees and associates as well.
Special attention is paid to organization culture.
The first to highlight the importance of this concept were Peters and Waterman in their 1972 book In Search of Excellence, their leading thought being: think of what your company should represent that would make your people proud. Then actively lead them toward that value system.
Igor, Siniša and Mario are proud of the people they work with, and the feeling is mutual.
In addition to their business skills, they enjoy music, books and sports, which makes them a good source of knowledge and trivia, as well as banter and quips to keep the good working atmosphere going in those rare cases when various snacks, treats, coffee and other beverages run out.
Whatever your source material may be – a contract, manual, brochure, website or press release – you can be sure it will be faithfully translated by Sinonim, a linguistic service provider covering any language pair you may need!
A company cannot thrive without its people. This is why we have recently taken part in the Career Week, an event organized by Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. When entering the labor market, new professionals often don't know what to expect and how things work in practice, so this was a great opportunity to get together and give students some first-hand information on what employers expect.
Translation work requires not only excellent linguistic knowledge, but many other skills as well. Some of those are analytical thinking, attention to detail, ability to find and apply necessary information in appropriate context, high levels of concentration and a good work ethic. In that sense, it is important for students to get some informal experience as early as possible and learn about their prospective jobs.
Career Day for language and translation students – Translating Europe
The first event we took part during the Career Week was the Career Day for students of linguistic and translation studies, organized by the European Commission Representation in Croatia and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek, where the event took place. It was a meeting of services and institutions that can aid students in searching for jobs and gaining (in)formal experience. Sinonim was represented by our CFO, Igor Jurić.
"What we're looking for in our potential employees are high engagement levels and proactivity. There are plenty of opportunities in our industry to gain informal experience, so we definitely take such activities into account in our selection process. It is easier to introduce someone to a job if they already know something about how the industry works or, for instance, about CAT tools, and those extra efforts really speak about a person's character. Of course, translation work requires outstanding linguistic knowledge," Igor said.
Marina Petrić from the European Commission Representation in Croatia explained the idea behind this event: "As part of the Translating Europe initiative, this spring we have organized three Career Days for language and translation students, in Zagreb, Zadar and Osijek. On these occasions, we want to present the institutional services that can help students gain experience and find work, including the Croatian Employment Bureau, Europass and internship in European institutions. In addition, we want to provide them direct contact with prospective employers. This includes short employer presentations, followed by meet-and-greet with students, where they were able to get more information and ask questions."
All those who were unable to attend the Career Day and are interested in working as a translator can contact us at posao@sinonim.hr or through any of our social network pages, and we will do our best to answer any questions.
Career promenade
As part of the Career Week, the first ever Career Promenade was held at the University Campus. Some twenty companies presented themselves to students from all schools of the University. And they wanted to know everything – from language related questions to what our corporate hangouts look like.
One of the most common questions was whether you need a degree in translation to work at Sinonim. The answer is – not necessarily. As we mentioned earlier, it is reasonable to expect that a person with no working experience, but who has studied a language for five years, would offer a higher level of knowledge than someone who learned informally. However, higher education is not a guarantee that someone can be a good translator. You can check out our blog and read all about what you can do to become a better translator.
By participating in the Career Week, Sinonim continues its good cooperation with the University of Osijek, and its Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in particular. We would like to thank the Faculty and University staff for inviting us, and we look forward to future similar events!
Growth and development of all companies should be accompanied by improvement of internal organizational processes, in terms of both technology and human resources. Considering the growth of Sinonim over the last year, the company has successfully adapted to changes in the market, as well as to wishes and needs of its clients. Making sure that everything is running smoothly within the company and that its people have a pleasant working environment is the job of our Chief Operating Officer Siniša Bućan.
We've talked to Siniša about the everyday challenges of doing business on the global market, but also about what he is looking for in potential Sinonim employees as well as what bothers him the most in job applications. Let's get started.
What makes a good translation agency
Commitment to work, constant improvement of business operations and quality of services are some of the principal characteristics of a good translation agency. But what truly makes a difference is the relationship we have with clients.
"Good communication with clients is of utmost importance. Our approach is to be professional, but friendly. Our clients don't wait for a quote for longer than 30 minutes, and more often than not, we're available outside office hours. It is always good to keep up with the global trends and be aware of new technologies, both in our line of work (CAT tools) and outside of it. Also, employees should be given good working conditions since this, in addition to directly impacting service quality, impacts the business operations a whole," says Siniša.
When it comes to the greatest work challenges, he points out projects with short deadlines, which are very frequent in this industry, but also that a happy client is the biggest reward there is. "Organizing such projects without jeopardizing the quality of service, especially when managing a project with multiple language pairs, requires a lot of hard work and usually causes quite a bit of stress. On the other hand, the best part of this business is successfully completing a project and getting praise from our clients. This gives meaning to what we do here."
Adapting to the global market
Constantly cooperating with foreign companies and agencies is a challenge in itself, so it is important to know how to provide a solution adapted to the client at any given moment. Furthermore, there is a difference in how international companies work compared to domestic ones. Siniša explains that our experience allows us to find optimal solutions for clients who are expanding their business.
"Foreign clients are used to the way of doing business that is not yet common practice on the domestic market. They are better acquainted with what language services are all about. Expectations in terms of quality and translation process are high (knowledge of various CAT tools, OCR apps, QA tools, etc. is a must), but deadlines are more realistic on the other hand. They have a better idea of how demanding this work actually is. Our experience allows us to help our clients expand to foreign markets and we are familiar with the challenges they encounter. We're here to find the best solution in line with their needs and goals. In today's world, doing business on foreign markets is not only desirable, it is essential."
The whole company needs to be prepared for everyday changes and learning because this is the only way to survive on the market. "We've changed the processes within our company over the last several years until we've reached a very high, global level. And the story doesn't stop here. In business, we always have to be prepared to change and improve in order to remain competitive. We constantly keep up with latest technological trends and implement new processes. Also, our translators make progress every day and develop their skills through work and mentorship of more experienced translators, with Mario, our Chief Translations Officer at the helm," Siniša points out.
Organizational culture
"I personally believe organizational culture is of paramount importance. I've worked in many companies where I've learned what company culture should NOT look like because it leads not only to employee dissatisfaction, but to poor business performance as well. That's why we try to create a pleasant atmosphere in which everyone feels good and comfortable so nobody feels nauseous when they think about coming back to work tomorrow," says Siniša and adds that it's important to create a culture of togetherness, "We have a Movie Club and a Book Club, and nearly every day we take a break together during which we don't talk about work for twenty or so minutes, but about our personal lives. Sometimes we play board games, and our favorites are Alias and Pictionary (Ivona and Mateja are always killing it). I believe creating a culture of togetherness is very beneficial – a company where we all have a shared perception that employees also make a successful company. Because this is the truth."
Translator's job at Sinonim
Although we frequently hear about the lack of job opportunities for local youth, Sinonim is always in search of ambitious and proactive people to round out our translation team. For all those who plan on applying for a job of a translation at Sinonim in the future, here's some advice.
"When it comes to translator jobs at Sinonim, we're primarily looking for language mastery in Croatian and in the foreign language you've completed education for. We want employees that see language more than just a profession, they need be passionate and set high standards for themselves, as well as take pride in what they do. We want people who are committed and proactive. They should have a good sense of humor, that is definitely one the cultural backbones in this company," said Siniša. A surprising fact is that most people are not even considered after going through their first email.
"Pay a lot of attention when writing your first email. I can't tolerate errors in emails, CVs or applications. Make yourself stand out. We get many applications and you have to be different in some way. Don't write cookie-cutter emails. Get rid of anything not relevant for the job. Don't wait until you graduate to start translating. There are many projects looking for volunteer translators. Create subtitles for online videos. Get your favorite book or any other reading material and translate it. Get to know CAT tools, there are many free ones. Don't let yourself get into a situation where you come to a job interview and you have no experience whatsoever. In this branch, you do not need to be employed to gain experience. Show initiative."
And what does the future have in store for us...
"In five years, Sinonim will be the leader in language services in this part of Europe. We will be the first choice of international clients for all languages in the region and the first pick of domestic clients for European and global languages. We will advance the translation industry in Croatia and beyond, and bring it to a global level," the COO announced.
For us, 2018 was the year in which we celebrated our fourth anniversary, built some important partnerships, expanded our little family with four more people, and learned a lot in the process. We are thankful for everything that we experienced during this year, and now we’d like to tell you about several of the things that made 2018 big for Sinonim.
Moving to a bigger office
If there was a single stand-out thing in 2018 for us, it was the relocation to a new office. Our former office became too small for all our people and clients, so we decided it was time for a bigger one. After a thorough search, we found our new home at Cras Business Center in Osijek. During the moving process, we realized that we're much better at translation projects and office work than manual labor. Bearing that in mind, you can find us at our new office Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Creating jobs
This year we expanded our staff to eight employees in our Osijek office. In this way we have built upon our success, laying the groundwork for even bigger plans to materialize in the coming year. Today, Sinonim is one of the leading translation agencies in Croatia, bringing global industry technologies and trends to the local markets. This is all done by a team of hard-working (and humble;) young people with big dreams and ambitions.
Partnerships with global companies and agencies
One of our main goals is to facilitate communication by providing outstanding language services to clients all over the world. On that note, this year we became partners with several big global agencies who recognized our approach and quality of work. Compared to 2017, we have achieved impressive growth in this segment as well, and we expect to further improve on it in the next year.
We have a new in-house sworn translator
After a lot of hard work and patience, Mario has become a sworn interpreter for English and Croatian languages! Thanks to this, our clients can get their sworn translations even faster at our office, and the entire translation process is very simple. We are all proud of our Chief Translations Officer and we wish him heaps of documents to stamp out in 2019!
Investing into organization culture
Organization culture has been very important to us since the earliest days of Sinonim. We believe that working atmosphere and organization's personality are highly important and impact the efficiency and productivity of employees. This is why we work on team building and joint activities. We have a Book Club and a Movie Club, and from time to time we like to hang out all together with beer and good food. What better way to build team spirit!
At the end of this very fruitful year, we would like to thank all our clients and business partners, as well as all of those who follow us on social media and our website, and we wish you a happy and successful new year!
