Linguistics Careercast

“It feels weird to say I’ve ‘just’ been working” Dmitry Tereshenko is a neurodivergent, first-generation college graduate who earned his Master’s degree in the MLC program at Georgetown. His work has explored human-human and human-computer interaction (HCI), specializing in the intersection of how digital technologies mediate our communication in virtual spaces. In his employment, Dmitry has vario...

“Networking is mutual aid.” Daniel Ginsberg is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the American Anthropological Association, where they bring their knowledge of association management and organizational anthropology to help association leaders understand the culture of the AAA community and create new pathways into active, engaged membership. For the previous four years as Director of Educati...

“Where in your body do you feel a ‘yes’?” Aubrie Amstutz is a cognitive linguist & researcher working towards AI Fairness. She earned a Master’s in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at University of Siena in Italy. She is interested in using empirical linguistic research to dispel language myths. This has taken the form of promoting anti-accent stigma in second language development at Duolingo, ex...

“The jump to industry means recognizing transferable skills, industry prep, and interview prep” This episode is an audio presentation of a talk called “Alexa, how can I transition to industry positions with a background in (mostly qualitative) critical discourse analysis?” The presenter is Alfonso Sánchez-Moya, who previously appeared as a guest on this podcast. It was given in October 2023 at Geo...

“Naming isn’t an academic exercise – it’s more about your gut feeling about a name” Eric Jackson is a linguist, namer, and brand strategist. He earned his master’s degree in linguistics from Boston University, where his thesis was called “A linguistic introduction to brand naming”. His employment as a namer has spanned top-tier companies like Lexicon Branding , Salt Branding (now Material ), and N...

“Including personal information on your resume is recommended – it shows recruiters that you’re a well-rounded person” Marina Zhukova is finishing a PhD in linguistics at UC Santa Barbara. During her time in school, both in the US and Russia, where she was born, she has held a number of internships related to linguistics, most recently at Amazon, working on Alexa. Marina is skilled in Conversation...

“I’m a jack of all trades – all linguists are” Falene McKenna is a linguist, tech enthusiast, conversation wizard, and a “true robot whisperer”. She studied Computational Linguistics at the University of Alberta. Since then, she’s led QA crusades, expanded beta programs across North American homes, and built customer support systems from the ground up. Falene has presented at various events, inclu...

Michal Temkin Martinez Anna Marie Trester “Don’t let one bridge troll stop you – find another bridge!'” Anna Marie Trester is Michal Temkin Martinez Anna Marie Trester on LinkedIn Buy Anna Marie’s books, Employing Linguistics and Bringing Linguistics to Work Career Linguist network Michal Temkin Martinez on LinkedIn and on Wikipedia Michal Temkin Martinez’ website Boise State University Linguistic...

“Just because you have a PhD doesn’t mean you’ll get hired at an advanced position in a company.” Kaitlyn Tagarelli earned her PhD in Linguistics from Georgetown University and eventually made the move to the language-learning industry, making it more fun, accessible, and effective through evidence-based solutions. She is currently Head of Research for Mango Languages . She draws on her interdisci...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual career panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2021. The title of the panel is Educational Technology. Our three panelists followed different routes from linguistics into Education Technology. They’ll share their decisions about taking these routes, and what’s involved in this profession. The moderator in Kaitlyn Tagarelli . Paneli...

“I had a foot out the door for years – and it was still a total re-evaluation of my life'” After getting her Ph. D. in Linguistics from Berkeley, Suzanne Wertheim held faculty positions at Northwestern, University of Maryland, and UCLA. In 2011, she left the university system in order to apply her expertise to real-world problems. Suzanne has done fieldwork with speakers as diverse as Tatar nation...

“You’ve got to figure out how to talk about your own expertise'” Bozena Pajak is is the Vice President of Learning and Curriculum at Duolingo , where she works at the intersection of learning science and product development. She got her PhD at UC San Diego, training in linguistics and cognitive psychology. She now focuses on developing digital educational products that are both effective and motiv...

“Don’t underestimate the power of the skills you have.” This episode is an audio version of a virtual career panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2021. Our three panelists followed different routes from linguistics into work in non-profit organizations. They share their decisions about taking these routes, and what’s involved in working in this sector. The moderator is Alex...

“You have to ask yourself, ‘What am I meant to be doing when I’m done with graduate school?'” Kate Mesh is a linguist who is working as a disability-inclusive researcher in London, England. She helps major brands to improve their designs by observing the friction points, and innovated solutions, of their customers with a range of specific access needs. She leads accessibility-oriented projects tha...

“In industry, personal qualities are just as important as qualifications – who you are, what you’re interested in.” This episode is an audio version of a virtual career panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2021. It’s true: Developing brand names is a real job, and one for which linguists are particularly well-suited. In this Career Linguist panel, three professional namers...

“Sometimes having a PhD will not be to your advantage – it can put you in a box” Alfonso Sánchez-Moya is a discourse analyst currently employed at Amazon. He earned a PhD in English linguistics in Spain and did post doctoral work at Harvard and at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He is particularly interested in online discourse and multimodal communication, mostly looking at the connections bet...

“There’s nothing more important than staying in touch with people” This episode is an audio version of a live recording of the Linguistics Careercast podcast. The panel was held on June 24, 2023, as part of the 2023 LSA Summer Institute at University of Massachusetts, Amherst . Today our three panelists will discuss non-academic career options combining cognitive science and linguistics, focusing...

“You may be looking for a job, but people are looking for YOU.” Careers for linguists in government roles are more that just working for a three-letter agency. The government is a big space which presents lots of room to work on different problems of public interest. In this panel, three linguists talk about their path from academia to government roles at the federal and state level. Panelists: –...

“If you think you can do a job, apply for it – even if you don’t meet all of the qualifications!” Kristina Wagers is a Principal Solutions Architect at Gainwell Technologies ; she is part of the Conversation Design Team for Gainwell’s Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology. After starting out as a biology major, she switched to English Language and Literature and then earned her Master’s in A...

Dana Chisnell joined the US Digital Service as a Policy Design Researcher and General Problem Solver. Her current challenge is designing for language access.  The US government makes all kinds of information available in multiple languages, depending on the program, mostly in print. This is a logistics problem, but also a power/equity issue. How do we design for it? And how do you get started in t...

“Do linguistics, but pick up other valuable skills in while you’re in school – it will always help!” Joseline Segovia is an experienced Language Access Specialist with expertise in facilitating multilingual and multicultural communication through community-centered practices and innovation; she is passionate about the advancement of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. She has provided...

“Take first step – pick a direction, try something out. Let your career build as it happens.” This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2021. The title of the panel is Linguist in the C-Suite, and the moderator is Nancy Frishberg. The panelist is Andrea Leszek, who is a technology leader with broad experience building products that c...

“Don’t put yourself in a little box – what matters is what you DO with your degree” Nora Díaz holds a B.A. in English Language Teaching and Translation. She is a full-time published EN-ES translator and translation team leader, working on a wide variety of topics. Her interest in productivity has led to a constant exploration of technology to boost productivity, such as CAT tools, speech recogniti...

“It didn’t feel like trailblazing—it felt like floundering.” This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2021. The title of the panel is Stages & Changes over the Course of your Career, and the moderator is Susan Steele. Academic linguist, career linguist, whatever linguist. This part of your life has to negotiate with the other roles...

“What work does linguistics prepare you for? Technically nothing, but also – everything!” Nicole Rybak recently completed an internship in naming at Leaderboard Branding . She received both a BA and an MA in linguistics from Georgetown University, and is bilingual in both English and Polish. She is a sociolinguist who has also served as a high school speech coach. Nicole Rybak on LinkedIn Topics c...