Daphné Mothes

Led by her passion for the English language, England, and the Beatles, Daphné discovered at ISIT a passion for… Spanish and Spain! She was destined to become a translator. After discovering the metalworking industry during an internship, upon graduating, she became a marketing and communications manager for a newly created start-up. This is the journey of a young graduate transformed by her studies.

Before ISIT?

I graduated from high school specializing in literature and foreign languages. I was really attracted to the English-speaking world. I dreamed of living in England and was a fan of the Beatles! I didn’t know exactly what to do after graduating. Just that it had to be connected to the English language. University didn’t feel very appealing to me. I was looking for a friendlier setting when I found out about ISIT during their open house. I joined in 1^st year with English and Spanish as my working languages.

Why ISIT?

• The first three years helped me improve my Spanish quickly, especially thanks to grammar classes and the internships I undertook in Spain at the end of each year. All in all, I had a kind of an epiphany for Spanish!
• I chose to specialize in Intercultural Communications and Translation mainly because I wanted to continue with both working languages.
• My career objectives became clearer with my internship in the Farinia Group, an industry group specializing in metallurgy, for the first year of my Master’s degree. Back then, the company had just started incubating their start-up Mobility Work.
• I then spent my final year at ISIT doing an apprenticeship as an assistant marketing/communications manager in this new start-up. I gradually took charge of the marketing/communications function. The apprenticeship was a good baptism by fire because I had to manage multiple projects simultaneously, both in the company and at ISIT. I realized that I was ready to throw myself fully into this kind of experience and that I liked team management.

After ISIT?

• I graduated in 2017 and took charge of the Communication and Marketing branch at Mobility Work as I was replacing the former manager who had become the Managing Director of the startup. The company quickly started growing from 2018 onwards, and I eventually had to set up a team to work with me. Of course, I called on my ISIT contacts and hired one, two, then three young graduates.
• I have faith in the skills we gained from our shared training course: diligence and high standards; excellent writing skills in French and multiple languages; attention to detail; a shared state of mind: curiosity, open-mindedness, and critical thinking directed both at ourselves and others.
• 6 people now work in our communication and marketing branch, and 4 of them are ISIT alumni!

Why are ISIT students fit especially well in a start-up environment?

• The most important thing in a start-up is to be fast and In this case, being able to depend on ISIT students’ personalities and their attention to detail and analytical skills is invaluable. The combination of speed and high standards is important.
• Our writing skills in three different languages are an asset for business. They help us gain speed and agility, not only thanks to our mastery of languages but also thanks to the quality of the work we can provide. At Mobility Work, we are the language benchmark for all the sales teams.
• We’re quick to understand new subjects, learn new skills, we want to know about everything that’s not directly linked to our professional field. All these strengths make us particularly fit for a start-up environment in which everything needs to be built from scratch, often with scarce resources.
• Even though it might scare you to work in a start-up instead of a large company, it will help you build confidence and open the doors to many job opportunities. In two years, I went from intern to manager, following all the steps to create and develop a company: fundraising, sales development, and team building.

Any advice for future ISIT students?

• Know how to get out of your comfort zone: thanks to my internships in Spain, not only did I improve my Spanish but I also discovered more about myself.
• Don’t be scared to give a try to fields that don’t seem very attractive at first sight, especially for a young woman.
• Make the most of ISIT internships to keep your options open. Doing my internship in the industrial sector for the first year of my Master’s degree was one of the best things that happened to me.
• Believe in yourself and don’t hesitate to put yourself forward, to go against the flow of the traditional translator’s profile…

And today?

Daphné has been a communications and marketing content manager for Closd, a collaborative legal project management platform, since 2022