The Language Professions: Past Lessons, Present Realities, Future Horizons

Paula Vlaic, Head of the IT Development Unit, the European Parliament

Paula Vlaic has obtained her translator's degree in 1999 from the Applied Modern Languages Section of Babeș-Bolyai University, in Romania, where she studied English and French and followed the courses for translators specialised in business and international relations. She also holds a Master's degree in European Legal Studies from the Université de Lorraine and European Institute of Public Administration since 2012.

She joined the European Parliament in 2005, with the Romanian pre-accession team, and was a member of the Romanian Translation Unit for 11 years, first as a translator and then as a quality coordinator. In 2017, she became the head of the e-Pre-Processing and Translation Memories Management Unit, which is in charge of the automatic pre-processing of all translation requests reaching the Directorate-general for Translation and Clear Language (DG TRAD) of the European Parliament. Since 2019, she is the head of the IT Development Unit, leading the team that ensures the development, maintenance and customisation of the IT tools that support the workflows and translation processes in DG Translation at the European Parliament. 

A graduate of the Faculty of Letters in Cluj, Dan Mărășescu began his career teaching Italian and French in the Department of Applied Modern Languages in 2000. At the same time, he began building a career as a translator on the international market, which had just opened up to Romanian entrepreneurs at the time. In 2006, he moved to Brussels, where he started working as a translator for the Council of the European Union. Over the past decade, he has served as Head of the Romanian Translation Unit at the institution. 

Dan Mărășescu, Head of the Romanian Translation Unit, Council of the European Union

Eugenia Mircea, Talent Acquisition Manager, Welocalize

Talent Acquisition Manager since 2018 at Welocalize, a translation and localization company. In this role, Eugenia Mircea responsible for the coordination and supervision of various human resource activities such as recruitment projects and people development strategies, internship programs, and compensation & benefits for various offices in Europe. Her professional interest gravitates around organizational and people development, workforce solutions, and strategic partnership between academic and business environment. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from Babes-Bolyai University alongside a MA in Philosophy, Culture & Communication and BA in Philosophy from the same University.

Raluca Mateiu graduated from the Faculty of Letters, Department of Applied Modern Languages (English-French), and completed a master's degree in Comparative European Political Studies, in French, at the Faculty of European Studies. For the last 15 years, she has been organizing cultural events at the French Institute in Cluj and served for one year as the institute's interim deputy director.

Raluca Mateiu, Head of Culture and Communication at the French Institute in Cluj-Napoca

Andreea Scridon, Senior Project Manager, Darwin Technologies Romania

Andreea Scridon holds a degree in Applied Modern Languages (English/French), followed by a Master's in Translation Studies. From an early stage, she was drawn to the practical, real-world application of languages rather than literature. After graduating, she realized that freelancing was not the right fit for her, as she prefers stability and structure and considers herself somewhat risk-averse. 

She began her career in an entry-level role as a Credit Collection Associate within a corporate environment—an experience that unexpectedly shaped her professional direction. In this role, she discovered the "living" side of language: how communication is influenced by cultural nuances, tone, and context. At the same time, she developed expertise in new domains such as finance, corporate communication, performance metrics, and operational tools.

Over time, Andreea Scridon progressed into leadership roles, managing teams and departments across multiple European countries, while actively using both English and French in a professional context. As her career evolved, she became increasingly involved in technology and systems implementation, which naturally led her toward project delivery.

She is currently working as a Senior Project Manager, leading the implementation of various changes and solutions for employee benefits platforms. In this role, she collaborates with global clients and coordinates complex, multi-stakeholder projects from planning through execution.