CURRICULUM VITAE SYLVIA WALPOLEBROWN QUALIFICATIONS AND CAREER HISTORY JUNE

CURRICULUM VITAE BLANCA GARCÍA
5 RESUMEN DE CURRICULUM VITAE 1 DATOS
9 CURRICULUM VITAE I PERSONAL HOWARD A

CURRICULUM VITAE DR ABDELGHAFFAR M ELDEMERDASH
CURRICULUM VITAE JOSÉ JUAN BONOME BÁRCENA
CURRICULUM VITAE DR CONSTANTINO MORERA PEREZ PROFESOR


Curriculum Vitae

Sylvia Walpole-Brown


QUALIFICATIONS and CAREER HISTORY


June 1972 – GCE ‘A’ Levels: French – Grade A. German – Grade A, Latin – Grade ‘B’

GCE ‘Special Level’: French – Distinction


1972-1975 a rather unsettled period in terms of education including one year at Westfield College (London University) with the summer term at the University of Erlangen/Nürnberg.


1975-1980 University of Reading German degree course. I gained ‘A’s in my three chosen subjects for the First University Exam – German, French and Linguistics. Among my chosen options for Finals were modern Dutch and Romance Philology. For my year abroad, which I spent at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau, I was awarded a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service.

1980 BA Hons German – University of Reading


1981 Recruited to GCHQ Cheltenham and re-trained in Russian (in-house so no external qualification) to degree level in 9 months. Operational training was followed by a variety of posts in language work (of a highly classified nature). By 1997 I had attained Level 4 recognition for my Russian language skills; this was the highest possible level of achievement with only a handful of linguists operating at this level. Although I cannot go into detail, I can say that the subject matter was frequently highly technical and ranged from military technology to satellite communications.


A Level 4 linguist would be someone who was regarded as a sort of ‘guru’; he/she would have not only a sound grasp of the language from the formal usage to the colloquial/slang/vulgar, but also an extensive knowledge of most subject areas and their associated vocabulary. He/she would also be capable of performing quality control, coaching less experienced staff and getting to grips with a new subject in the minimum time.


The operational work at GCHQ required the experienced linguist to be sufficiently familiar with his or her specialist subject(s) to be able to provide customers (ie the relevant government departments) with the information they wanted in the most appropriate format ie verbatim translation, gist or scan (a device for highlighting key points).


From 1990 onwards I had staff responsibilities: management, training, staff appraisal. In 1992 I was granted a special achievement award for my outstanding contribution to a very high priority task.


COMPETENCIES


Working with others: Teamwork and Leadership


Shared responsibility for leading shift team of 10-12 members – UK, US, military and civilian.

Cross-team working with inexperienced singleton linguist in need of help.

Regular liaison with colleagues in London and task-sharing partnership with overseas counterpart.


Organised major refurbishment programme in (own)large period home; liaised with and directed work of numerous tradesmen and fostered an atmosphere of effective teamwork. Took lead role in purchase of a newly built German property and dealt effectively with German estate agent, solicitor and other trades people involved in installing kitchen and furnishing the flat.


Contribution to Delivery


Performed time-sensitive quality control to meet critical reporting deadlines.

Member of internal selection interviewing panel for Level 4 Russian linguist post.


Played key role in developing ultra-sensitive high priority task for London customers which necessitated brushing up rusty Dutch language skills in quick time.


Service to Customers


Initiated and worked with customers to devise a method of rapidly and effectively processing a backlog of material on a national high priority. This resulted in major tangible benefits for external customers.


Corporate Vision and Efficiency


Proposed and produced two cogent business cases for post upgrades within the Business Unit. These were accepted and implemented, resulting in greater available local expertise, versatility and job satisfaction.


Advised non-linguist line management of the unsuitability of task assigned to new linguist I was coaching at their request. Recommendation that he be transferred to a more appropriate work area was acted upon, benefitting all concerned, including quality of Business Unit’s output.


Creativity and Flexibility


Moved seamlessly from one branch to another; adapted to and embraced their more forward-looking approach.


Brushed up on Dutch language skills to meet operational need (see also Contribution to Delivery); also seized opportunity to make use of use French and German skills.



Communications and Knowledge Sharing


As L4 linguist/manager have coached Russian linguists of varying levels (including one whose performance was significantly below standard) and provided constructive feedback. Have written staff appraisals and language assessments on staff’s advancement for submission to Language Panel (all approved) as well as cogent business cases (also approved – see above).

GCHQ-wide representative at London (SEES) Recruitment Fair -2000.


Pre-GCHQ worked, inter alia, with individual dental patients at a practice in Bolsover as Dental Health Educationist where I provided instruction on problems of periodontal disease and good oral hygiene practices.


TRAINING


Most recent training was Selection Interviewing Course 2001.


EUROPEAN CURRICULUM VITAE FORMAT PERSONAL INFORMATION IEVA GRUNDSTEINE
SOCIAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES THE WEBSITE WWWTHEPROWORGNZ
Teach Engineering Stem Curriculum Lesson Designing Bridges


Tags: career history, curriculum, vitae, sylvia, career, history, walpolebrown, qualifications