GALA Champion Soren Eberhardt

In this series of interviews, GALA members share their insights on the pursuit of globalization and localization brilliance. Today’s GALA Champion is:

Soren Eberhardt, Global Site Manager at Microsoft

Soren Eberhardt is a Senior Program Manager in the Global Engagement Team at Microsoft. He has been working in the field of internationalization and localization for over 20 years, both on the vendor and client side, and in different roles: as translator, localization engineer and project manager. He has taught localization classes at the University of Washington and CAT tools at NYU and Montclair State University. The language with the fewest speakers he has ever localized a product for is Inuktitut.

In 2023 he was the Rising Star Scholarship Faculty Winner.

 
headshot of Soren Eberhardt
 
What’s in a Job Title

I am responsible for the international versions of web pages marketing Microsoft 365 products for small and medium businesses as well as Microsoft Teams pages.

Starting out

After proofreading many friends' master's theses, a friend recommended me for a job proofreading German translations of printed English software documentation. Eventually I started translating myself, then localizing software strings, and so on...

Where GALA Fits In

There are so many reasons to be a GALA member. Just two:

  • GALA offers top-notch education on industry topics and great networking opportunities, for my role especially in various SIG meetings.
  • I love the GALA conferences! I have experienced them as an attendee, as a speaker and finally as a member of the conference program committee. The latter has made me understand even better how much great work goes into them.

 

Why join GALA? Take a look at the member benefits.

 
Accomplishments
  • Releasing the first versions of a major IT product for many languages when working on Microsoft's first Language Interface Packs: I helped bring Windows to the world in languages like Maori, Quechua or Swahili.
  • Releasing the first version of Microsoft Teams for 18 languages
Career-building Tips

Always look for ways to use your strengths in a job!

Networking Tips & Techniques

Especially for introverts (like me): practice small talk outside of networking events. Practice with your Uber driver, the barista in the coffee-shop, the cashier in the supermarket.

Finding Inspiration

Everywhere. In people, when traveling, on walks through the neighborhood, when staring at the ocean, in books, online...

My Brilliant Second Career

If I didn't work in the language industry (and money wasn't a factor), I would write books - both fiction and non-fiction (for non-fiction I would probably write about languages and localization, though).

Life Beyond Localization

Fun fact: Together with friends I created an Internet soap opera, with a weekly new episode, in 2000. I also wrote travel blogs, before the term blog was even being used.

 

Do you want to contribute with an article, a blog post or a webinar?

We’re always on the lookout for informative, useful and well-researched content relative to our industry.

Write to us.

Isabella Massardo

Content strategist at GALA. A linguist and technologist who has lived in Italy, Russia and the Netherlands. Through GALA, Isabella offers the translation community content that’s relevant, reliable, and timely. She is always on the lookout for thought-provoking globalization and localization topics.