Dr. Anna Marie Trester

Anna Marie Trester
founder of Career Linguist

Anna Marie Trester founded Career Linguist in 2013. As the author of Bringing Linguistics to Work and Employing Linguistics for Bloomsbury Press, she helps linguists transition from academia to meaningful careers.

Academic Leadership Before launching Career Linguist, Anna served as director of the MA in Language and Communication (MLC) program at Georgetown University’s Department of Linguistics. There, she pioneered approaches to help students apply their sociolinguistic training in professional settings.

Teaching Excellence Anna has taught at prestigious institutions including Georgetown University, Howard University, University of Maryland, University College, and Boise State. Her courses span cross-cultural communication, language and social media, and the ethnography of communication.

Research & Publications As an applied sociolinguist, Anna focuses on improvisation, performance, narrative, and professional self-presentation. She co-edited Discourse 2.0 with renowned linguistics professor Deborah Tannen, published by Georgetown University Press in 2013.

Recognition Anna was featured in the Linguistics Society of America’s member spotlight in December 2014. She holds an MA from New York University and a PhD in linguistics from Georgetown University.

Dr. Anna Marie Trester's Background

Anna Marie Trester first discovered linguistics during a year abroad in Costa Rica. She felt invigorated by simultaneously acquiring language ability and understanding how linguistic structures work. This experience sparked the dynamic thinking she now brings to Career Linguist.

The practical challenge came when she returned home: how do you turn linguistic passion into meaningful employment?

She knew what excited her but didn’t know how to translate that into a career. Language led her everywhere—working as a server in a Mexican restaurant, picking up teaching jobs in English and Spanish, and eventually applying to university study abroad programs. When she got an opportunity to move to NYC, her Spanish skills landed her a role as an “interpreter” at an investment bank.

However, linguistics remained at the back of her mind. She realized her company would pay for an MA, so she made a pitch she still uses today: That once you see that language structures experience everywhere you look, you want to be better able to harness its power.

This insight led to her current position in the interpretation unit of the FrameWorks Institute, where she works with social change advocates to build understanding through more effective and strategic communication.

Before founding Career Linguist, she spent years at Georgetown University teaching students to find professional applications for their sociolinguistic skills. This sparked her ongoing mission: helping linguists bring their awareness of language and culture to their job search through crafting compelling career narratives.

The skills you develop as a linguist will serve you in any future path—whether in employment, further study, or simply better understanding how you interact with the world around you. Language is everywhere.