5 Reasons Why You Should Maintain A Good Work-Life Balance
Like any profession, becoming a translator takes practice, experience and proper training—and if you were to ask ten translators how they got into the profession, you’ll hear ten different stories. There’s no one way to do it, but here are steps to take you in the right direction:
1. Write an Error-Free Translation CV
Since you already know that your resume should be error free, we won’t bore you with saying that your resume should be error free. What we will say is that translators need a resume for translators; you really shouldn’t use the same CV you used to get hired at all of your other jobs.
If you are looking for a step-by-step guide to putting together a translation CV, Corinne McKay’s book How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator can walk you through the entire process. Here’s a little secret though: Almost as helpful, not to mention entirely free, is Translators Café: Here you browse hundreds of resumes posted by active freelance translators. See how an experienced translator has done it first and model yours after the pros.
2. Focus On Marketing Your Services:
- Search the Yellow Pages on and offline to find translation agencies to send your resume to. For a comprehensive, A-Z list of translation companies, you might refer to the appendix of Morry Sofer’s book, The Translator’s Handbook or visit Language Automation.
- Register with the free online databases at translator associations (ATA) as well as online job-search sites such as Linkedin.
- Register with consulates, embassies and chambers of commerce.
- Advertise in expatriate associations’ publications.
- Use headhunters or placement services to find positions in translation agencies.
3. Be Likeable
Despite the fact that translation is often pigeonholed as a solitary profession—which it very often is—successful translators are able not only to negotiate several languages, but cross social and cultural borders with dexterity. Translators like language, but they also like people and know how to collaborate, take direction and please clients and employers.
4. Do not accept work that is beyond your expertise
If your specialization is not medical terminology or legalese, know your scope and breadth; don’t oversell your skills. Turning down work does not automatically disqualify you for other projects. It simply demonstrates that you know your field and limits, and understand that taking on a too-difficult task slows everyone down, and reflects badly on everyone involved as well. Knowing your limitations helps people trust you.
5. Keep Your Ear to the Grindstone
Once you make contact (and are taken in) by an agency, it is wise to continue reaching out to other translation agencies. Author Morry Sofer explains that the problem with working with one agency is that “there may not be a steady flow of work coming out of any given agency in any given language, in subjects you are equipped to handle.” If you have cultivated a relationship with two or three agencies, you’ll have a more even work flow.
The downside of working with more than one agency is, of course, that you may be bombarded with work from all three agencies at once. You may be tempted to accept all of it, but taking on more than you can handle will potentially destroy your relationships. Be sure that you establish an understanding with your agencies.
Author bio:
Ryan O’Rourke (rorourk2008@marygrove.edu) is an adjunct professor, writing tutor, blogger, guitar strummer and dog lover. He graduated from Madonna University in 2005 where he received his B.A. in English and Philosophy. After living and teaching abroad in Taiwan, he returned to Detroit in 2006 to complete his M.A. in English from Marygrove College. Currently, he teaches Academic Writing and American Literature; he also blogs for the online Modern Language Translation program at Marygrove College, a Liberal Arts institution in northwest Detroit, Michigan.
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Great article – some very good tips here. I am actually looking for more information on how to cope with receiving work from different agencies, but I guess there is no one magical way – you manage it by knowing your own capacity and abilities well.
Thanks Catherine for this insightful article.
Thank you for this new blog post, Catherine and Ryan. At first I used to reject jobs when working on another one, but I noticed this was counterproductive, since some agencies never came back. So when this situation arises, I ask some of my trusted colleagues to help me out. It is a win-win situation: my client (agency) doesn’t have to spend time and resources looking for another translator, and I keep the working relationship.
Very discerning article Catherine. Thanks and have a nice day.
Thank you so much for your very rich piece of advice concerning the way of searching tanslating jobs via internet.
If you are interested, i can send you my CV(Curriculum Vitae).
I’m atranslatorand i have my office at Fès, Morocco.
Really helpful post with some great tips. Thank you 🙂
Thanks for these very helpful guidelines, I appreciate it since I’ve started up my own translation business. I’ll be keeping your advise in mind for future work relations:)
On behalf of Ryan:
Thank you, everyone, for commenting and responding to the article. I really appreciate it.
Sarai, you said something interesting. I was wondering if you might be able to talk more about “coping with receiving work from different agencies.” What do you mean exactly? This sounds like something that might be worth talking more about.
Hi Catherine! Agencies expect translators to be reliable, not available. Remember, translators are not agencies’ employees. Agencies even make huge profits by not hiring translators. Translators have their own business, they have all sorts of clients: direct customers (preferably) and sometimes agencies, if and when they consider they feel like it and have time for it. There is NEVER any obligation to accept a job for an intermediary and they know it. The only thing they can request is that once the job has been accepted by the translator, the translator has to be reliable, i.e. either meet the deadline and produce quality, or warn asap if there is a problem with the deadline. Some idiot at Proz.com once said at an Open Day that agencies supposedly requested translators to be available and reliable: this is impossible in practice: if you accept a job just to show you are available, sooner or later you won’t be reliable, which is much worse. It’s up to the intermediary to find somebody else if you are not available. It was their choice not to hire anyone – and, I repeat, they make huge profits out of exploiting translators…
Hi Isabelle. I agree with you that the translator’s reliability is the most important factor (deadlines, quality, following instructions etc.). And of course a translator shouldn’t take on more work than he/she can handle, that can only lead to unfortunate repercussions for everyone involved.
I don’t agree with you though that agencies exploit translators. It’s an open market and the freelance translator is always asked whether or not he/she wants to accept a project. It’s not the agency’s fault when the translator says yes to a very low price or a super tight deadline.
I don’t think that agencies are nice or business-savvy when they do stuff that make them look like they’re exploiting their in-house or freelance translators, I think they’re just clueless as to the translation market or just too money-hungry.
Hi Catherine, thanks for the post, very helpful to me as someone still establishing myself. I have worked with a few agencies but still trying to achieve that elusive “steady flow of work”. @Luciana, I have had times when lots comes at once though and I’d be interested to hear how you work it out with the agency giving you the work to be able to pass work to colleagues.
Some great advice! I’m going to print this out and put it in a prominent place at my desk so I’ll remember to do at least one of these things every day.
Speaking of error-free, “ex-patriot” > “expatriate.” (I mean to be helpful, not snarky, truly.)
Amazing, I’ve read this article multiple times and never spotted that, thanks Kathryn 🙂
Thanks again. Such a useful article. I will certainly keep in mind NOT to go for jobs that are too far out of my area of expertise.
When jobs are scarce it is all too enticing to apply for everything. Of course, this not only puts yourself under pressure in texts that are not familiar, it also increases the chances of making a mistake and ultimately creating a bad impression. And bad news travels like wildfire!
I just got my first translation job…problem is…after turning in the work as per instructions, at least twice they sent a “sorry, client changed his mind and now wants it done the following way”
The job that was supposed to last 8 days is now boomeranging for over a month. When is it time to say enough changes, unless a new job order is created?
Thanks!
Hi Jo,
You should of course charge the client for the extra time spent. When they first send you the email saying we need more changes and whatnot, just state politely that it will take you e.g. 10-15 minutes and a minimum or half minimum charge will be applied (if we’re talking about more time, then use your hourly rates). It’s unreasonable for them to keep asking you to work for free.
Its not easy to enter the translation industry. You need to put allot of efforts to to prove your presence in this industry. The rules you have mentioned in your post to find a good job in the translation industry can help allot to the job seekers trying to enter this industry. Great stuff Catherine….keep going. I am a regular follower of your posts and appreciate our efforts to share such informative contents with us. Thank you once again.
My pleasure David and thank you too for your recent comments 🙂