| Product: |
My Experiences and Advice |
| Date: |
11/10/01 (68 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: can earn very well, mentally more testing than most jobs
Disadvantages: few perks, unsocialable hours, payment can often take 6 weeks...
As part of my degree course in German and French there was, of course, a certain amount of translation work to do, and as well as doing the mandatory language classes that used translation assignments, I also took three modules in Translation Methodology. At the time I had no idea that I would end up making a living from translation, as I seemed destined for the bright lights of the then buoyant telecommunications industry.
However, upon arriving in Austria and discovering that the job-market was very flat and also that there seemed to be no sense of urgency in recruiting, in fact I was still receiving rejection letters from companies that I applied to up to 4 or 5 months previously, I knew that in order to continue to work in Austria, I would have to do something.
Steadily via Newsgroups on the Internet I began to amass my first few translation jobs, with translations for legal companies of documents, and given the general need for English, particularly websites, I then got involved with various companies. Whilst at the outset I would receive one big job a month (literally a week's work from 9am-7pm daily) these type of translations don't grow on trees. I quickly found it necessary to do small jobs, which would not be so regular from one client, but at the end of the day you were always there if the customer needed you for another job.
I have quickly learnt to specialise a bit, and my areas of particular competence/focus are Media, New Media, Investment Banking, PR, Technology and architecture, although I do get a lot of other things, many scientific, and many in very boring fields ? e.g. financial translations about AGM agendas for example. In the 10 months or so since I really started translating full time I have had a wide range of clients, from software companies to Investment Banking, local government and PR. At the outset you cannot merely pick what you want to do, but you have to get yourself known, and take everything.
One thing I have noticed is that it is necessary to work under pressure, often to tight deadlines, whilst ensuring that the standard of work doesn't slip. Fortunately with deadlines people are always realistic, and they are attainable, and the translation agency I work for that has "yesterday" for a desired completion date on its contact form is only joking fortunately. On agency I work for though, has a tendency to announce that the deadline has been moved forward, and this does tend to grate somewhat, although I usually hand stuff in early in any case, or aim to so that if something does come up then I won?t be panicking at the last minute.
What is a typical week like?
Ok, we?ll take two weeks ? one a very quiet week, and one a ?killer? week as examples:
Quiet week:
Monday: Business letter (£35) for the same day. Bed 12am.
Tuesday: Putting in for tenders for various jobs online. Bed 12am.
Wednesday: Three press releases (£60) for the same day. Bed 12am.
Thursday: Newsletter (£50) for the following day. Bed 12am.
Friday: Assorted e-mails for clients (£25) same day. Bed 6am (out with mates).
Overall earnings about £170 for the week, and no work at the weekend?
Killer week:
Monday: Press Release (£40) for the same day. Newsletter (£60) for the following day. Legal contract (£250) for 9am the following morning. Bed 3am
Tuesday: Newsletter (£60) for the same afternoon. Large project ? 120 pages (£1400) ? for Friday ? Bed 3am
Wednesday: Start 7am. Carry on large project and also software helpfile (£100) for following morning. Bed: 3am
Thursday: Start 7am. Carry on large project and also translate a brochure (£140) for the following morning. Bed: 3:30am
Friday: Start 7:30am Finish large project, proof read it and despatch it. Presentation (£80) for Monday morning. Bed 6am ? hungover.
Saturday: Start: 4pm Fi
nish presentation.
Sunday: 11am: Foreword for a poetry anthology (£50) by 6pm Bed 12am? Ready for a wekk of hell perhaps....
Total earnings £2180 ? number of times you have threatened to kick computer as it crashes: 841.
So how do I translate?
It is a little bit more complicated than grabbing your big Collins-Robert / Oxford-Duden / Oxford-Sansoni and using that to help you. Typically I receive a lot of technical terminology, and the metalanguage that is present, is fortunately very well documented on the web. There are specialist dictionaries available. I also compile glossaries from important assignments, and these can really help especially when you are doing press releases with a short deadline.
I used to live with a lawyer-to-be who worked in the legal field and did a lot of translation work, as he pointed me in the way of Clara-Erika Dietl's "Dictionary of Legal, Commercial and Political terms" (ISBN 3 406 36654 6) which has proven to be invaluable, even if I was put off by its £107 price tag. The Net does also boast a few useful glossaries and also the most important tool, Eurodictautom. Eurodictautom claims to be "a translator's best friend on the Net", and does manage to live up to the claim, as it contains all the vocabulary that has appeared in EU directives, in the various EU languages. It is an incredible resource, and is accessible at eurodic.ip.lu and has been the most convincing argument for having an always on internet connection.
What standard of languages do you need?
I generally translate either French-English or German-English, as translation into your own mother tongue is considerably easier than if you are doing it the other way, and the rewards, financially are thus more favourable. I have an honours degree in French and German, and have worked in French and German speaking environments before, which is probably a must.
What are the earning
s like?
My rates are seen as being standard, possibly a tiny bit cheaper than others in Vienna. I currently charge 75p per 60 characters (spaces included) and then have an optional express rate premium where I add a 15p / 60 characters surcharge. The express rate applies for jobs that are required at very short notice, such as tomorrow. It is very hard to calculate an hourly wage from translation as some stuff e.g. a business letter is very easy and quick to translate whereas some other things might not be. Additional charges can be invoked if your client needs special layout etc.
For companies for whom I do a lot of work, rates drop by around 10-15p a line as I know that work is going to come in a continuous stream, even if it is often just a page here, a few paragraphs there and very little by way of really long pieces. Sometimes I do hit the jackpot ? e.g. a present contract that is worth £5400 for thirty days work ? but that is translating a minimum of 3000 words a day (I set this limit to allow myself to be able to accept other work on top of this), and on a good day I can earn £350, although there are also the blank days, sat around trying to find work. Of course you often have to wait upto 6 weeks to see your money :-(
To conclude I would recommend translation as a way of making enough to live off, and in my cases it is starting to become an earner. Bear in mind though that it is not always going to be easy, and as a freelancer you can sometimes end up sitting around waiting for anything to turn up. It is not my intention to make a career from translation, but currently it is what is allowing me to stay in Austria and to live here. It is academically testing, and a sub-standard translation will not keep your professional clients happy.
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