Succeeding As a Freelance Translator

Do you have what it takes to be a good translator? Do you know what should be done to be a good translator? To be a translator is not easy and here, we provide you some answers to the questions that new translators may have.

To be a freelancer these days is hard and to be a freelance translator, it’s even harder. This never used to be the case some time back, but since the advancing of technology and the internet, things have gotten either better or worse for translators. Still, there are ways and chances for translators to succeed and it may not be easy, but it’s still worth a try.

To be a really good translator, translators need to love what they do. If they do love what they do, translators need to have real talents of languages. If they don’t love what they do, translators need to be at least better invested in the world of languages and translation, or better yet, look for another job!

Translators should know their languages in and out

 In order to succeed in the world of translating, translators should know what they are selling thoroughly. If they are selling their talents of languages, then they should know about these languages and they should be able to read and write perfectly in these languages. If translators are in the English to French criteria, then they should know English and French to the core. In other words, they should be fluent in the languages that they are going to translate in. These translators should familiarise themselves with old and new words in English and French. Languages keep evolving as generations change and years pass by. For translators to be further secure in their jobs, they should know and be familiar in the languages that they are translating in. This helps them in becoming professionals instead of being amateurs!

Translators should disappoint their clients

 It’s safe to assume that in order to be successful and stay successful in the world of translation, making clients happy is on top of the translators’ list. If clients are not happy, chances are their translators won’t get other assignments or projects to work on. If clients are ecstatic about the services they got from their translators while working on a project, then they are very much likely going to take these translators again for other projects to follow. Clients have very important and simple demands. Translators should know their job and do it exactly like the clients want it to be done. Clients are happier knowing that their instructions have been followed. Aside from doing what clients want, translators should make sure that they do the job perfectly.

Translators should know their areas of specialisation

 Translators cannot be good in every single criteria there is in the languages they translate. It’s only logical that they focus on the areas that they specialise in to avoid any unfortunate results on their translations. There are some areas, which are considered hard to translate for normal translators. If that is the case, then translators should only focus on the areas that they are familiar with to avoid translating words and phrases that they are not familiar with. By focusing on the areas that they excel in, translators would be able to get a good reputation for themselves and in the future, they will get the right kind of projects to work on. Knowing the areas that they are good at will also help translators work better without having to crack their brains in finding out what these words mean or how it should be translated. This way, translators have everything ready on their plate to move forward in the translation industry.

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Translating For Money or Nothing

Freelancers never have it easy. At times, translators have it easy as they work on a time set by them. But most of the time, life for people going to the office and knowing that they are getting their pay checks at the end of the month is better than most freelancers. It’s every freelancer’s dream to have jobs where payment is guaranteed at the end of completion without having to ask or beg for it. Though there are ways that freelancers can go through to make sure they are paid for the work that they have completed.

Trust is Important

For freelance translators, trust is a very important part of their job. When working online, it has to be kept in mind that translators don’t get to meet their clients. So if it’s the first time translators are working on projects with new clients, they have no choice, but to trust that the clients will pay as soon the translation is completed. There used to be a facility that some clients would use some time back, it was known as an escrow. Those days when translators were hired for projects, new clients would put in an escrow for them. An escrow is not only a promise of the payment, it is a part of the payment that was promised to the translators for the projects they are working on. When the projects are completed, the clients would then authorised the payment to be released to the translators. These days, an escrow is not that frequently used by clients anymore. So, all translators have on their hands today is just the will to trust.

Just Forget It

What happens if translators are not paid after the job is done? Nothing happens! Basically if translators are not paid for their work, they should just forget about it as there’s no way to trace or force the clients to pay. How is it possible to find someone online if they have chosen to disappear? Even if they are found, how will they be made to pay what they are owed? It’s a tricky yet sad situation for any freelancer to be in. This is obviously the worst part of working online and not meeting the clients face to face. The best thing to do in this situation is to just forget about it as wasting any more time and energy on finding that person to pay you will be useless. It’s done, just forget about it!

Not an Easy Life

Compared to people with 9 to 5 jobs, online freelancers never had it easy. A 9 to 5 job holder knows that he/she will be paid at the end of the month whereas an online freelancer has a chance of never getting paid even after completing the project. It is a dream to have a client that pays as soon as the project is done, but more often than not, translators have to chase clients to get paid. To ensure that translators are paid for their work, verbal agreement is the best way to go. The rest really depends on fate!

Trust your Instincts

It doesn’t matter if translators do a good job or not, there’s just no guarantee for translators to get paid as soon as they finish the project. If the client’s intention is to cheat and run away without paying, that’s exactly what they will do. But if the client likes the way the work was done, then there’s a huge chance of seeing the payment and getting projects from the same client in the future. To be safe, translators should take time before working with clients to research on the clients first. Still, researching the clients will not make translators know about their real intentions. This is why going with one’s instincts works in this business. 

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• Translators and Working Hours

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• Getting on the Translation Express Train