Hi everyone, this video took me very long to make, so I'm very happy it got out on time and I hope you enjoy it! Let me know in the comments where you are in your journey to becoming a translator. Thanks for watching 🥰
@@Freelanceverse hello Adrian I have a question about payment is that normal the agency I work for delay payment they told me after 60 days and it's now 90 days is that normal?
@@king-yc4zdno. I would send a message BBB (Better Business Bureau) and write a letter (email) to the company letting them know of your actions. Give them 24-48 hours.
10:12 Thank you for this part! I've just started as an interpreter with an agency, and I will need the 1 year expecience to focus on the Medical interpreting jobs as a freelancer. I would also like to thank you for your channel, because a year ago I started following your videos and guidance in order to become a freelance translator and ended up finding my profile as an interpreter. Thanks to Anita for the professional and kind responses as well as the valuable tips by email!
Thank you for this video, Adrian! You gave me some really valuable advice on finding direct business clients. So far, I have mostly worked with agencies but I have experienced a large decrease in the number of jobs they are sending me. For this reason, I am looking for connecting with direct prospects and focusing on gaining direct clients to provide a steady flow of projects/income in the future.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge🙏 I'm in my first year as a freelance translator, and I was in the lucky position that I didn’t have to look for clients actively as I got so much work from my old employer (a big translation agency) and from another client, where I was contacted from a former coworker. But this month business is very low, so I'm finally taking a more active approach to come closer to my goals! I really appreciate your effort to share your experience and tips because without help from others, it's easy to feel a bit lost 😅
I'm in the U🎉,and this is one of my dreams. I learn my favourite languages every day,but at the moment, I am only confident in simple basic conversations. I still hope to get there one day though. Have to keep studying, although I know I'm never really going to master the language, but I will keep trying.
As I transition from my current career, I am excited to embark on a new journey as a freelance translator and interpreter. Your guidance has been instrumental in shaping the foundation for this next chapter. I am deeply grateful for the knowledge and support you have provided.
Hi Adrian! Thanks for this great video. I started in the translation career as a trainee in 2006-2008 for a translation agency. Later, in 2010, they hired as a translator as I worked with up to 2013, when I started freelancing. Proz was (still is) important to me because my most important client, an agency, found me there. I should never have left Proz, so I came back to it in 2021 so I could be reachable to these dream agencies. As for business clients, of course, the money would be bigger but I think I'd start to work as an agency myself, because the amount would probably be too high that I'd have to hire other freelancers to work with me. I guess I would have to change my mindset, as you mentioned, be a bit of a businessman.
Thanks for the comment, Daniel, super interesting feedback! Have you had success on ProZ since 2021? The platform is definitely not what it used to be. Back in the day you could pretty much kick off a career instantly on ProZ. It has become much more difficult. Yes, I think developing a business mindset is the way to go going forward.
@@Freelanceverse You're welcome! 🙂 I'm not in place to say how Proz has changed since 2013-2014,-2015 when I left it. But I remember I left it because I thought the money I was paying for the membership was not bringing clients to me. Now I think I was using it wrongly, as I was not interacting with the other translators by not answering to questions, not talking to them in the forum, etc. Since 2021, I've been trying to show myself more often and - maybe because of it - I've had some direct contacts (I mean, beyond the Proz mass mailing). I think the main reason may due to how I've been using Proz - the "WIWO: What I'm working on now" is an excellent tool. I mean, I've been adding jobs I worked with, including the respective field tags. This way my project history grows bigger, which make me more visible to clients/agencies when they search for translators who worked in job of a particular field. However, it's important to mention that the process of finding clients is slow, be it in Proz or in LinkedIn. I also work in partnership with a translator who I met in a translation school and another translator who found me via recommendation. What I am trying to say is that - and I think you know it - is that we can't rely on only one platform; we need to rely on many platforms. And whatever platform we chose, finding clients is going to be slow.
Great video Adrian. For some reason, it made me more motivated to try harder, and I feel that all of the information in the video are really relevant in 2024.
That was great! Thank you so much. I will use your tips they are so inspiring. I was feeling a bit down because it's been 3 weeks since I had my last translation job but I will try and do these tips❤
The more I watch your videos, the more I fall in love with their content. You are just amazing. I am Mohamad Badreddine El Fekih, a freelance translator, subtitler, and interpreter from Tunisia.
@@Pradeep_Choudhary_kct Hi there, you would probably work with German as a source language then, I would not recommend to work into German if it's not your native language. But you can work as a language specialist from German into your native language
any idea how to get a book translation..... have tried with cv s , sample chapters , precis , researched publishers market , all to no avail. I know they usually select their own titles ( and normally their own translators ) .... so its doubly difficult ......but hopefully not impossible... any ideas ?
Good day, Adrian! Just another thank you for this video! I'm working on partial transition from in-house to freelance, so it's worth knowing what's going on on the other side, and all of your videos are ssoo beneficial. Judging by my current experience with one of rated LSPs, the industry is surviving hard times(( Did you notice it? Are you worried about decline in rates and projects? Any ideas for how long it could be?
Hi Adrain, Thanks for the video; it was beneficial . I have been translating different types of videos for the past couple of years, and I used to post them on Instagram and Snapchat. I used to translate English videos for an Arabic audience, and now I am working on finding a way to make an income out of it.
Did you try ALL Im saying in this video and in the one from 2022? Im consistently seeing people telling me they dont find jobs and when I asked them what they did they barely took it seriously in the first place.
Hello every one . I'm trying to get to work this kind of business/job . But don't know what tools should i use or learn if there is actually specific programs needed . Please help me with information and advises and thank you
Does it worth to be a Translator or an interpreter in 2024 with AI developments? I am a student and I can't make a decision thinking about another major 😢
Hi, thank you for all the information you provide with. It is really helpful. I have a question about specialisation because I have no such, yet. So where am I supposed to start? I have a master degree in translation studies (english-swedish) but no experience and feel like I know nothing. I don’t know where to start….
Hi there, happy you enjoyed the episode! :) first of all, don't worry too much about it, just start as a generalist. For many people, me included, specializations find them, rather than them going after the specialization. Secondly, I don't believe you that you don't know anything lol :) think of your interests, your hobbies, what are you reading about, what are you passionate about ... there is always something that you know more about than the average person. Maybe you love cooking, gardening, planes, cars, chemistry, business, coffee... who knows, there are so many things you can become a specialist in. And remember, the more niche you go, the easier it is to become the top translator in that area in your language :)
Hi Adrian! Apart from sending a cold email via the contact box on their website, when they do have one, would you say reaching out to the founder of the company via LinkedIn (when they are on there) is a good choice? For instance, I am focusing on reaching out to publishing/editorial boutique companies that specialize in translated works (Spanish > English) Or would you say finding the direct email of the founder/CEO to send them a cold email would be best?
Yes definitely, whenever you are able to find a direct contact, I would both apply through the contact form and also send a quick message saying that you applied and would love to hear back from them!
I@@FreelanceverseI have tried cold emails but few companies replies and put me in their database but doesn't give any work. I am enrolled in four companies but they don't give me work. One company give me sample test after that they are not responding. I don't know what to do now
Hi Adrian! Thank you for the insightful video. I am still at the very beginning of my journey. Despite all the effort that I am putting in, I often feel like I am not ready to go out there into the real world. I already have a degree, but I am doing an additional professional development course in interpretation and translation to boost my confidence. I am more confident in my oral interpretation skills for now. What would you recommend as a good starting point for me? I am a native English speaker who is learning Russian.
Hi Selin, I have a video on CVs. Interviews I will not make a video about as they don't exist in our industry. You sell services, so there can be business negotiations, but never an interview.
Could you recommend me a freelance translators site that has a modern and user-friendly web design? I have reigistration at ProZ but it looks so old-fashioned and so hard to use basic settings. I would be very thankful if anyone could recommend me a site to start as a freelance translator in general matters, or specifically in politics and international relations.
Hi Boris, ProZ does indeed look very old-fashioned. They are working on updating it though, for example the training sites look much better already. The other one is translatorscafe, these are the two main ones, but both look old-fashioned.
Thank you for the reply! Could you give me any advice on how to start as a freelance translator. I have always worked for a company and now I want to make translations on my own but it seems hard to make the start with clients and orders... :)@@Freelanceverse
Yes, it helps you to look for posts that use the same hashtag. Companies and brands use it for discovery, so my clients would often use the hashtag sportswear and if I then search for it on social media, I find all the relevant posts.
Hi adrian, thank you for this video. I'm just getting started. But what do you suggest to write to agencies that don't have a "career" page on their websites?
Confused. Do you mean big agencies will suffer in the market or just that they will take on relatively fewer freelancers? Where do you talk about that? I would have thought that with language projects increasing in size and complexity, they would consolidate their power (and thus hire proportionally more freelancers). Leaving small agencies and direct freelancers suitable only for small or specialist projects. Thanks.
Yes, exactly. I believe that the large LSPs will consolidate their power and will make small agencies redundant unfortunately. And me personally, I don't want to work with big LSPs, so direct client is the way for me :) of course that's all only predictions :)
tnx such amazing info Adrian.. im a certified Persian-English interpreter. looking for online interpreting jobs eg: for conference, webinar, seminar, events.. in different fields.. ive got my Ph.D in psycholiguistics..can u plz direct and help me🙏🏽🧡💚💛🌸🌸🌸🙏🏽
it's a good question! A lot of content is OK to translate with chatGPT or google, but not anything that is high-stakes in any way. If getting it wrong is liable to hurt you, your brand, or consumers (e.g. land you in legal trouble or cause reputational damage or make someone sick) you're 100% better off using a human who will do a better job and who can take responsibility if anything does go wrong.
Because their clients will not be happy with the results they receive. If a company invests in their localization to be done by an agency, they expect very high quality results. Google Translate they could just do themselves, they wouldn't go to an agency for that. So the agency can't afford to deliver something halfbaked.
Ja, ja, ja! My dear friends, in which country in the world will the consul put an apostille on a text translated by Google or GPT?😅 I needed to translate my kid's birth certificate. There was no text as such. Just mom's name, dad's name, baby's name. Any student could translate, but... not a single notary or consul will accept such a translation, the signature and seal of the official agency must be present on the doc, only such docs are accepted for an apostille and recognized in courts, embassies and other institutions. Of course, if one needs to know what a girl from a virus video is saying in her tik-tok - GPT is enough. But when it comes to legal documents, medical or Boeing instructions - only the official translation from the official agency with a seal and a stamp is accepted.
I cannot verify all information that is given in this video. It says Memsource is for free. It is not. Memsource is taken over by Phrase and will cost at least USD 25 per month. It also says MemoQ cost USD 160 per year. The actual cost is USD 360 per year or double cost for a perpetual license. Thirdly it says Across basic version is for free and the webtool works the best. I tried to download the desktop free basic version of Across which failed to install. On top of that I could not find the corresponding webtool on the webpage of Across although I registered a free account. These issues are too many to make this video make sense to me. If someone can prove me wrong, I will be happy to be corrected.
Hi Johan, none of these informations are in this video, are you referring to my CAT tool tier list? In that case, yes, that's an old video and the pricing structures and merger news are certainly not up to date anymore. Thanks for providing the accurate numbers of today.
@@Freelanceverse Okay, thank you for your reply. I think I referred to the wrong video and it should be the CAT tool tier list. Personally I miss Swordfish in there. It cost USD 10 per month currently but it does have some interesting features.
Hello, unfortunately, I obtained my Master's degree in Translation in 2022, and it's been almost a year since I haven't been able to find any jobs. I'm not sure what the problem is. I've done volunteering and internships, but I've only had the opportunity to work on small projects, some of which were paid. Could I send you my CV for a review or some feedback, please? Thank you
Bonjour j'aimerais savoir si il faut avoir une entreprise individuelle ou micro entreprise ou avoir un contrat sous une entreprise pour pouvoir travailler dans ce domaine
Bonjour, en général, vous devez être enregistré en tant qu'indépendant ou travailleur autonome (le nom diffère selon le lieu). Il y a généralement un montant d'impôt exonéré. Si vous ne gagnez que peu d'argent, l'enregistrement n'est pas nécessaire. Vérifiez les lois dans votre pays :)
Hiii everyone does anyone of you heard about Windsor public Library please telle and why is it necessary to pay for membership ID card for translators. Employees pleaaase if you have any information just contact me
Hi! Thanks a lot for this video. I’m doing my masters degree in audiovisual translation this year but I’m trying to look for some small jobs already. I haven’t found much on LinkedIn yet but maybe that’s because I don’t know how to look for it that well.
Hi Adrian! Thank you for the insightful video. It offered many clues and suggestions on what to do to be successful in this area. I'm a full-time freelance translator with more than 13 years experience and worked mostly with translation agencies. Time to revert that. Thank you. João
Seen translating is not protected title by degree (like nurses/judges/police officers/teachers) the ones working within it are left to the market. Race to the bottom is the result. With AI reduced to revising texts. AI is owned by who ? Using whose input ? Think it over
