Job Discussion Forums

[moonraven]

To make any real money as a translator you will be expected to be very knowledgable in the subject area.

I do translations for professors at universities in Mexico (they send me the Spanish texts by e-mail, and I can work wherever I am) so that they can submit their articles to English langage professional journals and can give presentations in English at international conferences. So far as I know, I am the only person in the region who is trusted by these folks, as I have a PhD, am familiar with their research areas, write and present academic papers myself in Spanish--and am bilingual. Due to the less than stellar salaries these folks make, I receive between 30 and 40 dollars and hour for my work. For me, it's gravy. I would never be so foolish as to depend on it to live.

[poro]

Johnny:

I've been a translator and simultaneous interpreter for 24 years, and would never think of doing 'literature'. There are too many talented people chasing too little work - and it's hard work, unless you're doing children's books, or something similar.

Technical translations are easier, and there is much more demand for them, especially in countries that export a lot, such as Germany. By 'technical', I mean anything specialised, such as: engineering, medicine, legal, finance & accounting etc, from a-z, atomic reactor safety regs to cookery books, to zoology. It's extremely diverse.

The up-sides of this work are: a) you don't need exceptional talent to do it, just a good memory and powers of concentration; b) you can earn a very reasonable living if you are affiliated to good translation offices that give you plenty of work (yes, there are such places); and c) you can make interesting contacts and travel at their expense to other countries.

The down-sides are: a) you always work under time pressure, and this is by far the worst aspect; b) you need to know a lot, and the learning curve at the start is almost vertical; c) you won't be overpaid for your time (unless you speak an 'exotic' language), but with experience, your speed will increase phenomenally, and so will your earning power.

The best advice I could give to anyone wanting to do this job is: always remember your deadlines, and do whatever you can not to miss them.

To find work, send unsolicited applications to translation offices. Tell them what you can do (exaggeration is allowed, because what you can't do today, you might be able to do much better in a fortnight or a couple of months), and offer to do a trial translation.

PM me if you want, good luck, and I hope this helps.

[Sheep-Goats]

[JonnytheMann]

I'll be good! I suck at a lot of things, but languages are one of the few things I am talented with.

[moonraven]

I don't know about the BA market, but I do have a friend in Santiago, Chile, who sometimes makes a living and at least always supplements by translating English technical manuals. He has a PhD in hard sciences--but English is not his first language (he is from Nicaragua).

[Ovid]