I have now been a Freelance Translator for ten years. The years have flown by, which must mean that I've been having fun!
It has been an amazing time of my life, both personally and professionally, with its ups and downs, challenges and successes. And as ten years feels like an important milestone, I now feel inspired to reflect on what I have learnt, how I have developed as a translator and as a businesswoman, and what advice I would give to those who are just starting out.
Taking the plunge...
I was already trained as a translator/interpreter and working in an in-house position when I decided the time had come to go it alone. It was a scary decision to make at the time - I had a new baby, I felt completely bewildered by tax and paperwork issues, and I was rather unsure as to whether or not I would actually be able to make a living... but at the same time, I knew it was what I wanted to do. This was my chance to take control of my career, and strike a balance between work and family. It was now or never.
Learning on the job
Looking back at those early days I have to admit to cringing a little. I thought I knew so much. What I wasn't expecting was just how much more I needed to learn, and how fast I was going to learn it.
Most, if not all linguists soon realise that you never stop learning any language, not even your own. And this is true of the translation profession as a whole - not just in terms of obscure vocabulary and turns of phrase. Specialist subjects, customer negotiation, time management, accounting, selling yourself, keeping up to date with technology... these are all key aspects of the business, and indispensible if you are to remain competitive. Ten years on, and I am still learning about my profession. That's one of the things I love most about it.
Get to know your colleagues
I would say that contact with other translators is possibly the one most important thing you can do as a freelancer. Around 80% of my new work comes to me "along the grapevine" and I too give plenty of work to my colleagues working in other language combinations. Join associations, distribution lists, translation forums, specialist websites...whatever you find keeps you connected. In addition to the job opportunities, your colleagues are an invaluable source of advice, information and companionship in what would otherwise be a very solitary profession.
Enjoy it!
This is of course the whole point. I doubt anyone would choose to be a freelance translator unless they were excited by the prospect. Over the years I have made plenty of mistakes and had some pretty hairy moments, but these have been outweighed by the satisfaction of seeing your work in print, developing strong relationships with clients and colleagues, finally arriving at a genius translation for that one sentence that's been bugging you for hours...and, of course, getting paid for doing something you enjoy.
