| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | the 2-year experience minimum barrage Thread poster: Anne LE ROMANCER
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Christine Andersen wrote:
But the market is HUGE and growing. Even if 20% is a conservative guess, there is still room for people who can actually translate. Anyone who has made the standard for the ITI is in the running.
One of my interests is glass - and a couple of hundred years ago, glass was a luxury. Industrial processes have taken away all the routine work, and the specialists who used to blow window glass until the mid 20th century have been put out of business by industrial float glas, which makes perfect panes and far larger sheets than glassblowers ever could. Everyone can afford nice, mass-produced tumblers for everyday use, but there are still plenty of craftsmen who make a living blowing glass. It has not even been pushed off the market by plastic, and it's not going to happen...
OK, glassblowing is not the same as translating, but I think translators who invest in Studio and other products will be able to benefit from them for years to come. People round the world will be tired of struggling with English and MT, especially in combination.
The amateurs and wannabes may find it hard to make a living, but I hope (and believe) the market will settle into an end where MT is adequate, and an end where only real humans are good enough, and where they are recognised.
If the number of translators follows the same trend as the number of glassblowers, there's really nothing to fear
[Modifié le 2019-03-01 15:58 GMT]
[Modifié le 2019-03-01 15:59 GMT]
| | | | MollyRose 
United States
Local time: 19:34
English to Spanish
+ ...
| OT Beautiful Barrages (in French language) | Mar 1, 2019 |
Wow, Tom! That was the best post. Very nice pictures; I would very much enjoy being in any one of most of those places right now (warm or hot weather).
I know that sounds awkward, but I said what I meant in proper grammatical fashion. I can't be in more than one place at a time, and there are some of those places that I might not enjoy.
I had to look up the Monticello, CA dam after seeing that picture. Wow!
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
| biz awareness | Mar 2, 2019 |
Actually, the big problem is not the experience, prices, competition or marketing, but rather passivity. Both translators and agencies/customers prefer doing business (1) in a certain way (2) with known people and (3) terms (4) for a while.
Shortly, they DO NOT want to change anything, unless “something” happens.
Many translators are introverts working with papers, not improving social and communication skills, so they cannot (self-)present or negotiate pr... See more Actually, the big problem is not the experience, prices, competition or marketing, but rather passivity. Both translators and agencies/customers prefer doing business (1) in a certain way (2) with known people and (3) terms (4) for a while.
Shortly, they DO NOT want to change anything, unless “something” happens.
Many translators are introverts working with papers, not improving social and communication skills, so they cannot (self-)present or negotiate properly.
Furthermore, most even decent translators are but poor businesspersons: they hurry to clutch at any offer no matter what, sacrificing their interests.
CONCLUSION: You should show prospects that it’s worth changing their habits, so they can win and feel more comfortable with you than without. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:34
Member (2008)
Italian to English
MollyRose wrote:
Wow, Tom! That was the best post. Very nice pictures; I would very much enjoy being in any one of most of those places right now (warm or hot weather).
I know that sounds awkward, but I said what I meant in proper grammatical fashion. I can't be in more than one place at a time, and there are some of those places that I might not enjoy.
I had to look up the Monticello, CA dam after seeing that picture. Wow!
Thanks Molly- I'm fascinated by dams or, to be more exact, by water. In another life I might have become a hydraulics engineer.
In the context of this discussion, I see the future translation market as a tremendous build-up of energy behind a wall.
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Alice Crisan
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:34
English to Romanian
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Dear Anne, all I can tell you is to make yourself visible. The translation community should know about you by ways of your presence at events or conferences, meetings, CPD’s, forums. It’s called marketing and in order for you to find the right people, you must find the right niche. You deal with business which is a huge subject, it means finance, marketing, contracts, correspondence and so on. It means you have to mingle among these people, I would suggest commerce chambers, eventbrite.co.... See more Dear Anne, all I can tell you is to make yourself visible. The translation community should know about you by ways of your presence at events or conferences, meetings, CPD’s, forums. It’s called marketing and in order for you to find the right people, you must find the right niche. You deal with business which is a huge subject, it means finance, marketing, contracts, correspondence and so on. It means you have to mingle among these people, I would suggest commerce chambers, eventbrite.co.uk, linkedIn, instagram.
You have to stand out of the crowd and be very active and never give up or slow down, you can’t afford it. Keep yourself updated with the latest news, with the new trend and somebody will pop in your way when you don’t even expect. You are a business woman
and you have to act accordingly. Have always questions to ask the other party and know your rates for everything which involves translations. Learn how to distinguish a reliable client from all the others who are acting as an honest client and do your homework in advance. When you have the right approach there is no need to highlight the 2 or 3 years experience or lack of it. Once you get into details about your specialisation possible clients will be more kin to talk to you about your availability, this is all about.
These are some of my thoughts, but the list is nonexhaustive.
[Edited at 2019-03-04 10:35 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alice Crisan
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:34
English to Romanian
+ ...
[Edited at 2019-03-04 23:12 GMT]
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I have been in this business for 16 years or more, and started by chance (a laboratory director asked me if I could translate some abstracts for an up-and-coming conference). Although I had many years of medical laboratory experience, it was not as easy as I thought and required a good few hours of research and journal reading.
I joined Proz as a non-paying member (and still am) and received nothing or very little directly from the jobs posted (and still do not!). But agencies and individ... See more I have been in this business for 16 years or more, and started by chance (a laboratory director asked me if I could translate some abstracts for an up-and-coming conference). Although I had many years of medical laboratory experience, it was not as easy as I thought and required a good few hours of research and journal reading.
I joined Proz as a non-paying member (and still am) and received nothing or very little directly from the jobs posted (and still do not!). But agencies and individuals look at profiles of members on the site and make up their own minds about whether to contact you. Experience in translating is very important, but work/life experience stands a very close second.
My advice is, tweak your profile, leave out charges (as they very often suggest theirs) or ask you if you reply, and update your experience as often as you can
Good Luck
I would also like to point out that although I have a reasonable client base, I can go several weeks without anything from them.. and wham! they all have work
[Edited at 2019-03-04 11:43 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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