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Can I keep my day job and still do freelance translations?
Thread poster: Bruno Combart (X)
Martine Etienne
Martine Etienne  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 06:30
Member
English to French
+ ...
I have done it during 5 years Nov 7, 2002

I have worked during 2 years full time as a personal manager and after hours as a freelance translator, then as my second girl was born, I decided to start working part-time in another field and part-time in translation. After a certain time, I was so exhausted because I worked the day, then translated, then did the household, then , then, and there was no time left for sleeping,.... simply living.

Now I am a full time translator at home, and I have not had a single day free (my house
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I have worked during 2 years full time as a personal manager and after hours as a freelance translator, then as my second girl was born, I decided to start working part-time in another field and part-time in translation. After a certain time, I was so exhausted because I worked the day, then translated, then did the household, then , then, and there was no time left for sleeping,.... simply living.

Now I am a full time translator at home, and I have not had a single day free (my house is very often uspide down)for .... so long and I do not sleep that much.

But be careful, keep your job, make some translations, and when you will have a \"clientèle\" then give it up and you will have a wonderful job.

Good luck.
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Nitza Ramos
Nitza Ramos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:30
Spanish to English
+ ...
It's hard work..... but I love it! Nov 7, 2002

I\'ve had two jobs (a day job and freelance translator) almost all my life, and even though it has not been easy to keep the balance between them and my family, the need for a \"secure\" income, mixed with a passion for translating has kept me going for 20 years.

I wish I could say the same as Joeri, but the truth is that even though I can\'t complain, there has been a slow down in the workflow in the past few months. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Also, keep in mind
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I\'ve had two jobs (a day job and freelance translator) almost all my life, and even though it has not been easy to keep the balance between them and my family, the need for a \"secure\" income, mixed with a passion for translating has kept me going for 20 years.

I wish I could say the same as Joeri, but the truth is that even though I can\'t complain, there has been a slow down in the workflow in the past few months. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Also, keep in mind that when you really like what you are doing there is no obstacle big enough to stop you, not even a day job!

Good luck!
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jccantrell
jccantrell  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 22:30
Member (2005)
German to English
In the opposite situation Nov 7, 2002

I started out as a full-time free lancer with an exclusive contract in Germany. When I came back to the States, I worked in engineering and did translations in my spare time.



I am still at it. I work full time as a software engineer, and do translations on weekends and in the evenings. I do this for two reasons: I really enjoy my \"real\" job and I am sure it would take too long and require too much effort on my part (selling myself) to offset the loss in income.

<
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I started out as a full-time free lancer with an exclusive contract in Germany. When I came back to the States, I worked in engineering and did translations in my spare time.



I am still at it. I work full time as a software engineer, and do translations on weekends and in the evenings. I do this for two reasons: I really enjoy my \"real\" job and I am sure it would take too long and require too much effort on my part (selling myself) to offset the loss in income.



Of course, I am reasonably specialized and do not advertise at all. Still, I find that working maybe one weekend a month provides me with a very lucrative extra job. And, I really enjoy translation.



Seeing as you hate your current job, though, I would not start quite as quickly as others have suggested. Keep your day job, for the time being, until you get known to agencies and some direct clients. Then, do an analysis of how much money you are making. Is it enough to live on? If yes, then you may be ready to make a final break with the day job. If not, maybe you need to advertise a bit more and drum up some more business.



Of course, you could also look for a job that you don\'t hate to tide you over until this translation thing takes off. However, that might put you into my situation: Two jobs that you love and never enough hours in the day!



Whatever you choose, good luck.
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Silvana Parascandolo
Silvana Parascandolo  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:30
English to Italian
+ ...
Ups and downs Nov 7, 2002

I think it depends on your circumstances. I have been working as a freelance translator all my working life (over twenty years now) but I have also always had some other job (part-time or full-time). The other job/s come and go, the translations remain. Because of personal circumstances I move around a lot, therefore I\'ve always needed a job I could carry around with me and freelancing has always provided me with an income. There are good sides to it (the freedom, it can be very interesting, wi... See more
I think it depends on your circumstances. I have been working as a freelance translator all my working life (over twenty years now) but I have also always had some other job (part-time or full-time). The other job/s come and go, the translations remain. Because of personal circumstances I move around a lot, therefore I\'ve always needed a job I could carry around with me and freelancing has always provided me with an income. There are good sides to it (the freedom, it can be very interesting, with time you can earn a reasonable amount of money), but there are also bad sides to take into consideration (there is no guarantee that after you finish one job you\'ll ever get another one, loneliness, working all hours, agencies that don\'t pay, or pay late, or need chasing, reminding ecc., need for continuous technological update at your expense, and so on...). I also agree with some of the colleagues, in the last couple of months there has been a slow down in the number of jobs available. That is something that comes and goes as well, but if you are depending on it to live, it can be very scary. Also, how good a translator are you? Is there a lot of work in your working languages? Are you specialized in something? Have you got credentials? Are you good with deadlines?

My best advise to you would be to find yourself a part-time job that gives you some regular income, and then use the rest of the time to establish yourself and take it from there. (By the way, if you hate your job, you should leave anyway.)

Best of luck!
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Henry Hinds
Henry Hinds  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 23:30
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
Don't give up your day job Nov 7, 2002

But start building your translation business by working extra hours. It took me almost fifteen years to gain my freedom that way, but that was over sixteen years ago and it\'s a good feeling when you never have to look back.



I\'m sure it can be accomplished much faster today.


 
Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 06:30
German to English
What should I say? Nov 7, 2002

It\'s really all been said. I started the same way. After a slowish start, then a year or so of NO evenings and NO weekends and NO holidays and NO . . ., I took the plunge. Going part-time first also allows you to gain a little experience, build up your stock of har and software, reference materials, etc. Go for it. And good luck.

 
Rasha Brinkmann-Yahya
Rasha Brinkmann-Yahya
Local time: 01:30
German to English
+ ...
Tough at times, but worth it! Nov 7, 2002

I started my translating career as full-time translator for the US Military Police in Germany. It was my absolute dream job. I had the chance to gain experience in translation work, interpreting, law enforcement and court procedures, no day was like the other and I really became stress-proof having to interprete at crime and accident scenes, at morgues and while WWII 250 kg bombs were defused. But I had to give the job up for my move to the States and here, it took quite a while until I got to t... See more
I started my translating career as full-time translator for the US Military Police in Germany. It was my absolute dream job. I had the chance to gain experience in translation work, interpreting, law enforcement and court procedures, no day was like the other and I really became stress-proof having to interprete at crime and accident scenes, at morgues and while WWII 250 kg bombs were defused. But I had to give the job up for my move to the States and here, it took quite a while until I got to the point, where I didn\'t need a \"regular\" job anymore. I had gathered a few permenent clients and agencies, however, after my 2nd son, Cedric, was born in January 2001, I seriously started looking around and then things just started happening very quickly and I got swamped with requests and orders. During the last year, I\'ve been working almost exclusively for one translation agency, but in the long run, I wouldn\'t recommend this. You don\'t want to become dependent on just one client, because at some point, they\'ll think they can do with you whatever they want. Stick with at least 3 agencies and a few direct customers, that\'s your best bet.

I don\'t have the excitement of the police work anymore, but I\'m happy to be at home, when my oldest son (11) comes home from school and I can have a career, while being with Cedric and our brand-new 4-month-old baby. Especially with children, it\'s a blessing to be able to work after your own schedule and I\'m saving a lot of money as I don\'t need childcare.

I\'m not sure regarding the legal situation with a second job in the UK, but in Germany, there were certain restrictions regarding the number of hours and in some cases, you had to get your employer\'s permission. Here in the States, many people work 2 or even 3 jobs and nobody cares as long as the work is done and the taxes are paid.



Greetings from Atlanta,

Rasha
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Gillian Scheibelein
Gillian Scheibelein  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 06:30
German to English
+ ...
self-motivation? Nov 7, 2002

How is your self-motivation? If you do start freelancing, then it is YOU alone (unless you have a partner) who has to do the work. It is you, who has to sit in front of the computer, until all hours in some cases, to meet deadlines. Self-motivation can be extremely difficult if the source text is badly written, not easy to understand, or is long and monotonous, etc. and there are other things you want to do instead. Personally, I would do both jobs for a time to see whether or not FREELANCING su... See more
How is your self-motivation? If you do start freelancing, then it is YOU alone (unless you have a partner) who has to do the work. It is you, who has to sit in front of the computer, until all hours in some cases, to meet deadlines. Self-motivation can be extremely difficult if the source text is badly written, not easy to understand, or is long and monotonous, etc. and there are other things you want to do instead. Personally, I would do both jobs for a time to see whether or not FREELANCING suits you. But there is a problem here: you need a very high level of concentration for translating. My most efficient working times are between 6 am and 12 am, after that my speed drops considerably because the words don’t flow so well. Will you be able to bring a high level of concentration in the evenings when you get home from work, when it is even easier to give in to the temptation to do something else? If not, then you will have to use the weekends for translation jobs. Is your partner willing to support this?



Whatever your decision, I wish you luck.



Jill

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Rebecca Freed
Rebecca Freed  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:30
French to English
+ ...
Check out the demand in your language pairs Nov 12, 2002

Some language pairs are more in demand than others; if yours is pretty common, you may be facing pretty heavy competition.

 
Céline Graciet
Céline Graciet
Local time: 05:30
English to French
go for it Nov 12, 2002

Hi Bruno, when I started translating I kept my part-time job to make sure I\'d be able to pay for my rent and wholenut chocolate. It started slowly but after a year I was able to start translating full-time and I\'ve never looked back (even in times like this when business is slow, surely it will pick up! ). Taking the Diploma in Translation was a massive boost, so I would advise you to take it, it\'s money well spent.

 
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Can I keep my day job and still do freelance translations?







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