| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4 5 6] > | Being competitive without experience Thread poster: Quentin NEVEN
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Quentin NEVEN 
Belgium
Local time: 00:48
Member (Jan 2024)
English to French
+ ...
Hi,
I officially started as a translator on January 1st.
I was super excited to start working in a way that fits me perfectly and I love translating!
However, I am becoming aware that this industry is facing some difficulty, with the rise of AI technology and all (some would even say it is dying)...
I have two university diplomas, I have some experience as a volunteer and I feel quite competent in my domains of expertise.
Nonet... See more Hi,
I officially started as a translator on January 1st.
I was super excited to start working in a way that fits me perfectly and I love translating!
However, I am becoming aware that this industry is facing some difficulty, with the rise of AI technology and all (some would even say it is dying)...
I have two university diplomas, I have some experience as a volunteer and I feel quite competent in my domains of expertise.
Nonetheless, I see how competitive Proz.com can be when I look at the quotes for a job I apply to. I don't think I stand a chance against someone with years of experience.
I went for a rate that is considered "standard" on Proz.com. I believe translators are language experts with excellent research skill and critical thinking. Many of us have spent years at univerisy to learn this craft. It seems unfair to accept very low rates for that kind of job.
What can I do to make my profile more competitive, without experience ?
Should I accept ridiculous rates to get some experience and then go back to the standard rate in one year or two ? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:48
Member (2008)
Italian to English
The way to compete is not on price. A perfect translation, no matter who did it and regardless of how much experience they have /haven't, is worth the market rate. I emphasise *perfect*. Anyone reading your translation should not know how much experience you have. It should just be perfect, and delivered professionally on time.
Don't make the mistake of thinking you can start at a low rate and then gradually increase it. You will probably never be able to increase it if you have att... See more The way to compete is not on price. A perfect translation, no matter who did it and regardless of how much experience they have /haven't, is worth the market rate. I emphasise *perfect*. Anyone reading your translation should not know how much experience you have. It should just be perfect, and delivered professionally on time.
Don't make the mistake of thinking you can start at a low rate and then gradually increase it. You will probably never be able to increase it if you have attracted clients because you were cheap.
The way to compete is by narrowing down the enormous market to a particular field in which you have expert knowledge. Then, the only people you will be competing against will be other translators specialising in that same particular field, in that particular language pair.
Your profile says "Expert in the audiovisual industry "- Focus on that.
[Edited at 2024-01-20 13:10 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | MagnusRubens (X)
Local time: 23:48
| Focus on specialist areas | Jan 20 |
Tom in London wrote:
Your profile says "Expert in the audiovisual industry "- Focus on that.
[Edited at 2024-01-20 12:30 GMT]
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I agree. I think Tom's advice to focus on the audiovisual field is very valid.
You have a core area and that area would be your unique selling point.
If anything, having a specific area like audiovisuals will give you a clear edge in this particular field.
You might find clients among companies that arrange trade fairs or similar.
There will be plenty of audiovisual presentations at those events (& instructions to go with them).
That's just one example of a potential area.
I'm sure there are many others.
I don't see why you should accept low rates as long as you can write well in your target language and get the job done.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 00:48
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Avoid the mistake many on Proz seem to be making: thinking you need Proz to get work. Don't apply for the low-rate jobs. Contact agencies or direct clients directly, by the hundreds if necessary.
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I started off with a very low agency rate - I think at the start it worked out at 42 EUR/1000 words, happy to say that it is now higher, nearly double. I also worked in-house in a few different agencies in Barcelona and made lots of contacts that way, then when I left, it was quite easy to find freelance work from different agencies mainly from Spain. Looking at my clients now, however, they mainly come from the UK.
It's down to a bit of luck I'm afraid - and sending out lots of CV... See more I started off with a very low agency rate - I think at the start it worked out at 42 EUR/1000 words, happy to say that it is now higher, nearly double. I also worked in-house in a few different agencies in Barcelona and made lots of contacts that way, then when I left, it was quite easy to find freelance work from different agencies mainly from Spain. Looking at my clients now, however, they mainly come from the UK.
It's down to a bit of luck I'm afraid - and sending out lots of CVs. I unfortunately haven't kept a record of how many CVs I have sent out, but it must be in the hundreds, easily. One of my main clients now is based in the UK and specialises in Eastern European languages - I sent them my CV years back expecting some work from Russian, but they came back to me a while later with lots of work from Spanish. I'm glad they kept my CV!
Would you consider working in-house?
About providing "perfect" translations - I think this is a tricky word to use in any context. I don't consider my own work to be perfect, however I stand by my work and say that I deliver a high-quality product. A perfect translation - does it exist? This reminds me of university and picking published translations apart - what is good, when did the translator go too far, not far enough? It doesn't matter how long I have for a specific project - if I read it over again, there will be always something else to change... ▲ Collapse
| | | | IrinaN
United States
Local time: 17:48
English to Russian
+ ...
Got an assignment or just graduated and "officially" declared yourself a professional freelance translator?
I'm so down-to-Earth that at times I'm mad at myself...
Profession is that thing that puts bread on the table. With European payment practices of 45-60 and even 90 days there is a big chance that your first money for the job you may get tomorrow will arrive no earlier than by the end of March. Therefore, before anything else - do you have the money to live on? Do... See more Got an assignment or just graduated and "officially" declared yourself a professional freelance translator?
I'm so down-to-Earth that at times I'm mad at myself...
Profession is that thing that puts bread on the table. With European payment practices of 45-60 and even 90 days there is a big chance that your first money for the job you may get tomorrow will arrive no earlier than by the end of March. Therefore, before anything else - do you have the money to live on? Do you have any coming payments for translation or any other job? Do you have the luxury to just wait for bigger fish and/or the responses from hundreds of agencies, that may come in 1-digit numbers and not within 48 hours?
You do not have to answer to me or the rest of the world, I understand that this is all very personal, but you must to yourself.
As much as I hate to think about low rates, I don't believe that the rates can not be raised in future, at least with different clients. You can't harm the market any more than it has been already:-) Or, unless you have other sources of income, you may need to get a day job until the tide turns and you'll nail it at last and get paid for your first serious job.
It's true that luck plays a huge role in the translator's life.
Good luck!
Irina ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 00:48
French to English
patransword wrote:
About providing "perfect" translations - I think this is a tricky word to use in any context. I don't consider my own work to be perfect, however I stand by my work and say that I deliver a high-quality product. A perfect translation - does it exist? This reminds me of university and picking published translations apart - what is good, when did the translator go too far, not far enough? It doesn't matter how long I have for a specific project - if I read it over again, there will be always something else to change...
Yes at some point it becomes purely subjective.
| | | | Quentin NEVEN
Belgium
Local time: 00:48
Member (Jan 2024)
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks to everybody | Jan 23 |
Hi,
Thanks for your advice, I will focus on my specialties.
To Patransword : Well, I want to give a solid chance to being an independant translator, but if I see it's not feasible financially, then I will try with an agency.
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Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 00:48
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| The State of the Translation Industry | Jan 24 |
It is my distinct impression that AI is both changing the nature of our work and reducing the amount. That coupled with an always saturated supply makes the current situation less than desirable.
The strategy recommended by experienced professionals has always been to specialize. I think even that is being swallowed up by AI. I wasn't too concerned because I figured there would be more demand from the consequent lower prices. So far that doesn't seem to be the case.
Bot... See more It is my distinct impression that AI is both changing the nature of our work and reducing the amount. That coupled with an always saturated supply makes the current situation less than desirable.
The strategy recommended by experienced professionals has always been to specialize. I think even that is being swallowed up by AI. I wasn't too concerned because I figured there would be more demand from the consequent lower prices. So far that doesn't seem to be the case.
Bottom line: many will be squeezed out of the profession. Plan accordingly. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:48
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Kay Denney wrote:
patransword wrote:
About providing "perfect" translations - I think this is a tricky word to use in any context. I don't consider my own work to be perfect, however I stand by my work and say that I deliver a high-quality product. A perfect translation - does it exist? This reminds me of university and picking published translations apart - what is good, when did the translator go too far, not far enough? It doesn't matter how long I have for a specific project - if I read it over again, there will be always something else to change...
Yes at some point it becomes purely subjective.
Yes- I'm scared to read back through my old translations. I always find something.
| | | | Quentin NEVEN
Belgium
Local time: 00:48
Member (Jan 2024)
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | The industry is changing | Jan 24 |
To Edward Potter:
Indeed, the industry is changing and we need to adapt to it.
On the positive side, I read several articles stating that translation is far from dying, in some sectors there is increasingly more demand. I sure hope it's true !
| | | | | No one? This forum never ceases to surprise! | Jan 24 |
So no one was going to tell OP that he's got two typos in the shortest of bios and why that is bad, especially for someone offering editing?
@OP joining proz.com at this point in the game means you are starting over in some way. If you wanted to pursue the career/job you were doing up to now, you wouldn't join proz.com. So, to an extent whether you have experience or not is secondary, like others pointed out, to how well you can do the job — which is all any good agency cares abou... See more So no one was going to tell OP that he's got two typos in the shortest of bios and why that is bad, especially for someone offering editing?
@OP joining proz.com at this point in the game means you are starting over in some way. If you wanted to pursue the career/job you were doing up to now, you wouldn't join proz.com. So, to an extent whether you have experience or not is secondary, like others pointed out, to how well you can do the job — which is all any good agency cares about.
The more an agency cares about everything other than giving you your first job and observing how you handle it and the quality of the output, the less work they will have to send your way anyway! Since they are too busy with bureaucracy and trying to turn a freelance collaborator into an employee they don't have to pay the benefits for, to do their one job: find work and handle translation projects efficiently and well.
1. Please fix the typos, your page at this moment looks like an amateur is trying to get translation work. There isn't much in the way of a selling point, but there are two typos in a very short text, and they are there for two day now, at least. At best, it looks like you don't care. Even if I assume you were just overwhelmed by this new business venture, two days is inexcusable, especially since you found time to participate in the forum but not fix your bio.
2. Beware of scammers, if the job looks too good to be true, it is. If the payment portal is obscure do not put your personal/bank details in, and if the practices of the outsourcer seem, as professional correspondence/onboarding goes, strange, stop all communication.
3. Just like Tom and the others said, do not make being cheap your competitive advantage, you will attract only the worst agencies and anyone with a professional bone in them will think you are not good enough to bother with. So, the route of 'I will charge half of what I should and just spend as little on the work as humanly possible' does not pay. Even the end clients who gravely underestimate the value of our work expect reasonably good output, they just want it at a low price. This is so, because some agencies do not take the time to educate them, fearing the clients will go somewhere else, not because these end clients will accept any quality of work.
Aim at excellence, and you will attract the best agencies, those unafraid to negotiate good rates both for themselves and their collaborators. The more the agency gets, the better translators/editors they can get since they have the budget to pay them reasonable rates.
Good luck! proz.com — for all its 90s and/or socialist boomer uncle shenanigans — does work. For someone who can't be bothered with any sort of office and/or corporate politics, actual politics,..., for someone who can't be bothered with anything really except doing good translation work and getting paid for it, this a place where you can do just that. So, give it at least a year before you decide how you are doing.
I wish you the best of luck!
Edit1: Came back to fix a typo, since aiming at excellence isn't about how many typos and/or errors we make, but rather about how many times we come back to the text and fix them.
Edit2: To be clear, OP, I am not saying you can't translate into English, not at this point anyway. I don't know enough to say anything of the sort. These read just like simple typos to me. Like you should just be more attentive and careful. So perhaps Elena is right, perhaps not, only you know that. I am not trying to discourage you from anything you are trying to do/offer, but I am trying to encourage you to be more careful with how you present the things you do offer.
[Edited at 2024-01-24 16:30 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 00:48
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| What are the two typos? | Jan 24 |
Japonese and the space before the exclamation mark? Both errors stem from French (this space is normal in French, Japonese is a baby between English and French word). I assume French is his native and the main working direction (into French).
I wouldn’t worry too much about this, common errors captured by all spell checkers.
| | | | Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 00:48
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
| There are many typos indeed! | Jan 24 |
Just don't translate into English and don't claim you're an English native speaker and you will survive
| | | | | No, you wouldn't worry too much about it! | Jan 24 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
Japonese and the space before the exclamation mark? Both errors stem from French (this space is normal in French, Japonese is a baby between English and French word). I assume French is his native and the main working direction (into French).
I wouldn’t worry too much about this, common errors captured by all spell checkers.
The OP should! Even not leaving the thread, you can see that he is offering translation into English as well, so what on earth are you on about?
The space isn't the other typo, that would make a third one. 'Thanks for this', where he was trying to say 'thanks to this' (a phrase too colloquial for a written bio, for my own taste in the first place, but at least it's a valid phrase in this context) is the other typo.
Are you trying to mock this man? It's a serious question! You wouldn't worry too much about three typos in the shortest of bios from someone claiming he can not only translate but edit other people's work?
*facepalm*
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