Getting Started as a Freelance Translator

Posted on April 22, 2008
Filed Under Freelancing |

A freelancing service that is quick and inexpensive to implement, and that people rarely think of is offering services as a freelance translator. Of course you must have the skills to translate documents from one language to another first. Usually, you can start out as a freelance translator for several translation services agencies, and as your broaden your reach and expertise, you can launch out independently and build a client base.

Here are some points to consider if you want to offer translations as one of the services of your home based business:

Create a translator Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV). In the translator profession, you will see the CV mentioned quite a bit. A CV is like a resume except that it is not targeted for a specific goal or position. A CV will list all the credentials and translator experience you have and there will usually be no gaps in your overall history. A resume of course will omit information not required of the specific position. There are many more minor differences but you need one for your translator home based business as translation agencies will require it for their database when it comes to assigning you work.

Register your home based business profile on Proz.com and TranslatorsCafe.com. This article is not meant to be an endorsement of either one of these sites but they are a good place to start for the translator home based business. These are free directory services for translators. You can also purchase premium memberships that will help you get more job leads. It depends on what your budget is for your home based business and how you feel about paying to find work. Otherwise, listing your profile with each of them is free.

Always advertise as a translator into your native language and not the other way around. The translator in most cases can only translate into his or her target language. It is very rare that a translator can produce quality work in both the original and target languages yet you will see so many home based business translator ads that make these claims. The agencies (where you will get most of your work initially) know that the translator is usually best in the native language and that is the way you should advertise. This point refers to the individual translator and not the agency. The translation agency can of course advertise this way because it uses many home based business translators for each type of language it services.

Get a computer aided translator (CAT) tool for your freelancing business. These can be very expensive but in the long run you will be glad you did. Again, this is not an endorsement for any one product but TRADOS is a popular CAT tool. However if a CAT tool is going to throw your translator home based business budget into the red, you can use a free web-based translation tool like www.freetranslation.com to do an initial translation of your text. Realize that the free tools have limits like how much text at once you can translate.

Never deliver a translation completed by a CAT tool only. The translator is really like a writer too. This means that the translator must take the translation produced by a CAT tool and work it again to make it flow smoothly and be grammatically/technically correct. Nothing will give you a bad reputation faster for your translator home based business than delivering a translation done by computer only.
Pick a specialty area as a translator in your freelancing business. Just as writers cannot write everything about any subject, the translator should have a specialized area too. And this specialized area for the translator will of course be based on his or her education and experience.

Have a future plan for your freelance translating business to be a translation agency. When you first start out in your business as a freelance translator, the majority of your work will come from translation agencies who are the ones that get jobs from the primary clients (the customers). That means that the translation agency gets their cut of the fees paid and you get your cut but at a much lower percentage. As you get to know the field, investigate what it would take for you to convert your home based business into a translation agency down the road. You will make more money as a translator when you also become an agency.