Saturday, November 3, 2007

Translators: Pearls of Wisdom

I know the only thing any of us really wants to read about is the 10 elusive, surefire steps that will enable us to secure and maintain a steady stream of clients. Or at least enough of them to put food on the table on a fairly regular basis.

If you hang out at any of the major translator sites, you have certainly already discovered the disconcerting fact that we seem to be divided into two major, and apparently fixed, castes. There are those proud few who maintain that they always have more than enough work, and not just any work, but work of the highest caliber and which always commands the most impressive rates.

And, when we, the not so lucky, ask for advice, tips, whatever, those privileged souls often respond to the rest of us untouchables as true Brahmins should. A bit of a sneer, perhaps a touch of patrician disdain, a curt reminder to “check the threads,” “search the site,” as those questions have been asked and answered so very many times before.

Yes, they have been answered many times [and asked many times, for the obvious reasons], and I would certainly counsel skimming through the many threads and articles. I would venture that one might find something useful [and by that I mean a pointer that wouldn’t be immediately obvious to a semi-articulate 4 year old] once every 20-30 pages.

Once you have managed to wade through all the “advice,” you will learn that you should specialize [and that tends to mean legal, financial, medical, engineering, IT and fields of similar ilk]; your profile pages and CVs should be professional, comprehensive and up to date; if you are going to inundate the universe of agencies with your CV, you should at least take the time to be sure they are interested in your particular language pair and field; and, oh yes, be sure to register as a paying member at their translator site.

Um, sure, except perhaps the latter, given that translators starving for work might prefer, for the moment, to invest any excess funds in foodstuffs.

And do I have any pearls of my own, you might wonder?

Work. Translate. For free. There are thousands of organizations out there that are crying for translators, but they, like you, don’t have any spare cash. You will be doing a damn good thing, have an opportunity to practice and perfect your craft, add to your resume and get your name out. Not to mention being able to look yourself in the mirror in the morning.

Spend more quality online time. Fewer craigslist ads and more MySpace. Seriously. If you’re looking for bandwidth and depth, don’t waste your time posting ads. Network, as socially as possible. Start a scintillating blog, possibly in your “field.” Be interesting, make waves, have fun. I’ve had my own for several years, not this one, but another, where I have to use my nom de plume.

More pearls to come.

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