Translators: Cover Letters & First Impressions

Yes, sad, tedious, but ever so true: first impressions are everything, and in our business that means CVs.

But cover letters are even more primary.

Given the number of freelance translators from all over the entire globalized universe who are apparently applying to every single agency and for every single “solicited” translation project, what in the hell is a girl [or boy] to do?!

First, it should go without saying that your cover letter should be absolutely meticulous in terms of spelling, syntax and punctuation. After all, you are selling your communication and linguistic skills. Your primary goal, however, is to catch the recipient’s attention so they do in fact read it rather than throw it into some virtual dustbin along with most of the others they’ve received.

Then make sure that your letter is specifically tailored for the particular job or agency. I, for one, have close to a dozen carefully crafted, tuned and targeted cover letters at my constant disposal. Unless you’re one of those focused souls who has only ever worked, or will work, in one highly specific subspecialty, then you should have a cover letter to suit each of your fields, sub-fields, micro-fields...

And more. Beyond making sure that your cover letter is clearly suited to the specifics of the agency/project in question, you can also take the extra moment to emphasize another of your deeply relevant qualities. One way to discover the relevance of your numerous sterling qualities is to have a good look at the agency’s website. Once beyond the boiler-plate superlatives [yes, they have “offices” everywhere, employ only the finest of translators, will do absolutely anything, are incredibly cheap because they really don’t have any old-school physical offices, have a precious and uncanny grasp of all language cultures and so forth], you can often get a sense of what their real priorities are or at least how they see themselves.

Perhaps they fancy themselves lean and mean [as you are swift and flexible] or upscale and “professional” [emphasize your (pe)degrees] or sleek, cool and technologically supreme [bullet point all the CAT tools you have in your arsenal].

It’s a simple, but important, concept. Basically, you’re just taking the time to do exactly what you would do if it were a non-virtual job interview: sizing up the office, personnel and culture. By reflecting that back, even in a small way, you’re making an immediate, and hopefully memorable, connection.