When it comes to freelancing it’s always worth considering a range of opinions, because each freelance experience is as different as the person who has it. So, as it’s basically the polar opposite to mine, I was really interested to read The Masked Translator’s advice to start-up translators regarding professional associations recently. We’ve clearly had very different experiences here and I don’t agree with all the views expressed in this post. In particular, the following point stood out for me:

If you’re just starting out and you want to be a translator, be sure you don’t take peoples’ advice too seriously without analyzing their motives in giving you the advice. [my emphasis]

Now, I’m all for assessing the value of advice and weighing things up to suit your own particular circumstances. And there’s no doubt that it would be pretty foolish to accept all claims made by vendors, for example, without digging a little deeper (caveat emptor applies to B2B too). However, I’m not (yet?) quite as cynical as the MT, so would probably modify this statement slightly: instead of getting hung up why someone is giving you advice, accept their advice and try to analyse the translation profession from their perspective instead – what is the reasoning behind their beliefs? Why might they feel the way they do? Taking this tack might mean you gain a better understanding of the industry overall and maybe even feel less bitter about it too.

For example, when I first started mixing with translators with a view to going freelance, at first it felt like a lot of translators I spoke to were trying to put me off. Many said there was little or no work due to globalisation and a flood of “bad” translators, that it was no longer possible to earn a decent living because of new translation technologies, or that you had to have many years of inhouse experience under your belt before going freelance. It would have been easy to draw a range of conclusions based on all of this – translation is a bad area to go into, translators are unsupportive, translators don’t want more translators in the profession, I won’t be able to earn an living, and so on.

But I didn’t really believe that any of these conclusions were true – partly because of my own sense of cynicism, but also partly because it just didn’t make sense to me. Surely globalisation would mean there were more opportunities for translators, not fewer? If there were so many “bad” translators out there, couldn’t I differentiate myself by being “good”? Couldn’t translation technologies benefit me as a translator too, as well as agencies and clients? and so on.

So I started to think about what must be happening to make them say and apparently genuinely believe these things, and this helped me get something from even the most negative of advice. Like this:

Yes, new technologies have meant a massive change in the way translators work on a daily basis – but as a newcomer to the profession, I don’t know how it was before, so I can more easily accept these changes. Yes, it used to be that the only route to freelancing was via many years of inhouse experience – but the world of work is changing and there are no traditional routes or roadmaps into anything anymore. And yes, globalisation is having an impact on how translators work and interact with clients – but I’m comfortable with this kind of change and believe I can make it work for me… etc. You get the idea.

Because whether we like to admit it or not, the chances are that any person who helps you has something to gain from it. And why shouldn’t they? Maybe it’s money, or an inflated sense of self-importance, or just a warm fuzzy feeling or a sense of having paid it forward. You might never know the reason, so why beat yourself up about it? Why not accept the advice that’s being offered and, instead of wondering why someone has tried to help you, put your mind to trying to understand *why* that person believes what they do instead.

Putting aside our differences of opinion around professional associations, I think The Masked Translator raises some other very good points in this post. So I’m going to finish with these words of advice, which are worth bearing in mind the next time you get advice:

Being a translator isn’t a one-size-fits-all sort of profession. Some freelance translators work only half time, some work way more than full time. Some work from home, some work from rented office space, some work from the beach or the café. Some only translate big projects like novels or 300 page technical manuals. Some only do small projects like diplomas and certificates. Some work in-house for companies or translation agencies. Some work on a contractual basis, doing documents for the government or a research institution. Some just dabble in translating poetry from languages they don’t even really speak. There are as many ways to be a translator as you can think of.

Here’s to being the same, but different!

Update May 2010: Note this does not constitute official information. Please check the relevant body for information on current requirements.

Here are a couple of things to bear in mind if you are thinking of working towards Chartered Linguist (translator) status, picked up at a training event I attended in London in early 2008. Remember, it’s still a relatively new process so it’s important to keep an eye on latest information as it’s released from the relevant professional bodies.

1. Not all translators should be chartered linguists.

A chartered linguist has to demonstrate:

1. a high level of competence e.g. by being a qualified member of the ITI or CIOL
2. a willingness to maintain their skills e.g. through ongoing, verified CPD and
3. a willingness to be reviewed by their peers e.g. at an interview stage of the chartered status process.

It’s a three-pronged approach, and if you’re not up to strictly following any of these three elements, no matter how good your reasons (and I can think of a few valid ones), then chartered linguist status is probably not for you. But that does not have to be a bad thing – remember, for all the hype, chartered status does NOT test your abilities as a translator, as you are not required to prove the quality of your work in any way. It is your qualified membership of a professional body that verifies this, and as such, being a chartered linguist is no better than being an MITI or MCIL. It’s just a compliment to these other professional qualifications.

2. Before applying, check if you could qualify for chartered status through any other body. In recognition of the realities of working life for a vast majority of translators in the UK, you don’t need to be a full-time translator to apply for chartered status. However, translation does need to be your main professional activity. So, say you’re a multilingual engineer who translates “on the side” for anything up to one or even two days a week, for example, then you may be better off looking into how you could become a chartered engineer instead. In fact, this would be an even better way to market your specialisms as a translator to agencies and could see you command the highest rates. If you’re desperate to prove your dedication to languages, then join the CIOL, wait for them to introduce the remaining two categories of chartered linguists and see if these will suit you better.

3. Don’t apply just because you meet the requirements now. You need to provide evidence of the volume of work carried out for the five years prior to your application (the “qualifying period”) in order to qualify initially, but then you’ll need to show evidence that you are maintaining these levels in future years to retain your registration. If your volume of work drops in any one year, you’ll need to have a good reason for this (e.g. parental leave) and be prepared to present it to the review panel for consideration. Otherwise you could find yourself spending a lot of money on a lengthy process, only to have to re-apply again in the future.

4. Starting out? Join the CIOL first. To prospective translators considering which professional body to join, I would say this: join the Chartered Institute of Linguists first, and concentrate on working towards meeting the requirements for qualified member status with them. To achieve chartered status, you must be a qualified member of one of three recognised professional associations in the UK. For translators, this means you need to be an MITI of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, OR an MCIL of the Institute of Linguists. Now, this gives the impression that these two levels of membership are equal when clearly they’re not. With a postgrad degree in translation, you can gain MCIL after one year’s professional experience in any job requiring the use of languages. MITI, on the other hand, requires a minimum of three years’ professional translation work following your postgrad, PLUS a pass in a professional assessment exam which is far from a walk in the park. Given you are required to apply for chartered status via the organisation you first joined, it makes sense to join the body through which it is easiest to achieve this. It’s an interesting little wrinkle in an otherwise well-thought out process, but not one that realistically could have been avoided for various political reasons.

5. If you’ve been shoddy on keeping CPD records, submit your application before 1 September 2009. There’s currently a sort of grace period in helping translators meet the requirements for CPD. Instead of having to present records for the 5 years prior to application, as is formally required, the admissions panel is currently considering applications with less than 3 years of records. So if you have 5 years’ full-time translation experience (or its equivalent in part-time experience), meet all the other requirements but haven’t kept your CPD details, then it’s worth pulling your socks up and getting an application in early. Incidentally, you are not expected to submit your actual CPD booklet – a page or so of A4 with a list of all your training is considered sufficient.

6. If you don’t live and/or work in the UK, chartered status may not be worth it. Chartered status is not legally recognised outside the UK, and it is not a form of government accreditation. Unlike in some countries such as Germany, there is no government accreditation for translators in this country. This is because the common law legal system does not allow for this (as opposed to civil law legal systems).

So good luck if you go for it! And I’d love to hear from anyone who has gone through the process – what they thought of it, the interview, toughest requirements to meet, etc. Get in touch at sarah at dillonslattery dot com.

11.02.08: edited for clarity

30.01.2011: edited for clarity

Most would-be translators find online translation communities such as Proz or Translators Café pretty early on in their career. They fill out the necessary forms, create the relevant profiles and spend hours lurking on the discussion boards.

But I’m always surprised at how few students and career starters join a proper association for professional translators, such as the American Translators Association, or the UK’s Institute of Translation and Interpreting. (See here for a lengthy list of options worldwide.)

I appreciate that the application process is decidedly offline compared to the online communities, and I know it’s not easy to contact colleagues for references. But really, nothing worth having is easy.

These associations are in a league of their own when it comes to honing your craft and engaging with the profession. They usually do a pretty good job of outlining the key benefits of membership for themselves (see examples here, here and here), but there are other benefits which are not quite as obvious. For example:

• Being accepted for membership gives you a sense of validation. This is because professional bodies often (and quite rightly) have demanding membership requirements. When you meet them, it can give your confidence a well-deserved and very welcome boost. Also, while the extra letters after your name won’t necessarily impress your clients (see proviso below), they may give you a little extra kudos among family and friends who don’t really believe that working from home is real work at all.

• Membership is valued by exactly the kind of clients you want – that is, those who are aware of what it means to be a translator, and are therefore more likely to be prepared to pay a fair rate for your services.

• It’s a great way to build relationships with other translators. There’s a lot more value in this than you might think. After word of mouth, my second most important source of work has been other translators. It’s a welcome surprise to see how willing others are to pass work your way and give you a chance to prove yourself. Even more satisfying is the feeling you get when you are in a position to pay it back and do the same for other translators.

• You have instant access to a vast body of experts. No matter what translation, business or freelance-related problem you are facing, chances are you have access to someone who has already been through it and is more than happy to offer advice. Even better, it is often country and/ or language specific – invaluable when it comes to sorting out your tax or banking issues, for example. And as membership is restricted, information shared is likely to be a lot more reliable and transparent than you might find in a public forum.

• Professional bodies can be good for your social life. Freelance translation is a pretty solitary pursuit. If meeting people is a top priority for you, then joining a translation association probably isn’t the only thing you should do to help with this. You may have to travel long distances to attend events, some associations are more active than others, and each group is will be as different as the people in it. Saying that, I often see recently established translators quickly absorbed into the social scene of their local networks. Over time, these connections can be invaluable.

If you’re serious about being a translator, joining a proper professional association is a must.