Sarah's Archives

an archive of content from ≈ 2005 - 2015, relating to international business, translation, freelancing, and working online.

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Being a translator should be hard

by Sarah Dillon

Hard Work...One of the best perks in my former role as a Director of eCPD, the online training provider for translators, was that I got to attend some truly fantastic talks by the most interesting, inspiring and successful people in our profession.

So I was buzzed when I heard Judy Jenner, blogger at Translation Times and co-author of The Entrepreneurial Linguist, emphasise that building and growing a business is hard, and that freelance translators and interpreters need to expect it to be that way.

Yet not many translators (and dare I say it, even fewer interpreters I meet) seem to grasp this.

[Read more…]

Last updated: 26 October, 2011 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Business of translation, Marketing for language professionals, Starting up in translation Tagged With: career development, Professional development, sustaining your career

Getting over the hump. Or: long-term career development for translators

by Sarah Dillon

spring
One of the best things about being a freelance translator is that it is entirely up to you how your career develops. I’ve always found that very empowering. But of course, one of the worst things about being a freelance translator is that it is entirely up to you how your career develops. It’s not always easy to handle that degree of choice.

Jed Schmidt, the original globe-trotting translator, says that translators have three options when it comes to developing long-term careers in translation. They can go deep, and immerse themselves so thoroughly in a particular area they become the go-to translator for that niche. They can go wide, and expand into providing other translation-related services. Or they can go fish: leave translation itself behind but move into a job that is still part of the wider translation industry. [Read more…]

Last updated: 9 February, 2011 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Moi, Professional development, Translation profession and industry Tagged With: career development

Turning the tide: freelancers returning to salaried work

by Sarah Dillon

I’ve spoken before about how I wonder what might happen if I were to return to traditional employment. How much of a shock would it be to my system? What would I have to do to help make it work for me again?

An interesting discussion is taking place on this very issue over at Freelance Switch, following Raj Dash’s article Can Freelancers Return To Salaried Work. Raj raises some potential pitfalls that I’d not even considered, and as usual, the comments and experience-sharing in the comments section proves just as valuable as the (excellent) article itself. Worth checking out.

Has anyone heard of experienced freelance translators who have returned to employment? Or any studies or articles looking into this?

Last updated: 16 July, 2008 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Business of translation Tagged With: can you help?, career development, freelancing