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Avoiding the famine: be ready for anything

by Sarah Dillon

Here is my list of things all freelance translators would ideally do to keep current in good times and in bad, inspired by Rowan Manahan‘s post So your job is under threat?

The idea behind this is that we shouldn’t wait for work to dry up before assembling the materials we need to showcase our skills, tempting as it is to let non-translation things slide when the words are flowing.

  • An up-to-date website. As Céline Graciet recently pointed out, as service providers and remote workers, our websites are our shop windows.
  • An up-to-date list of training and events attended to prove your skills are current.
  • A well-maintained network of colleagues in your field. The best time to build a network is well before you’re looking for business.
  • A list of client testimonials and references. Again, the best time to build your reputation is when times are good. (Plus they’re nice to review for a pat on the back every now and then.)
  • A clear view of your financial situation: what’s coming in, what’s going out, and what’s in the pipeline.

Anything else?

Interestingly, job-seeking expert Jason Alba said he felt like he was “cheating on his employer” if he tried to work on this safety net when he was happily employed. Maybe as freelancers we’re cheating ourselves if we don’t?

Last updated: 28 May, 2010 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Business of translation Tagged With: feast or famine, freelancing, workflow

Is freelancing freedom a myth?

by Sarah Dillon

Freelancing is great – the flexibility, freedom, autonomy and complete control over your own destiny… right?

That’s certainly what I believed when I started freelancing, and I still do to some degree. However I now realise that as freelancers, we only really simply swap one set of constraints for another.

Want to pay your bills? Make a decent living? Build your reputation? Well then you can’t do whatever you want, because there’s a relatively limited number of paths that you can conceivably follow to achieve these things.

You’re likely to swap your demanding boss for even more demanding clients. You may be even more at the mercy of random market forces. And getting things done in the absence of social pressure can be tricky, no matter how badly you want to.

I was reminded of this when I saw Julien Smith address on his blog how difficult it can be to get things done as a freelancer:

We’re like “Yeah, finally I have time to do what matters to ME,” but then we don’t do it because we think the freedom is what allows for progress. It isn’t.

He’s right. Sometimes the very things we find most constraining about our cubicles are the things that enable us to be most productive. Systems, social pressure and a routine that’s unforgiving of failure may just be what keeps us sharp.

Like everything it’s a trade-off. One set of constraints for another. And both bring freedoms too, in their own unique ways. The real question is, which set of constraints can you most easily live with?

Last updated: 12 May, 2010 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Working habits Tagged With: freedom, freelancing

Learning how to freelance

by Sarah Dillon

I Didn't See It Coming album cover

Logan Strain’s Four Reasons Why I Don’t Want To Be A Freelancer Anymore is not ideal fare for a Monday morning. In fact, it’s such a grim read it nearly had me weeping into my cornflakes. However it’s still worth a look because I believe the chances are that most freelancers are going to feel this way at some point in their career. (And forewarned is forearmed, after all.)

What makes this article especially worthy of a hat tip, in my opinion, are the tips, suggestions and even criticisms from other freelancers in response to Logan’s tale of woe. Like Mark Smallwood‘s gem:

…The key to freelancing is to learn how to freelance, not just how to perform the task you’re selling… It seems that many people who have authority problems decide that freelancing is the way out. Unfortunately, to be a successful freelancer, you’ll need to obey the authority of more than just a sucky boss at a regular job: you need to obey the requirement to get organized, pay taxes, sell yourself, spend a certain amount of time every day or week building your network and looking for new gigs, and last but not least, dealing with often unreasonable clients while keeping a smile on your face.

There are a couple of excellent points in there.

The best way that I know for translators to “learn how to freelance” is to enrol on the ITI’s Professional Support Group, an online course for translators trying to establish themselves as freelancers in the profession. The course comes highly recommended by translators from all kinds of backgrounds, education and experience levels, including yours truly (a proud participant on the very first course in 2002!) Expect to work hard and put in a minimum of 12 hours a week for the duration of the three to four month course. At £270 for intensive support from eight senior professional translator-tutors it represents incredibly good value for money, and that’s not an honour I bestow lightly. I believe there are also a limited number of bursaries available each year, so check out this page on how to apply and get in early – there’s usually a waiting list.

Image via Wikipedia

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Last updated: 21 July, 2008 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Business of translation Tagged With: freelancing, Institute of Translators and Interpreters

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

Portfolio careers deserve a closer look

by Sarah Dillon

business card wallFirst published July 2008
As new career structures go, portfolio careers are only slowly starting to get the airtime they deserve. Marci Alboher calls them slash careers, Michelle Goodman refers to them as patchwork paychecks – dressed up however you like, many of us are already living this way whether we realise it or not. Best of all, it’s a phenomenon that transcends the much-hyped generational gap and could see us all the way through the retirement. What’s not to love?

The term was first coined to describe the experiences of so-called third-age workers (i.e. broadly, those in their fifties to mid-seventies), many of whom were being forced out of more hierarchical career structures by ageism. There are lots of definitions of what it means to have a portfolio career today, but Monster.co.uk gives it an especially thorough rundown:

A portfolio career is the pursuit of more than one income source simultaneously, usually by applying the various skills you’ve developed throughout your career to different types of work…

Another portfolio career characteristic is that you’ll work at different rates. Some jobs will pay well and others won’t, but the lower-paying positions might be fun or offer intangible benefits, such as an opportunity to give back to your community.

You will also likely deal with a fluctuating income stream, which you can smooth by securing ongoing part-time contracts. Alone, these contracts might not be enough, but when added to other contracts and jobs, they should give you enough to live on.

So where does being self-employed come into it? And are all freelancers portfolio workers?

This is not just a CV-friendly way of describing those stretches when you’ve held down more than one part-time job, I’m afraid – student/waiter/bartender doesn’t really cut it. Even when employed, i.e. holding down a paid part-time position, portfolio workers are usually self-employed too. This may be by virtue of the kinds of roles they take on and/or for tax purposes. Ultimately, they have a greater degree of autonomy and control over their work and have made a conscious decision to make a career out of pursuing multiple income streams. So portfolio workers tend to be freelancers too, although depending on the degree of variety among their work providers, it can be said that freelancers are not necessarily portfolio workers.

The obligatory either/or perspective

From a wider industry perspective, there seem to be two clear camps when it comes to viewing a portfolio career: those who see it as a panacea for all our modern work woes, and those who see it as yet another way to get away with paying less than the minimum wage. Stephen Overell from Personnel Today summed this up nicely when he said:

Normally, there are two camps. The first – shared by loaded downshifters and a certain type of gormless, grinning management expert – is that portfolio working is all about choice. They will tell you its about opting out of the soul-deadening rat race, doing your own thing, freedom, becoming ‘me plc’, and so on. The other camp – inhabited by melancholy economists and anxious liberals – is that portfolio work is better explained by lack-of-choice. Satisfactory employment options dip in certain sectors of the economy, and the lonely, itinerant ranks of portfolio workers witness a corresponding rise.

In fact, in some quarters it’s even considered bad for your mortal soul. In a 2004 interview with the Times, the Archbishop of Canterbury linked portfolio working with an inability to hold down relationships and a lack of integrity, saying that it destroyed the quality of human interactions. Dramatic claims indeed, so don’t say you weren’t warned.

It’s probably fair to say the reality is a little less black and white. Clearly, a portfolio career is not for everyone but for those who are prepared to make a go of it, it can mean a rewarding and satisfying career path whatever your age.

Thanks to sensesmaybenumbed on Flickr for the photo of the business card wall.

Last updated: 14 July, 2008 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Business of translation Tagged With: freelancing, marci alboher, portfolio careers

Do Freelancers Do It Better?

by Sarah Dillon

If you’re thinking about taking the plunge to freelance, or are currently freelancing and wondering why you ever thought it was a good idea (it happens…), then have a look at this article called 101 Reasons Freelancers Do It Better.

Yes, I know there is no shortage of posts out there along this theme. But I like this one because it scratches just enough below the surface to convince me that it’s not another self-congratulating article written by freelancers for freelancers with the sole purpose of justifying their freelance existence. I also like it because it uses gentle humour to avoid the nah-nah-ne-nah-nah tone adopted by far too many of us who have been foolhardy/brave enough to escape the cubicle. Which is nice 🙂

It looks at the benefits of freelancing under several headings:

Time
Sticking it to the man
Money
Relationships
Mental health
Physical health
Motivation
Working conditions
Flexibility
Fun bits

Worth a read, whichever camp you fall into.

—
It was only on re-reading my post that I detected some not-very-veiled criticism directed towards the freelance community in general, and its attitudes towards our cubicle-dwelling brethren. Am I justified in this? Hmm, something to explore in future posts perhaps.

Blogging is great.

Last updated: 12 September, 2007 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Business of translation, Starting up in translation Tagged With: freelancing

Forget translation sites, check out Web Worker Daily

by Sarah Dillon

I’ve been reading lots of Web Worker Daily lately. If you’re serious about being a freelance translator, this blog will contain more useful information than all the translation sites in the world put together! (Oops, have I just shot myself in the foot with this recommendation?! No, just proved how genuinely I care for each and every one of my readers :)) Check it out, it’s great.

Last updated: 5 June, 2007 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Working habits Tagged With: freelancing, Starting up in translation

How to be a freelancer without starving

by Sarah Dillon

How timely. Penelope Trunk has just posted some tips on how NOT to starve as a freelancer over on Brazen Careerist. Check it out – she’s talking about her experiences as a freelance writer, but I reckon every one of her points applies to freelance translators too.

(And any aspiring Lynne Truss’s out there will enjoy the discussion taking place in the comments section)

Last updated: 17 April, 2007 by Sarah Dillon. Filed Under: Business of translation Tagged With: freelancing, money