I
don't have a "pretty pink” story to tell when it comes to describe what
brought me into the Freelance World. More than five years ago I was in a
situation when I had to try out (?)this market, and at the very beginning I
found it unwelcoming and unknown.
Different
people have different reasons when it comes to choosing this option. It's not
for everyone, but it became an option for me. So after 10 booming years in a career
as a technical translator for Oil and
Gas corporates, the "freelance shoes" seemed really small and
uncomfortable, but I was forced to try them on for size.
My first challenge was to learn to be become
American. Those who live in England know
what I mean by saying that. It is when you are no longer working for a
corporate company, but you are almost certainly competing with a giant market,
just like many others, for work. So you have to do whatever it takes to get
yourself known and put your name out there. So you are forced to learn how
to market yourself.
Five
years ago I knew almost nothing about self-marketing and my first steps were
rather awkward and clumsy. Yes, I had a ton of professional knowledge,
translation and interpreting skills, a BA (Hons) in Translation Studies and
professional membership with London Institute of Translation and Interpreting
in addition to valuable work experience. But I was simply not prepared for the
reality of the Freelance World.
First,
I decided to register with translation
agencies in the UK and I found that most of them were vanishing away from the
market. YES, THE CREDIT CRUNCH MADE ITS DIRTY WORK!!! [angry smile] Yet, some
of them have survived and are still working.
Basically
I was sending my CV in English with a cover letter outlining my linguistic services and then copied and
pasted them to thousand emails I found on www.translatorscafe.com
or www.proz.com.
Most of them ignored me, some of them wanted me to do large test pieces for
free, others responded negatively, and maybe two or three agencies out of
thousands would call me back with a request for translation services. At some
point I felt frustrated and was about to give up my freelance career for
good.
However,
I found that hundreds of thousands of translation opportunities do exist and
anyone can become a part of them.
Many people would think that being a freelancer
means a lot of freedom. Yes, it can set you free from commuting to work,
parking charges and travel expenses, and it can make you your own boss. But you
need to be on top of everything in order to be successful, and time management
is key.
Many people forget that becoming a freelancer means
you give up a fixed wage, pension, workmates and paid holiday leave. Are you
happy to leave all these things? You may want to think twice.
Another thing you should consider – rates. You will
find that this is a very difficult subject of conversation for most
pro-freelancers. Many freelancers criticize low-quality translators for dragging pay
rates down. It happens only because most clients do not understand the nature
of the work. Most of people believe if you speak another language then you can immediately work as a translator. Well... I
have to admit there is a market for low quality translations, but those
resources do not stay for long in this market and never get returning
customers.
There
are lots of websites for freelancers where rates are competitive but the
majority of successful bids don't go to the cheapest bidder. Clients still want
a good job done so they look at the quality of your work. For this, I would recommend to have samples of your
work.
If you think you are ready to become one of us, you
probably should consider several things. Remember you don’t work for a company,
you are the company. Forget about sick leave, you are no longer entitled to
them. Your working hours are not fixed; you are not an early bird or an owl.
You should be prepared to work for any person or company, and they could have
different hours for business. Be aware of your computer, check e-mails, and
keep your phone charged. Every job is your calling card, every day is a new
beginning, and you’re only as good as your last job. You
can even tattoo this somewhere on your body to remember.
Learn
new skills, because from now you are your own manager, accountant, marketing
specialist and secretary. Yes, you can outsource everything you are not good
at, but whatever you need to know in order to bring more work to you, you have
to deal with. Forget those stories about work and life balance; you will never
get it until you get work-work balance right. You should always think about
getting more work NOW, so you aim yourself towards getting more work. Check
your diary and look, if you have more gaps where paid work should be you need
to plan what to do with that time. Plan today, tomorrow, next week, month and
year...
And remember “If you want to make God laugh, tell him
your plans.”
Most
of my tips would seem very simple and common sense, but they could be a key towards
a successful story in the freelancing business.
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