| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: In your view, which is the main barrier to a rewarding career as an independent professional? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In your view, which is the main barrier to a rewarding career as an independent professional?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Lieven Malaise 
Belgium
Local time: 17:41
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
You. Yourself. That's the main barrier. All named barriers in the poll can be overcome, provided you have what it takes to make it as an independent professional: talent, common sense, commercial feeling, adaptability and flexibility, perseverance, etcetera.
| | | |
Surprised by the answers
I find working from home extremely isolating
I miss working at an office
In modern society, many people forge many, or most, of their friendships through work
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 17:41
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Justin Peterson wrote:
Surprised by the answers
I find working from home extremely isolating
I think you would find a lot of translators who don't mind the isolation one bit, just because it's in their nature (I, for example, am one of them).
As far as my friendships are concerned, apart from a few exceptions almost everyone of them dates back to my youth (from my childhood up to and including my college years). I remember having a few nice colleagues during my 5-year inhouse position, but I wasn't even interested in forging new friendships there.
| | |
|
|
|
| You wouldn't... | Nov 25, 2024 |
Justin Peterson wrote:
Surprised by the answers
I find working from home extremely isolating
I miss working at an office
In modern society, many people forge many, or most, of their friendships through work
convince me to get back to office work not even for 5x the money I make now from the "isolation" of my home.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 17:41
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Gianni Pastore wrote:
convince me to get back to office work not even for 5x the money I make now from the "isolation" of my home.
I agree that it would have to take a considerable amount of extra money to convince me to go back to office work, but 5x might do it. 😂
| | | | | All of the above? | Nov 25, 2024 |
When I was a lot younger, I worked on an in-house translation team, each in his/hers office (I was the one who had a coffee machine, so I was visited a lot by my colleagues). I learned a lot from them and we had fun. The money was very good (over 5x). Sometimes I do miss the camaraderie and interaction one gets from having your peers around, but I definitely prefer working on my own and being left to my own devices.
| | | | IrinaN (X)
United States
Local time: 10:41
English to Russian
+ ...
Initial conditions.
With all due respect, experienced colleagues feeding off of their 20+ years of luck and glory in the previous life are not being honest with the newcomers.
| | |
|
|
|
CasaPhil
Spain
Local time: 17:41
Member
English to French
+ ...
If there is no competition, but a lot of demand for your services, you set the prices and choose who you work with. You earn a few hundred grand a year, spend them wisely and retire at 40 to spend your time as you wish and learn stuff.
This would have been rewarding.
Philippe
EDIT: To start a rewarding career on the right foot, I must first find or create a space without any competition!
[Edited at 2024-11-25 16:18 GMT]
| | | | | Where is the disagree button? | Nov 25, 2024 |
Justin Peterson wrote:
Surprised by the answers
I find working from home extremely isolating
I miss working at an office
In modern society, many people forge many, or most, of their friendships through work
I think there was a "disagree" button here on the forums a few years ago. Why did it disappear?
| | | | Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 11:41
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Increasingly lower rates, a harbinger of things to keep coming | Nov 25, 2024 |
I recently told an online audience of translators during a presentation that I would have picked a secondary career alongside translation to ensure a better future. One can no longer live by translation alone.
30+ years ago, translators in New York City were complaining about lower rates. Back then, Arabic/Japanese translators could still charge USD $0.18/0.20 comfortably per word. Most European languages would charge $0.15-0.20 (the most experienced translators, that is). Novice tr... See more I recently told an online audience of translators during a presentation that I would have picked a secondary career alongside translation to ensure a better future. One can no longer live by translation alone.
30+ years ago, translators in New York City were complaining about lower rates. Back then, Arabic/Japanese translators could still charge USD $0.18/0.20 comfortably per word. Most European languages would charge $0.15-0.20 (the most experienced translators, that is). Novice translators like myself were paid $0.08/word without haggling. Those days are mostly gone.
Some years ago, I knew I could not support a family, just barely myself, working as a full-time freelance translator. And I'm not the only one. But ours is not the only profession being accosted by globalization and lower rates; ask graphic designers, lawyers, typographers, paralegals, technical writers. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Becca Resnik
United States
Local time: 11:41
German to English
+ ...
Mario Chávez wrote:
One can no longer live by translation alone.
I still earn more now from translation alone than I did as an engineer.
| | |
|
|
|
Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 11:41
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Not true for you perhaps | Nov 26, 2024 |
Before jumping to conclusions, consider some of these factors:
1) What country or country areas/cities drove you to think that working solely as a freelance translator was not enough to make a living?
2) What language pairs were/are you working with?
3) What specializations were/are you working with?
... See more Before jumping to conclusions, consider some of these factors:
1) What country or country areas/cities drove you to think that working solely as a freelance translator was not enough to make a living?
2) What language pairs were/are you working with?
3) What specializations were/are you working with?
Plus, what area of engineering were you in? There are dozens of different types of engineering but you don't see me lumping you with the rest.
In this world, not everybody lives under the same economic system, or exchange rate, currency, cost of living or personal circumstances. A less equitable colleague would call attention to your rather reductive statement.
MC
Becca Resnik wrote:
Mario Chávez wrote:
One can no longer live by translation alone.
I still earn more now from translation alone than I did as an engineer. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 11:41
English to Spanish
+ ...
You raised a good point; if there were no competition things would go our way.
For instance, the English-to-Spanish language pair is overcrowded with translators of every caliber and bilingual individuals and professionals. Other language pair are seeing the same glut of offer.
MC
Philippe Etienne wrote:
If there is no competition, but a lot of demand for your services, you set the prices and choose who you work with. You earn a few hundred grand a year, spend them wisely and retire at 40 to spend your time as you wish and learn stuff.
This would have been rewarding.
Philippe
EDIT: To start a rewarding career on the right foot, I must first find or create a space without any competition!
[Edited at 2024-11-25 16:18 GMT]
| | | | Becca Resnik
United States
Local time: 11:41
German to English
+ ...
| False interpretation | Nov 26, 2024 |
Mario Chávez wrote:
...your rather reductive statement.
MC
Becca Resnik wrote:
Mario Chávez wrote:
One can no longer live by translation alone.
I still earn more now from translation alone than I did as an engineer.
By definition, it is virtually impossible for a statement beginning with "I" and including no reference to others to be reductive. On the contrary, your statement was reductive. You said "one no longer live by translation alone." All I said was that that is not true. I made no claim that *everyone* can live by translation alone. You said X can't be done, but X can be. The latter is the only point I was making.
(Edited for conciseness, and because I accidentally bumped "Update post" the first time.)
[Edited at 2024-11-26 04:12 GMT]
[Edited at 2024-11-26 04:15 GMT]
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: In your view, which is the main barrier to a rewarding career as an independent professional? | LinguaCore | AI Translation at Your Fingertips
The underlying LLM technology of LinguaCore offers AI translations of unprecedented quality. Quick and simple. Add a human linguistic review at the end for expert-level quality at a fraction of the cost and time.
More info » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
