3 November 2013

Establishing the freelance translation work you do not want to do, and standing by your decision

I was reading The Entrepreneurial Linguist, by Judy and Dagmar Jenner, a couple of days ago. And they mention one step in freelance translation that I had not consciously thought of before: defining the work you do not want to do.

When I started freelancing, I pretty much tried everything that came my way. I worked for peanuts, for agencies where I knew I would not have a long- or even medium-term future, I took jobs that I did not like, jobs where I could not possibly be competitive and jobs where it took me forever to deliver a translation just to the best of my ability, and I generally made a point of never saying no to a potential client.

The good thing about such things, of course, is that it does not take you long to realize where you have gone wrong and redress course. It is all part of the learning curve, and I think I learned a lot relatively fast. However, I like the Jenners' approach: I wish I had done things the other way around and actually sat down to define in advance a few things I did not want to get involved in.

When they are starting out, freelance translators often do not even know the going rate for their business. Even when they find out, they don't have a clue of where to find clients willing to pay them that much, how large or small the market (their market) may be, where they stand in this new world they did not even know existed, and even where their relative strengths and weaknesses may lay. And the natural thing is to try things out, gradually (though hopefully fast) learn what works for you and stick to that as a platform for growth.

However, now that I am a stretch further along that path, I wish I had devoted a couple of hours of my life to establishing what I did not want to do and developing a series of bottom-line policies.

Setting a rate below which one will not work is very hard to do right at the start of your freelance career: you usually do not have all the data necessary to make an informed decision. However, it does not take more than a couple of months, and may take much less, to find out at least a few of the things you need to know. It is important for you to have the courage to act accordingly.

No one is saying that you should not retain some flexibility, but it would be foolish not to make the most of the opportunities that are out there for you if only you look for them. No one will hire you for 15 cents a word  if you will work for 3. And it is probably even true that no one worthwhile will hire you at all if the rates you set for yourself are ridiculously low. I still accept relatively low per-word rates occasionally, but only when I am certain that the job will be fast and painless and I can draw a decent hourly rate from it, and when I know the agency in question guarantees a healthy workflow, in terms both of work load and deadlines.

After about two months in the profession, I systematically turned down technical (cars, chemicals, and the like) and medical texts. They simply took me too long to research and left me seriously wondering whether I had actually done a good job rather than just a job. And, above all, I found I had no interest in pursuing them further so I might overcome my limitations and turn them into an area of specialization. It was never going to happen, and such translations and I were both better off without each other.

The Jenners talk about this as "non-specialization," and I find that, while freelance translators talk a lot about specialization, they do not give much attention to the opposite concept. For beginning freelance translators, non-specialization is in fact probably more important: specialization takes a long time, many years, but realizing what areas are out of bounds can probably be established within a few hours and save you many headaches.

By the way... the Jenners' book (for a taste, here is their blog, Translation Times) is explicitly written for people wishing to attract direct clients, which I am hoping to do. However, I would recommend portions of it for freelancers who work with agencies too: it provides some good insights on how to approach the business aspects of translation, particularly the assets that many of us hopefully have but are not consciously aware of.

8 comments:

  1. Great point made Veronica, thanks for sharing!

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  2. Thanks, Translationethics. I try to share what I learn along the way. There are some interesting things out there, and sometimes as a beginner one may either not find them or be too busy or overwhelmed to give them the serious thought that could in fact translate into a hop (or even a leap) forward in one's career. Hopefully my blog, yours and those of so many others make it easier and less lonely to grow as a freelancer.

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  3. I think this is really good advice, whatever freelance work you're doing. Such hard lessons to learn though!

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    1. It really is Emily, I was impressed when I read it in the Jenner sisters' book. I hadn't really thought about the non-specialization angle, and more generally about the things I specifically did not want for my freelance career, and I think it's healthy to give those a minute or two as well.

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  4. That is a good point. I am very clearly specialized and yet I still find myself getting offered translations outside of my favored areas. Whenever I do accept these kinds of jobs, maybe because work is slow or I feel like I should give that topic another shot, I end up regretting it because these translations are like pulling teeth. I'm also never comfortable with not being able to guarantee a really good translation.
    I hope your article will give me that final push to stay strong and stick to my specializations and just say no to the rest. It is part of having a strong, clear profile that you can refer these kinds of translations on to more suitable colleagues.

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    1. I know, Else. It's pretty hard to stay focused, particularly when you have too much time on your hands! The good thing is that we can keep on trying to get it right! ;) Maybe it works just as you say, and you really stop accepting the wrong translations the day you have enough of the good ones...

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  5. Many thanks for writing about our book, Veronica! We really appreciate it and are happy to hear that you find our advice helpful. Beyond the reasons you list, we also think that as linguists we have an ethical obligation to decline projects we aren't qualified for. Just like a family law attorney wouldn't tackle immigration law or a securities issue, translators who specialize in, say, marketing translations, should do a patent translation -- because they are not qualified and it's not fair to the client. Just another bit of food for thought.

    @Else: Yes, you can do it! Stick to your specialization. Just say no to things you are not qualified to do or even those you don't feel comfortable doing. It's the ethical and professional thing to do. :)

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    1. You're very welcome, Judy and Dagmar. I found lots of good things in your book, so I'm very happy to have the chance to say thank you this directly!!! I really liked the approach of taking charge of one's career and seeking to actively steer it to wherever one actually wants to go, rather than sit back and wonder why things don't just happen. Of course, things may in fact not happen according to plan, but deciding where one wants to go and choosing a route to get there are surely key responsibilities for any serious freelancer.

      Point taken on the ethics issue, of course. I take that as a given, but you are right that I should have mentioned it explicitly.

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