| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | How did you know when you were ready to freelance? Thread poster: Anabel Martínez
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Parrot 
Spain
Local time: 19:17
Spanish to English
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| Tax returns/time invested | Oct 11, 2005 |
A surefire formula is to count in terms of hours spent at whatever vs. percentage of income deriving therefrom.
It really becomes convincing when you see that 50% of your income is coming from an activity to which you devote 25% of your time. Considering Spanish salary ranges, that usually comes very soon.
Mandatory SS is a big bogey in Spain, but you should qualify for discounts on several counts [firs... See more
| | | | Nicolette Ri (X)
Local time: 19:17
French to Dutch
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When the first personal computers were sold, I knew that I could be at house and do the word processing work that I did in a translation agency on my own. For this I bought a brandnew IBM PC-XT, with one floppy disk drive (no hard disk!) and 256 kb of RAM, and a marvellous wheel printer which costed about 2.000 € (couldn't do DTP with a needle printer!). Six months later I needed a hard disk and updated the memory to 512 kb. According to the man who sold it, I never should need 640 kb as long ... See more When the first personal computers were sold, I knew that I could be at house and do the word processing work that I did in a translation agency on my own. For this I bought a brandnew IBM PC-XT, with one floppy disk drive (no hard disk!) and 256 kb of RAM, and a marvellous wheel printer which costed about 2.000 € (couldn't do DTP with a needle printer!). Six months later I needed a hard disk and updated the memory to 512 kb. According to the man who sold it, I never should need 640 kb as long I was doing typewriting. For my work I had about six or seven non compatible software programs and spent years in passing other people's translations and tables from Word Perfect into Word and from Wordstar into Visio, IBM's wordprocesser. There was even a program that could not accept more than three pages of text, so for 30 pages of text you needed 10 files. Later on I started translating, being a translator after all, and left lay-out to printing and copying houses. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anabel Martínez
Spain
Local time: 19:17
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks everyone! | Oct 11, 2005 |
Thanks to all of you for your valuable comments!
As Parrot says, here in Spain it's very tempting to go freelance once you see the gap between what one can earn working inhouse and as a freelance. For me, this is not the only reason, specially at first, but knowing that I do something that I like and I'm valued for that, which is not a very easy thing to achieve when you work with languages in this country (they expect you to master five languages and then you spend your day making ... See more Thanks to all of you for your valuable comments!
As Parrot says, here in Spain it's very tempting to go freelance once you see the gap between what one can earn working inhouse and as a freelance. For me, this is not the only reason, specially at first, but knowing that I do something that I like and I'm valued for that, which is not a very easy thing to achieve when you work with languages in this country (they expect you to master five languages and then you spend your day making coffee and, if you ask for a dictionary, they'll throw a look of suspicion at you, doubting your language skills). I'm really fed up with that, and I enjoy working for myself.
Still, I wonder if there comes a point in which you no can't go further while working inhouse and you need to go freelance in order to develop your career. For instance, now I put all my efforts in satisfying my clients with quality work, but then that means I have no time for invoices or marketing.
I'll probably take the risk and make the jump quite soon, and I'll take all your advice into account ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Translation fields vs. a fulltime freelancing | Oct 12, 2005 |
Dear Anabel and participants
what you're saying is really percious. I want to add a part to Anabel's question (if you would allow me Anabel). what if I excel in a certain field of translation but need experience in other fields? i.e: excellent in literary translation but almost with no experience in legal translation.
Actually I'm a fresh graduate but I have an experience of 1 year. I studied translation in college and I'm talanted. But I excel in literary translation and I c... See more Dear Anabel and participants
what you're saying is really percious. I want to add a part to Anabel's question (if you would allow me Anabel). what if I excel in a certain field of translation but need experience in other fields? i.e: excellent in literary translation but almost with no experience in legal translation.
Actually I'm a fresh graduate but I have an experience of 1 year. I studied translation in college and I'm talanted. But I excel in literary translation and I can compete a person of several years of experience in it. But coming to some specific fields, I'm not satisfied with my level and I prefer to avoid working in them.
Do you think I must have experience in these fields before I start to be a full-time freelancer? or let me concentrate in my field of excellence? or i will need to learn the other fields well so as to manage financially and have a good income?
Thanks Anabel, thanks everyone ▲ Collapse
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 19:17
Spanish to English
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| The human factor | Oct 12, 2005 |
Anabel Martínez wrote: Still, I wonder if there comes a point in which you no can't go further while working inhouse and you need to go freelance in order to develop your career. For instance, now I put all my efforts in satisfying my clients with quality work, but then that means I have no time for invoices or marketing. I'll probably take the risk and make the jump quite soon, and I'll take all your advice into account
One of my clients is on the Deusto mentoring program. As a fairly successful graduate, he gives in-house jobs-cum-training to senior students and fresh graduates (I don't think he asks them to make coffee, pro translators are of a different mind-set altogether). I'm always dealing with his trainees as PMs, but I've observed they all go between 1.5 and 3 years. If that's any help.
Of course, if you're respected as a professional, that's something of a motivation to stay longer.
Linda Ragheb wrote:
what if I excel in a certain field of translation but need experience in other fields? i.e: excellent in literary translation but almost with no experience in legal translation.
Actually I'm a fresh graduate but I have an experience of 1 year. I studied translation in college and I'm talanted. But I excel in literary translation and I can compete a person of several years of experience in it. But coming to some specific fields, I'm not satisfied with my level and I prefer to avoid working in them.
Do you think I must have experience in these fields before I start to be a full-time freelancer? or let me concentrate in my field of excellence? or i will need to learn the other fields well so as to manage financially and have a good income?
It's possible you may not have a choice. Many of us took on work in other fields, just to while away the waiting and build up a good specialist portfolio. Add to that the factor that literary translation doesn't pay as well as, say, technical, legal or medical. But if you can express yourself well in literary language, certain other things like marketing, tourism, etc., shouldn't pose a problem. What you are is a creative writer; make use of it. Remember, it's also a craft (like making pots). And the more you do it, the better you get at it.
Consequently, for some of us, literary translation is a Meryl Streep story - meaning, not going just for any script. It takes time to get the ones you really feel are worth your effort (and the price).
One good way to get over the initial nerves as a newbie in specialised fields is to agree to form part of a translation team in a large job. Where you falter, other colleagues will be pulling you up and giving you a hand.
| | | | Anabel Martínez
Spain
Local time: 19:17
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | So... I did it! | Oct 25, 2005 |
Dear colleagues,
Thanks so much for all your advice about going freelance. I just went freelance now, a couple of months before I was planning to do it, due to a good chance I found. I'll have steady work for tow months and then... The void! I'm quite scared, to be honest, but I hope I'll make it!
Best regards to all of you from a new full-time freelance!
Anabel
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