How to express experience from direct clients Thread poster: Jonatas Ribeiro de Andrade
|
|---|
Hello, I'm just beginning here at Proz  . I've worked for 6 years translating as a part-time job during college and graduate school. I've had many clients but they were all direct. I reached them via flyers. Now I'm beginning to translate full-time and I don't know how to put this experience in my CV. Any tips?
Also, I would like to know what would be a good rate for Portuguese < > English for someone beginning here. (... See more Hello, I'm just beginning here at Proz . I've worked for 6 years translating as a part-time job during college and graduate school. I've had many clients but they were all direct. I reached them via flyers. Now I'm beginning to translate full-time and I don't know how to put this experience in my CV. Any tips?
Also, I would like to know what would be a good rate for Portuguese < > English for someone beginning here. (I'm used to charge 0.03 - 0.05 USD)
Thank you!
_____
Olá, eu estou começando aqui no Proz . Trabalhei traduzindo por 6 anos meio período enquanto fazia faculdade e mestrado. Fiz vários trabalhos mas todos para clientes diretos. Eu colocava cartazes nos departamentos, etc. Agora estou começando a traduzir em tempo integral e não sei como colocar essa experiência no CV. Alguém pode me ajudar?
Também tenho dúvidas sobre as taxas por palavra para Português < > Inglês para quem está começando aqui. (Costumo cobrar 0,03 - 0,05 USD)
Obrigado! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marcella Marino 
Italy
Local time: 05:44
Member (2016)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Ask for reference | Jan 6, 2018 |
Hi Jonatas,
I think you can ask your clients if you can disclose their names on your CV, so that this can work as a reference for future potential customers.
Hope to help!
| | | |
If your direct clients sell or distribute whatever you translated for them, and they give you permission, IMO it is okay to mention their company names in your CV, web site, etc. I'm thinking of books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, catalogs, manuals, etc.
However if you translated internal materials, such as policy manuals, procedures, reports, business plans, patent applications, etc. I'd think it is best to mention them as generically as possible. Some organizations are over... See more If your direct clients sell or distribute whatever you translated for them, and they give you permission, IMO it is okay to mention their company names in your CV, web site, etc. I'm thinking of books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, catalogs, manuals, etc.
However if you translated internal materials, such as policy manuals, procedures, reports, business plans, patent applications, etc. I'd think it is best to mention them as generically as possible. Some organizations are overly paranoid about the possibility of their confidential or proprietary information leaking.
This happened to me several decades ago, so I can mention it. At a certain time, I was translating the details of new security procedures adopted by two competing credit card companies. If either one knew I was doing it for the other, they'd seek another translator. Yet the experience I accrued from one was quite useful to get the other's job done faster, though they were technically different. If either one leaked, that would make fraud easier, thwarting the whole intent of implementing it.
Regarding rates, at least in our common pair EN-PT, I think yours are quite low. I've seen people working at this price level and delivering translations that are quality-wise, at best, equivalent to free online Google Translate's, though the flaws differ in their nature.
It's a balancing act.
First it's a matter of avoiding waste. If your quality is high and your price is low, it will be a waste of your talent, skill, whatever. If your quality is low and your price is high, it will be a waste of the client's money.
Seen from another angle, if your price is low, this is a magnet for attracting clients. You'll easily get all your available time taken up with assignments, but perhaps your total income will be limited to a figure that is lower than what you'd like it to be. If your price is high, you'll have fewer - albeit better-paying - jobs, possibly more idle time, which you can sell at a lower rate when the turnaround time required is longer.
So you have the task of finding that "sweet spot" that will balance your workload (aka demand) and your income. One initial reference could be the Proz Community Rates. Use it with a grain of salt, though, because these are the Prozians' stated rates, not necessarily what they accept when offered. Aim at reaching your balance. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | CV suggestions - group accoding to transferable skills and/or according to business knowledge | Jan 6, 2018 |
I suggest that you think in terms of fields of expertise. For example, if you have worked for a couple of law firms, or for companies where you have translated contracts, terms and conditions, etc., that could all go under "legal", as follows:
Experience
Legal : contracts, terms and conditions, etc.
Your CV is for potential clients. You need to emphasize what are called "transferable skills". If you have gained experience in a particular field, but across... See more I suggest that you think in terms of fields of expertise. For example, if you have worked for a couple of law firms, or for companies where you have translated contracts, terms and conditions, etc., that could all go under "legal", as follows:
Experience
Legal : contracts, terms and conditions, etc.
Your CV is for potential clients. You need to emphasize what are called "transferable skills". If you have gained experience in a particular field, but across a wide range of fields, that too is valid field knowledge for potential clients in the same type of business. In that case, you might present it thus:
Experience
Nautical, maritime : contracts, terms and conditions, insurance, composite materials and techniques, etc.
These are just suggestions. So you can group your skills by specific business knowledge and then the type of documents you have translated, or the other way round, stating the type of documents first, then the types of business fields of application.
Many CVs are a mixture of both. You have to be careful when citing names of clients though. Potential clients may not have a good opinion of one of the companies you name. They may also not want to use the same translator as a competitor. So without you knowing, it may be counter-productive to name your clients.
I don't do so - also for confidentiality reasons - but I do have a couple of long-standing clients who are alwyas happy to provide a reference should I need one.
On the matter of rates, there is a section on rates on this site that you will be able to find through the search tool.
[Edited at 2018-01-06 14:24 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 23:44
English to Spanish
+ ...
Jonatas Ribeiro wrote: Hello, I'm just beginning here at Proz . I've worked for 6 years translating as a part-time job during college and graduate school. I've had many clients but they were all direct. I reached them via flyers. Now I'm beginning to translate full-time and I don't know how to put this experience in my CV. Any tips? Also, I would like to know what would be a good rate for Portuguese < > English for someone beginning here. (I'm used to charge 0.03 - 0.05 USD) Thank you! _____ Olá, eu estou começando aqui no Proz . Trabalhei traduzindo por 6 anos meio período enquanto fazia faculdade e mestrado. Fiz vários trabalhos mas todos para clientes diretos. Eu colocava cartazes nos departamentos, etc. Agora estou começando a traduzir em tempo integral e não sei como colocar essa experiência no CV. Alguém pode me ajudar? Também tenho dúvidas sobre as taxas por palavra para Português < > Inglês para quem está começando aqui. (Costumo cobrar 0,03 - 0,05 USD) Obrigado!
Oi, Jonatas, bem vindo ao foro de tradutores.
And now I'm switching to English. It's Saturday and I barely had my coffee.
Others have given you very good advice. To me, it depends on the size of the direct client (was it a company? Use their name; was it an individual: you can't use their name on a CV). Also on the nature of the translation job. An example:
2012-2015 -- Completed 17 translation projects, mostly academic papers and articles, for a number of professors at University of [insert name].
OR
2011-2016 -- Performed translations in the fields of economics and family law for [name of company here].
If your translations involved web articles or anything that ended up published on the Internet, you have no need to ask for permission but be certain to use the proper accreditation. Example:
2009 - Portuguese translation of "The pendulum swings again in Brazil's economy," published on http://www.BRNews.com/2009/148001
One of the best ways to find out what rates to charge is to call or write to a number of translation agencies and ask them what they're offering to pay a seasoned translator in your language pair.
Boa sorte!
| | | | | Thank you all! | Jan 6, 2018 |
Thank you all for the input! I'll be working in my CV.
Grazie a tutti!
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » How to express experience from direct clients | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
| | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
