| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9] > | Reflections on 2017, my first $US 100,000+ year from translation Thread poster: Dylan J Hartmann
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Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 14:53
Member (2016)
German to French
Chris S wrote:
... and what is bothering me here is that USD 100,000 seems universally to be considered an awful lot of money for a translator to earn.
Really?!
$50 per hour times 40 hours a week times 50 weeks a year makes $100,000.
And I wouldn't get out of bed for $50 an hour.
Just saying.
I would get out of bed for 40 USD an hour too
Seriously when you are a court translator and the state pays you 15,40 EUR per page without discount or an agency pays you hardly more per hour after all the supreme fuzzy discounts, this is hard to reach USD 50 an hour and get this 40 hours a week 50 weeks a year. Maybe, hopefully when i get older and only reach half of my hourly writing speed.
| | | | Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:53
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Fair enough... | Jan 25, 2018 |
Chris S wrote:
$50 per hour times 40 hours a week times 50 weeks a year makes $100,000.
...but I would prefer more than 2 weeks of holiday a year. Even when working in finance I got more time off than that.
I think the other issues are consistent (as opposed to lumpy) flows of work, consistent levels of energy and consistent levels of motivation to tackle it all. My impression is that most people have difficulty with getting enough work. These days I struggle more with motivation.
But if you're dedicated it is certainly possible.
Dan
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 13:53
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| There's a flaw | Jan 25, 2018 |
Chris S wrote:
$50 per hour times 40 hours a week times 50 weeks a year makes $100,000.
There's no way a freelancer can invoice for every hour in every day. There are certain processes that take up some of our time:
- client emails (maybe we invoice for those during projects but there are quote emails etc.)
- invoicing itself! plus the occasional payment-chasing episode
- keeping files in order, taking backups and other general housekeeping
- book-keeping
- marketing (more in the early stages of your career, but rarely zero)
- networking and just generally "staying in touch" (did you charge your clients for the time you took writing your post?)
and a million and one other things, including those that are more occasional, such as sickness and training periods.
That time spend should all be included in your rate per hour, so it does get accounted for. But you can't say that a 40-hour week is going to net you anywhere near 40 times your hourly rate.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 08:53
English to Spanish
+ ...
Chris S wrote: Mario Chavez wrote:
Maybe Australian English usage is very different to American English usage, but here when we say “I made it clear to someone” has connotations of clarity and emphasis, not affection or thankful recognition.
Maybe American English is very different to British English, but if we were to pounce on someone's choice of words for no reason at all and give them unsolicited advice on how to express gratitude and affection, our invitation to the vicar's next tea party might well get lost in the post.
Every time we write to share something, we are opening the door and inviting feedback but we can't control that feedback. Color it the way you want it but it's not unsolicited. It's like posting a picture of your best necktie on Instagram and accepting only congratulatory opinions. That would be a bit disingenuous or naive.
We Americans have a saying: If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
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| Point stands | Jan 25, 2018 |
Sheila Wilson and Dan Lucas wrote:
Some very sensible things
My 50x40x50 is only intended as a rough illustration! I'm not suggesting we have two weeks' holiday a year...
My point is that most people on this site claim to work way more than 40 hours and 50 weeks yet earn way less than 100k. Which is odd.
You'd expect a reasonably talented and established graduate (in the West at least) to earn more than $100,000 a year. So if you're not earning that as a reasonably talented and established translator working full-time, you must either be doing something wrong or be in the wrong business, no?
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:53
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Chris S wrote:
You'd expect a reasonably talented and established graduate (in the West at least) to earn more than $100,000 a year. So if you're not earning that as a reasonably talented and established translator working full-time, you must either be doing something wrong or be in the wrong business, no?
I would say that if you're reasonably talented, you're well above average, by definition. And therefore, there are probably not many such people about.
Having said that, I don't know what the median UK (or other developed nation) income for a graduate, say, 10 years or 20 years after graduation.
Dan
| | | | Stacy Evans
United States
Local time: 04:53
Spanish to English
| Thank you so much for sharing!! | Jan 26, 2018 |
Hi there DJ,
Thank you so much for leaving such an honest reflection of last years successes and sacrifices. The struggles and rewards that you so succinctly depicted are issues that we all face...everyday! Working at home can feel isolating, and I often find myself wondering how other translators experience their road to "success" or "failure". I appreciate that you didn't sugarcoat anything, either out of modesty or guilt, and I hope your post will inspire others to share their... See more Hi there DJ,
Thank you so much for leaving such an honest reflection of last years successes and sacrifices. The struggles and rewards that you so succinctly depicted are issues that we all face...everyday! Working at home can feel isolating, and I often find myself wondering how other translators experience their road to "success" or "failure". I appreciate that you didn't sugarcoat anything, either out of modesty or guilt, and I hope your post will inspire others to share their stories as well.
Best of luck to you, and I hope the lessons learned in 2017 assimilate into a happier, healthier, and productive 2018! ▲ Collapse
| | | | TonyTK
German to English
+ ...
| I agree with Stacy. | Jan 26, 2018 |
It's not necessarily easy to open up about the problems we face as one-man/woman businesses - and we can always learn from the stories of others. My take-away from DJ's original post is that it's not worth sacrificing your health to make more money.
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| | | Rates and mix | Jan 27, 2018 |
Thank you for this extremely rare and honest post sharing your experience! I wish there were more posts like this. And congratulations on hitting that very impressive figure.
I believe yours may be a one-in-a-thousand achievement among translators in Australia. A few years ago when I was working on a full-time job (not related to translation), I received a phone call one day from tax authorities regarding my GST returns, during the conversation I learned that normally translators a... See more Thank you for this extremely rare and honest post sharing your experience! I wish there were more posts like this. And congratulations on hitting that very impressive figure.
I believe yours may be a one-in-a-thousand achievement among translators in Australia. A few years ago when I was working on a full-time job (not related to translation), I received a phone call one day from tax authorities regarding my GST returns, during the conversation I learned that normally translators are not doing well (struggling) as far as they know. You tax return will change their perception of this profession. (Hopefully the taxman will just dismiss your case as an anomaly and will not suddenly take an interest in this profession )
I probably will never hit that figure myself, at least I haven't found the right mix yet. As I haven't seen much discussion about rates, I thought I'd share my limited experience regarding rates just to enliven the discussion a bit. I have been trying to locate the optimum rates that will allow us to achieve higher income with a sustainable workload. Last year I participated in a translation service tender process with a government agency and my bid was roughly equivalent to USD40 per 100 words and I was successful in the bid. Although I believe mine is a reasonable rate considering the amount of input on my part (as well as the administration costs), that was the only occasion I got away with this rate. On all other occasions potential clients baulked upon seeing my quote, and on a recent occasion, I was told by a client that my rate was outside what was considered a "normal range" and I had to take 20% off to be in the top end of their perceived reasonable range. I haven't been able to get enough work at my rate (the cut-throat competition in my language pair is also to blame), so I make up the shortfall by working for an agency whose rate is less than half of my retail rate. I'm still working to get my mix right while still having a life.
I hope we will continue to see you sharing your journey through 2018, we can all learn a lot. Thank you again! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dylan J Hartmann
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...
MODERATOR TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for everyone's comments and support | Jan 27, 2018 |
I appreciate the warm messages of support that I've received both on this post and via email.
I think that this story is possible for anyone here on ProZ.com, especially considering that I've only been a full-time translator and member here since mid-2014. At the start of 2017 I'd been fully dedicated to translation for only 2 1/2 years (had been part-time since 2011). My takings each year have been growing steadily.
The longer I stay 'in the game', the better clients I... See more I appreciate the warm messages of support that I've received both on this post and via email.
I think that this story is possible for anyone here on ProZ.com, especially considering that I've only been a full-time translator and member here since mid-2014. At the start of 2017 I'd been fully dedicated to translation for only 2 1/2 years (had been part-time since 2011). My takings each year have been growing steadily.
The longer I stay 'in the game', the better clients I get to keep, the better quality work I receive and more I enjoy this life: charge more, earn more, work less.
All in 3 1/2 years!!!
[Edited at 2018-01-28 02:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Taking out a mortgage immediately after returning to your homeland | Jan 28, 2018 |
DJHartmann wrote:
After saying all of this, I also moved my wife and two daughters back to Australia with me. We packed our whole lives from Thailand into a shipping container, sold the car and moved onto my family’s farm here in Australia for 9 months, living in the spare bedroom. My intent throughout 2017 was to save money for a house deposit. This was the driving force for all those above-detailed accomplishments...but I found out afterwards that internationally-sourced funds cannot be deemed ‘secure’ financing for a loan. Instead of buying a house, I’ve moved my family into a rental in one of the nicer suburbs of Brisbane that is near a good, well-known school. We’ve forgotten about buying a house because we couldn’t ever afford to buy the place we’re living in now!
DJH
DJH,
I also encountered the same situation after moving back to my hometown in the U.S. I didn't make much because I was studying interpretation in China and the bit money made in China simply didn't add up to buy a house here. Fortunately, there are other ways to take out a loan. Many foreigners in the U.S. bought houses by proving their assets. Maybe you can look into how other foreign nationals in Australia (e.g. Chinese or Thai students studying in Australia, their parents sometimes bought them houses) financed their houses.
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:53
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Hope for us all | Jan 28, 2018 |
DJHartmann wrote:
The longer I stay 'in the game', the better clients I get to keep, the better quality work I receive and more I enjoy this life: charge more, earn more, work less.
All in 3 1/2 years!!!
Indeed, which implies decent figures in your first full year. I admit that, if asked, I would not have thought Thai-English was a lucrative language pair. It just goes to show what is possible in this huge and growing market with a bit of business sense, careful selection of clients and some hard work.
Dan
| | | | Dylan J Hartmann
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...
MODERATOR TOPIC STARTER | business sense, careful selection of clients and some hard work | Jan 28, 2018 |
Dan Lucas wrote:
It just goes to show what is possible in this huge and growing market with a bit of business sense, careful selection of clients and some hard work.
Thanks Dan. I assert once again that it's not just down to language pair. That's too much of a simplistic view of things and you've summarised it best here.
I've received emails from other translators in my language pair who tell me they aren't earning this much...but they aren't doing half the number of words I complete each month (monthly output shown on my profile).
If we just sit back and wait, the world will continue along without us. One or two jobs might come by but if we really want more, we have to hunt those greater opportunities ourselves.
Another friend wants recognition as a specialist, as a leader in their field, so only accepts those types of jobs and refuses anything that demands CAT tool usage. This type of mentality is fine, we might call it idealistic but I doubt I'd be able to feed my family if waiting for the next book title to come along. Maybe one day, a long way away in the future when I've got enough of a security-cushion of funds sitting in my bank account I can start thinking like this.
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Reflections on 2017, my first $US 100,000+ year from translation | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
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