The next session of my online course “Getting Started as a Freelance Translator” starts on Wednesday, January 25. This is a four-week “quick start” session for any new translators who want to get a jump on their business goals for 2012. During the session, we focus on four assignments: a translation-targeted resume and cover letter, a marketing plan, a rate sheet and sample terms of service and an online presence plan and elevator speech.
The full course information and registration are on my website, and the cost is $250, with a $50 discount for ATA members. I conduct the course entirely online, so it’s open to translators in any country and you don’t have to be online at a specific time. Everyone in the course also receives a copy of the newly released second edition of my book, “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator.” One participant in the December session commented that “Corinne McKay’s course, “Getting Started as a Freelance Translator,” and book, “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator,” are invaluable tools for the freelance translator. Her book will be bible for my career pursuit as a translator. I would recommend the class to beginners as well as already-established freelance translators. Excellent!” That was gratifying to read! Hope to see some blog readers in the January session; the December session filled up early!
I was restarting as a translator after a several years hiatus. The industry had changed quite a bit and in the meantime I had had a food business, that and my M.Sc. and I thought nobody could beat me. I saw an ad for a book translation in cooking. I applied, presented my credentials and got an almost immediate response. They also asked me to take a test in their own CAT tool. Wow! I thought this is easy. I translated the text, not knowing what all the colors and symbols meant; also I was unable to return it to its original format. To prove how resourceful I was I translated it into Word and sent them two versions depending on the public they might want to address. Never heard back from them.