Freelancing

For everyone who celebrated U.S. Thanksgiving, welcome back to work! I always find that a vacation is a good chance to develop some new insights into work and life in general, and this one was no different. My family and I spent the week on a mountain biking and hiking vacation with another family, and on this trip I was confronted with a new realization about translators: we know a lot about a lot. This isn’t to say that translators are more intelligent than mechanical engineers, energy consultants, systems administrators, etc. (to name a few of the people on this trip!), but because of the documents that we read for work all day, we learn a lot of specialized facts about a wide variety of topics.

Personally I think this is a really appealing part of the profession, and one that hasn’t often occurred to me. For example on our trip, the subject of Native Americans’ use of horses came up, which prompted me to comment that horses were actually introduced by the Spanish in the 16th century, before which time many Native American tribes used dogs to pull their belongings around on sled-type devices called travois (I learned that while translating an atlas about Native Americans). Not that people’s eyes didn’t glaze over when I got to the intricacies of how a travois can be pulled either by hand or with a harness on a human, but it was still a fun moment! I also learned that translators know a lot of the answers to the Discovery Channel quiz show Cash Cab (maybe I never realized his before because we don’t have TV at home!).

In sum,  although it sounds trite to say, translation is a great job because we’re always learning; and as compared to people who are always learning about a very narrow subject area, our knowledge allows us to be familiar with a wide variety of subjects that sometimes come in handy. Have fun with it!

Ryan Ginstrom wrote a great comment on my last post about high-earning translators (among other things, informing us that among Japanese translators, the gold standard is now US $200,000!). In his comment, Ryan also observed that “Working long hours only pays off for so long — study after study has shown that when knowledge workers (that’s us!) work long hours (more than 40/week), productivity rapidly drops off, and total output is often lower than those working 40 hours.”

And…he’s right! If you’d like to spend some time learning about the history of the eight-hour work day, take a look at the International Game Developers Association’s fascinating article “Why Crunch Mode Doesn’t Work,” written by Evan Robinson. The article starts out by informing us, the knowledge workers, that when we work more than 40 hours a week, productivity starts to drop; not just a little, but to the extent that if we work eight 60-hour weeks in a row, we produce about as much as we would have in eight 40-hour weeks. Over the short term, (i.e. a few days), crunch mode can be effective, allowing us to churn out a big job by the deadline. But for those of us who consistently work overtime because we’re convinced that we get more done, crunch mode starts to backfire.

The story is the same for people who are convinced that they function just fine on a small amount of sleep. Robinson’s article cites a military study that showed that after two weeks, someone sleeping four hours a night is functioning at a cognitive deficit of nearly 60% as compared with someone sleeping seven hours a night.

If you have time to read the article, scroll down to the “What’s It All Mean?” section at the end, in which Robinson makes a strong argument that not only does knowledge worker overtime not produce results, it increases the odds of a massive human error that puts the entire project in jeopardy. So, while a marathon effort once in a while may be inevitable, don’t kid yourself about your stamina… work a maximum of eight hours, five days a week, and then shut that computer off!

Ahead of next week’s American Translators Association conference, many U.S.-based translators are printing résumés, putting the finishing touches on presentations, searching the closet for presentable outfits and dreading the inevitable rooms full of strangers at this sizable event. At the same time, every successful translator has to admit that ours is a business that depends on name recognition and word of mouth referrals, and in-person contacts go a long way toward building up both of those elements. ATA President Jiri Stejskal’s column in this month’s Chronicle had some excellent tips on networking, and here are a few that I’ve gleaned over the years.

• Don’t be shy about distributing your résumés and business cards. It’s no secret that building relationships with clients and colleagues is a major reason to attend a professional conference, so just offer to exchange cards with everyone you talk to; bring a lot of cards!
• Ask people about themselves. If you’re not an extrovert, think of a few questions you could ask people to get the conversation flowing; what sessions has this person been attending? what are his/her specializations? what does he/she think of this conference as compared to past years? what trends does he/she see in the industry? Most people feel comfortable talking about themselves and their jobs, so these are good ways to start an interaction. If you don’t feel that you’re a good talker, be a great listener.
• See other people in your language as allies, not competitors. When you meet other people in your language pair, use the time to share information that can help both of you. Maybe this person works in a specialization that is different from yours, and you could potentially refer work to each other. Maybe this person is also looking for ways to market to clients overseas, and you could share ideas.
• Remember that no one wants to listen to a complainer. I thought this advice in Jiri’s column was spot on; we’ve all gotten stuck talking to the person who has nothing positive to say about the hotel, the food, the sessions, the weather, etc. Is this a person to whom you would refer your clients? Even if your trip isn’t going well, save the complaining for a time when you’re with friends who already know you.
• Thank the presenters. Aside from the Distinguished Speakers who are invited by the ATA Divisions, the vast majority of presenters are volunteers. Saying something specific, either in person or in an e-mail after the fact, about something you enjoyed in the presentation will make that person’s day (trust me!). It’s also a good way to start a relationship with someone whose work you admire.
• Turn off the distractions. You spend the rest of the year dealing with communication overload, and professional conferences are about the closest approximation of a paid vacation when you’re self-employed. Check your phone and e-mail messages if you have to, but focus on what’s at the conference too!