Here is an interesting post from the blog “Working Languages” about the EU’s shortage of qualified into-English interpreters. The EU blames the candidates’ poor English skills, characterized by overuse of the word “like,” while the blogger argues that a larger culprit is the lack of financial incentives for qualified interpreters.
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Tips for promoting your freelance services
Michelle Vranizan Rafter’s blog, WordCount, has an excellent post about ways to promote your freelance writing, most of which are applicable to translation as well.
When it comes to things like blogs, e-newsletters, podcasts and even websites, part of the appeal for translators is that the market is quite open. While some demographic groups (moms, artists and political junkies, to name a few!) seem eager to write and podcast as much as, or maybe even more than people want to read, translators are amazingly reticent about putting their thoughts out there. So, it’s comparatively easy to draw a lot of readership or listenership to what you’re doing.
Of the tips that Michelle offers, I also strongly agree with her advice to attend conferences and visit clients in person. As largely web-based workers, I think it’s tempting for translators to think that e-mail does it all, without the need to even get out of your pajamas. In my own experience, every face to face encounter I’ve had with an existing or potential translation client has more than paid for itself.
Lastly, Michelle’s advice about “being the best at what you do” is fantastic. Bottom line, being a compulsive overachiever is very good for business when you’re self-employed. Take a look at Michelle’s post for more excellent tips on marketing!
The environmental benefits of freelancing
Here is an interesting post from the blog “Masked Translator,” focusing on the ways in which home-based translation is an exceedingly environmentally-friendly job. Masked Translator makes a number of great points, including a separation between true home-based workers and “home-based” workers whose carbon footprint is actually quite large because they travel from home to work-related appointments which necessitate a professional wardrobe, reliable/presentable car, fuel use, etc.
This post highlighted to me the ways in which home-based translators (and in general, people who work exclusively from home) live an “environmentally light” life. In our case, the fact that my husband and I both work from home in jobs that don’t require travel has allowed us to have one 17 year old car since we can bike and walk almost everywhere we need to go during the week. Because we’re home most of the time, we have time to cook real meals and have a large vegetable garden, so we almost never eat out. Work clothes are almost a non-issue, with a few presentable outfits (largely purchased at the local thrift store) for meetings and conferences. Check out Masked Translator’s post for more ideas on how to reduce your freelance carbon footprint!
The cost of inadequate language services
Here is an interesting post from Nataly Kelly’s blog “From Our Lips to Your Ears,” about the real costs of using unqualified or incompetent interpreters.
Machine translation has its uses, but…
Thanks to reader (and outstanding colleague!) Jill Sommer for sending the link to this post from the blog “Resumé Hell” (amusing takes on job searching, written by a recruiter), featuring a cover letter produced by an online translation tool.