| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Successful translators, have you ever considered to quit translation ? Thread poster: Benoit HUPIN (X)
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| Low rates = not successful | Dec 15, 2010 |
I think the question is missing a big point. To me, if you are charging low rates or are making an income just above average, you are not a successful translator. You could be an established translator alright, but to me, a successful professional is one who is able to convince his/her customers of the value of the service and makes an income which is at least twice the amount possible as an employee in the same kind of work.
I am lucky to be be able to consider myself an establishe... See more I think the question is missing a big point. To me, if you are charging low rates or are making an income just above average, you are not a successful translator. You could be an established translator alright, but to me, a successful professional is one who is able to convince his/her customers of the value of the service and makes an income which is at least twice the amount possible as an employee in the same kind of work.
I am lucky to be be able to consider myself an established professional after 15 years in business. After a previous career (software development) which was rewarding but did not pay financially, translation has given me everything: recognition, continuous learning, nice customers, good colleagues in my own business, and the ability to buy my own home and save a little for the future.
So unless I win a big lottery prize, I think I'll be in translation for 21-23 years more (until retirement). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Latin_Hellas (X)
United States
Local time: 04:05
Italian to English
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| Question makes perfect sense | Dec 15, 2010 |
There are such expressions as "quit at the top", "quit while you're ahead", etc.
For two consecutive years at the peak, I paid maximum US social security tax, even received, without asking, a small refund one year for paying too much. I took that as an indicator.
Between actual industry practice and then translation, I have more than 20 years of experience. I have invested over the years, and, between wise decisions and luck, enjoyed favorable revenue/cost ratios, so w... See more There are such expressions as "quit at the top", "quit while you're ahead", etc.
For two consecutive years at the peak, I paid maximum US social security tax, even received, without asking, a small refund one year for paying too much. I took that as an indicator.
Between actual industry practice and then translation, I have more than 20 years of experience. I have invested over the years, and, between wise decisions and luck, enjoyed favorable revenue/cost ratios, so when the crisis hit my sector in 2008 and volume was reduced I took it in stride and stuck to my core customers and niche, without trying to restore revenues to peak levels.
I remain in the business mainly to continue long-time relationships and to stay on top of some things in my niche. To be sure, the continuing revenue also helps and, who knows, may be absolutely necessary again some day.
Over the past 15 years or so, the best thing about being a freelance translator has been freedom of movement - and I have taken advantage of it, living in six different countries across three continents. The worst thing about it is that maximizing revenues, in what is essentially artisan, not industrial, production, is time consuming.
To be sure, the attempt to "industrialize" translation via technology is uninspiring in the sense, among others, that I would not today encourage young people to pursue translation as a primary source of revenue.
At any rate, life is short, art is long, life is movement and risk: at some point one may decide that there are better things with one's limited time, revenues be damned!
[Edited at 2010-12-15 09:07 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-12-15 09:09 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Benoit HUPIN wrote:
This question is mainly for well-established translators.
Have you ever considered to quit translation ? Why ? Too much work for a just-above average revenue ? Not enough social life ? The feeling of not having any life ? Loss of interest for this activity ?
Benoit
Well, I don't consider myself a well-established translator, but I make my living with translation, including heavy bank loans, so I thought I'm 'authorized' to take part in this post.
To quit translation and to switch to what? To a full-time employment? And to gain what? - rushing every morning to be on time at work, although no chance to be enough on time to have your boss happy? having a boss and having to explain him obvious things? No thank you, I've been there for several years - working on average for 10 hours/day and being so tired with a busy office (logistics/import) that you can't imagine. I had to have my cellphone with me almost all the time. I remember one Saturday morning, after a busy week, when my boss called me 7 a.m. asking me to come immediately because some foreign business partners changed their mind and wanted to have a meeting in the morning instead of the afternoon. I was almost crying.
"Not enough social life?" I didn't have much social life then either (and now, I do), because I was too tired and too busy most of the time. If I had my Saturday off, I was too tired even to make some shopping. On Sunday I was getting panic that the weekend is over.
Working with other office people could be nice, but also could be very painful if you happen to meet some real rat racers, especially if you have to work with them at least 8h/5 days.
Now, I work hard but I can take my free time whenever I wish. I can have my Sunday on Monday if I wish to. And I do NOT have a boss. Yes, I have the boss issue, I'm aware of that
If I'll get bored with translation, as I got bored with science and logistics, I will look for something else, but I do hope to have my own firm then, and to be my own boss. A m e n
Ewa
[Edited at 2010-12-15 18:53 GMT]
| | | | | Successful translators, have you ever considered to quit translation ? | Dec 15, 2010 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
I think the question is missing a big point. To me, if you are charging low rates or are making an income just above average, you are not a successful translator. You could be an established translator alright, but to me, a successful professional is one who is able to convince his/her customers of the value of the service and makes an income which is at least twice the amount possible as an employee in the same kind of work.
I am lucky to be be able to consider myself an established professional after 15 years in business. After a previous career (software development) which was rewarding but did not pay financially, translation has given me everything: recognition, continuous learning, nice customers, good colleagues in my own business, and the ability to buy my own home and save a little for the future.
So unless I win a big lottery prize, I think I'll be in translation for 21-23 years more (until retirement).
This may be true for technical translators, but not for literary translators. Many literary translators charge very low rates (what choice ...), but probably to see his or her name published in the books they have translated is probably quite more rewarding to them, than the anonymous work of a technical translator.
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Roy OConnor (X)
Local time: 04:05
German to English
| No not seriously | Dec 15, 2010 |
It was the mid-80s when I started translating part-time. I went full-time, self-employed a few years later. Although translating seems to get easier the more experience you have and the better the tools you use, I find the business itself is more difficult and less enjoyable. Sometimes, say when trying to guess what the forgotten verb might have been in a German source file, I wonder what AM I doing? I think with envy of all those other folk taking a long walk on a fine Sunday morning. But on th... See more It was the mid-80s when I started translating part-time. I went full-time, self-employed a few years later. Although translating seems to get easier the more experience you have and the better the tools you use, I find the business itself is more difficult and less enjoyable. Sometimes, say when trying to guess what the forgotten verb might have been in a German source file, I wonder what AM I doing? I think with envy of all those other folk taking a long walk on a fine Sunday morning. But on the other hand, it's my choice and the straight jacket is maybe not so tightly fitting as in other jobs where less hours are worked.
No, I have never seriously thought of quitting. If I feel fed up, I play my didgeridoo for a few minutes, then the world is OK again.
BTW, you are not your own boss! That is a delusion. The customer is your boss. If you go against the boss(es), you will eventually be out of work, just as if you were in an employed job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | PT Translati (X)
United States
Local time: 19:05
Japanese to English
Bilbo Baggins wrote: PT Translation wrote:
It's amazing how it's pretty much split 50/50, as far as people who love it and people who just seem to hate it. I'd say moreso than any other career I've ever contemplated. No matter what country's translator portals/sites I went to, the opinion is pretty much split.
So much so that I made a decision a while back to find out for myself. So far so good.
It seems to be going a bit far to talk about people that "hate" it. I imagine myself to be in a profession that's mostly populated by people who like their job, some of whom may be a bit tired of certain aspects .... In fact, so far, you are the only person who mentions the word "hate" regarding translation - in a sum-up that does not, in fact, reflect the comments to date in this forum.
I agree the word "hate" is pretty strong, but it was meant as a generalization based on the several translator portal sites I've seen. Please feel free to ignore or change to "people who do not enjoy it as much as others"
[Edited at 2010-12-15 17:48 GMT]
| | | | | Yes and no... | Dec 15, 2010 |
Jørgen Madsen wrote:
Maybe I will never leave translation completely, but I do plan to translate much less than I do at the moment. One day when I don't need to earn as much as now, I will certainly reduce the number of hours I put in each day.
Why?
I want to work less and live more and do things I take pleasure in, things that give me energy instead of draining me of it. I also want to spend more time away from the computer to avoid the many health problems in connection with sedentary work. Another obvious reason is the lack of respect for translators in general leading to ridiculously low rates, slow paying clients and unreasonable conditions in the business. Sometimes it just makes me so sick of this work which I seldomly find rewarding in any way.
Jørgen says it all - almost!
After a long period of doing odd jobs that I was not happy with, but they gave me a pay cheque as a foreigner in a country with high unemployment, I really felt I had landed on my feet when I started in-house with an agency (12 years ago). But the travelling time and inflexible hours were exhausting. (Three hours per day in a crowded bus....) I had no free time left!
It has been the same for the last ten days - I have been working on a huge job, shared with two colleagues, the client helpful enough with terminology, but sending lots of files and setting a very tight deadline. Pushing everything to the limits... really specialised terminology and having to wait for answers, not enough sleep... Trados crashed just before deadline, and I had 4000 words I could not clean up in TagEditor. I did get it sorted and an extension of the deadline!
Sometimes I think translators must be nuts! But it s not really worse than the job my husband had as an economist in industry until he retired.
Normally, however, I enjoy quite a lot of my work, and I enjoy the freedom of freelancing. But I "only" have to keep going for six or seven years, and then I can retire. I have no small children, and the house is paid for. The years of struggling are largely behind me now. I am not sure I would want to carry on for many more years. But at this stage in my career I am content, and I have very little chance of finding another job anyway. So I have to take care to stay successful!!
I am not sure what the definition of a successful translator is - having enough work to be able to choose the more interesting and well-paid jobs most of the time must be one side of it. This week was just an accident - a couple of months ago we did a similar job under somewhat less pressure for the same client, and enjoyed the challenge...
I am not seriously considering quitting - yet - but I will not be here for ever either.
| | | | Milton Guo 
China
Local time: 10:05
English to Chinese
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| Hate doing it mindset | Dec 21, 2010 |
Translation looks like an easy job to take on for many young people and for those who couldn't find a better job in other fields, which is the case here in China, where I have seen so many below average translators getting by and earning a living, and translation is not a professions much respected here; as the result, the overall quality is low and people including the businesses requiring translation seem not to care too much about it.
I take no translation jobs from domestic clie... See more Translation looks like an easy job to take on for many young people and for those who couldn't find a better job in other fields, which is the case here in China, where I have seen so many below average translators getting by and earning a living, and translation is not a professions much respected here; as the result, the overall quality is low and people including the businesses requiring translation seem not to care too much about it.
I take no translation jobs from domestic clients because the pay is too low, and I have heard so many people complainining about entering this low-pay profession as well. But they keep doing it as there is no other way out for them, keeping producing low quality work and accepting low rates. It seems the translation is not a serious profession for them but a way to find some breads.
For me, translation is a hard work both mentally and physically, and my neck, low back and wrist have already suffered from pains caused by this hard work. Confined at home all day long is not fun, but what else you can do when the only way is keeping typing to get the work done?
The only pleasure is freedom, free from the nine to five routine, free from squeezing myself into buses or subways for going to work and so on.
No body wants to work hard like this, but can I quit? no. I cannot find a better job and it'd be worse if I had nothing to do everyday.
C'est la vie.. ▲ Collapse
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Alex Farrell (X)
Japan
Local time: 11:05
Japanese to English
| Keeping other options open | Dec 22, 2010 |
I've only been translating for just over three years, but I do wonder whether I'll keep doing it forever. I really like it because I've worked hard to get good clients and agencies to work for and my language pair happens to pay better on average. I still have more to learn to get better at translating, but after a while I think I'll want to acquire some other skills in case the demand for my work takes a huge hit for some unforeseeable reason. I'm not sure yet what those skills will be, but I d... See more I've only been translating for just over three years, but I do wonder whether I'll keep doing it forever. I really like it because I've worked hard to get good clients and agencies to work for and my language pair happens to pay better on average. I still have more to learn to get better at translating, but after a while I think I'll want to acquire some other skills in case the demand for my work takes a huge hit for some unforeseeable reason. I'm not sure yet what those skills will be, but I definitely want to create more options for myself. The more options you have, the better you can respond to unfavorable situations. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | If they give me a role | Nov 25, 2011 |
with a big amount of money and Angelina Jolie in a Holywood film I may think of quiting translation. (It would also be OK if Donald Trump adopts me.)
| | | | Elena Woontner (X)
United States
Local time: 19:05
English to Italian
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| You may want to quit because you are sick and tired of it. | May 18, 2020 |
Translation occupies quite a segment of my entire life. I studied for it, I got qualifications, job with foreign governments, jobs tutoring people in translation and version. Then I moved to the US from Italy and started my business. I did everything it was expected me to do, learn to work with several CAT tools, participated in seminars, webinars, updated my skills, learned to use a ton of new software, then apps etc. I belong to two professional associations. Someone called me a "star translat... See more Translation occupies quite a segment of my entire life. I studied for it, I got qualifications, job with foreign governments, jobs tutoring people in translation and version. Then I moved to the US from Italy and started my business. I did everything it was expected me to do, learn to work with several CAT tools, participated in seminars, webinars, updated my skills, learned to use a ton of new software, then apps etc. I belong to two professional associations. Someone called me a "star translator". (I see the irony of it all now). I have spent the last 30 years dealing with the pleasure and the passion for translation, but with time I changed and, worse, the translation business changed.
After overcoming 2 life-threatening diseases that left me with less capacity and strength for deadlines that are always to be met the day before yesterday, I saw the business being flooded with people who were not technically translators but could do the job for cheap and on the side, megacorporate agencies started introducing crowdsourcing, streamlining, cloud, AI, all that stands for "more profit for them, less earning for you". Clients and agencies keep sacrificing quality always in favor of speed and quantity - and after 30 years, yes, it is maddening to have to haggle the prices with those who try to nickel and dime us - well, I stayed above water when it came to that- and request us to perform unpaid test as if we were beginners or students, all to have the amazing pleasure of working with them.
The summary is: if you don't get lucky or are a schmoozer/networker (qualities I lack completely - I am not interested in participating in events) who happens to have connections, if you don't translate as a hobby but make a living out of it, you will have several days when you do want to quit simply because you are sick and tired of it. Finding motivation and passion for your work is hard in a business where human translation is clearly losing to machines and that might have, 10 years, before it goes full "ExMachina" and smaller agencies will succumb to the usual suspects like everything else. Like retail succumbed to Amazon. Everything is going in that direction. Not much of a future there. So when I decide to step down, I will have absolutely no regrets, or better, I will regret working so hard and losing my health to this profession. ▲ Collapse
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I don't know if I'm a "well-established translator", since I've been around only for two years as a freelancer (+3 years in a translation agency before that), but my business is running smoothly and succesffully so far, so I guess I can take part too.
So far, I'm VERY happy with my job: no boss, no commuting, comfortable revenues, great working conditions... Nevertheless, we begin to realize with my wife that we do not enjoy life as much as we would like, and we definitely want to r... See more I don't know if I'm a "well-established translator", since I've been around only for two years as a freelancer (+3 years in a translation agency before that), but my business is running smoothly and succesffully so far, so I guess I can take part too.
So far, I'm VERY happy with my job: no boss, no commuting, comfortable revenues, great working conditions... Nevertheless, we begin to realize with my wife that we do not enjoy life as much as we would like, and we definitely want to reconnect with the "real life", i.e. stop spending 10 hours a day on the computer and wasting our time working. Also, I'm very sceptical about the future not only of the translation industry, but also of our society and our planet. So I guess in the years to come, we will seriously consider buying a farm and spending more time on the real things: spend more time outside with our son, gardening, just enjoying life. I really like my position but I don't want to have any regrets when I'm old. ▲ Collapse
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