Poll: How many years have you been working in the language industry? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many years have you been working in the language industry?".
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I’ve been translating for over 40 years, first as a freelancer (part-time) until 1986, then worked in-house until 2006, when I retired and decided to start freelancing again (full-time).
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| Almost 20 years - longest working period ever | Oct 30 |
I have been in the translation industry for almost 20 years. I started with an internship as in-house translator in a translation company thanks to a Masters in Translation and ICT I did at the university. They finally hired me and that business relationship lasted for 3,5 years. I learnt a lot, but it was time to look for new challenges. I worked for other companies later as in-house translator and multilingual project manager (2,5 years) before becoming a freelance translator back in 2011. Tha... See more I have been in the translation industry for almost 20 years. I started with an internship as in-house translator in a translation company thanks to a Masters in Translation and ICT I did at the university. They finally hired me and that business relationship lasted for 3,5 years. I learnt a lot, but it was time to look for new challenges. I worked for other companies later as in-house translator and multilingual project manager (2,5 years) before becoming a freelance translator back in 2011. That was a long time ago. The translation industry was not the one that we know today. Freelancing was great from the very beginning until recently. Good income and flexibility. Nowdays it's not that easy.
[Editado a las 2024-10-30 11:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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WolfgangS
France
Local time: 15:24
Member (2007)
English to German
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Zea_Mays 
Italy
Local time: 15:24
English to German
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... what generations are on this site.
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Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 08:24
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 09:24
German to English
| I did my first paid translation in 1969 | Oct 31 |
It was a summary of an article on the flora and fauna in the basin of Lake Titicaca. I was paid $20.00 for about 2 hours work. Depending on the calculator used, that would be the equivalent of about $180.00 today. I was able to take my girlfriend at the time to dinner. Now $20.00 will barely cover the cost of a plain burger and a small beer.
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1980, and still alive'n'kickin'
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 14:24
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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I started working at two law firms, the first full-time and the second part-time, as an assistant and translator.
And after finishing my studies at university, as a freelance translator.
Time flies...
P.S.: Kevin, the name of that lake is quite funny 😊
[Edited at 2024-11-01 14:29 GMT]
[Edited at 2024-11-01 14:30 GMT]
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| 32 years in translation | Nov 2 |
First job in the USA in a small translation agency - 4 years
Second job in France in another translation agency: on site for a few months, then remotely - 4 years
Freelance since 2000 in Mexico.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 15:24
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Since 1996 or since 2000 | Nov 2 |
I finished my translation studies in 1995 and I did do a couple of jobs in November or December of 1995, but in reality I could not get enough clients for the first 5 years of my "career" to justify going full-time. Then I got a full-time in-house translator job in 2000, and I've been a full-time freelance translator since 2006 when I landed a massive freelance job that covered half a year's salary, and by which time I've built up a good client base.
I'm not sure how long I'll be... See more I finished my translation studies in 1995 and I did do a couple of jobs in November or December of 1995, but in reality I could not get enough clients for the first 5 years of my "career" to justify going full-time. Then I got a full-time in-house translator job in 2000, and I've been a full-time freelance translator since 2006 when I landed a massive freelance job that covered half a year's salary, and by which time I've built up a good client base.
I'm not sure how long I'll be able to go on, though. The bottom has dropped out of the translation market in my language combination, thanks to COVID and an influx of bilinguals wanting to work from home. AI hasn't really impacted my market -- most of my agency clients started using MT "officially" about 5-7 years ago already, and by about 3 years ago most of my agency clients had settled on an MT discount of between 35% and 65%. Plus my largest client opened a branch in my home country where local PMs have convinced the parent company that local translators are willing to work for 10% of the international rate, so unless I'm willing to cut my rates by 80%, I no longer get jobs from them. ▲ Collapse
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:24
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Did my first job as a freelancer in late 2014.
Dan
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Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:24
Serbian to English
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| First interpreting job | Nov 3 |
in 1973.
Went in a strange direction. The patient - much older than myself - was getting ready for a last-chance-to-stay-alive operation but looked as healthy as one could imagine. I was the one who halfway through the interpreting felt so weak that I had to sit down. The doctor taking the patient's medical history intervened before I collapsed by giving me a piece of sugar. The days before I was reading a 1000 page book and found it so interesting I couldn't be bothered to go out to buy s... See more in 1973.
Went in a strange direction. The patient - much older than myself - was getting ready for a last-chance-to-stay-alive operation but looked as healthy as one could imagine. I was the one who halfway through the interpreting felt so weak that I had to sit down. The doctor taking the patient's medical history intervened before I collapsed by giving me a piece of sugar. The days before I was reading a 1000 page book and found it so interesting I couldn't be bothered to go out to buy some food.
When I recovered, I asked the doctor how he recognised so quickly what was wrong with me. He said, as if it's the most normal thing in the world: "that's hypoglycaemia, it happens to us all the time in the middle of surgery". Good to know!
First paid translation in 1974. Medicine again, about 100 pages.
Since then, most jobs I've done involved two languages, but not all would be classed in the "language industry". ▲ Collapse
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