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Great article on translator compensation in the United States
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Thread poster: RobinB

Great article on translator compensation in the United States

Ralf Lemster

Germany
Local time: 01:51

Member (2003)
English to German
+ ...

Private e-mail removed

Jun 25, 2008

Hi all,
The posting containing a private e-mail was removed by the poster; since the subsequent postings discussing this (now hidden) posting were not directly related to the topic at hand, I have hidden those, too.

Back to topic...

Best regards,
Ralf

Nicole Schnell

United States
Local time: 16:51

Member
English to German
+ ...

I deleted my entry

Jun 25, 2008

However, remarks such as "I will not embarrass her by a public response" will always get an appropriate reply...

Paul Lambert

Sweden
Local time: 01:51

Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...

Desperate Housewives

Jun 25, 2008

Incidentally, for those of you in the United States, we do have "Desperate Housewives" on TV as well as all the big syndicated hit programmes out here too.

JPW

United Kingdom
Local time: 00:51
Spanish to English
+ ...

Desperate Housewives

Jun 25, 2008

Paul, your post is looking a bit lonely and out of place. So let me add one to accompany it.

Sir Walter Riley (sic), whatever he was, was most certainly not Irish.

A pirate, a butcher and a thief perhaps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Walter_Raleigh

I only hope Bernie's other factual information is 'correcter'.

Back to topic now. And I did find some of the statements in the original article somewhat incredulous.

The second I have not read yet.

Bernie Bierman

United States
Local time: 19:51
Spanish to English
+ ...

"Sir Walter Riley"

Jun 25, 2008

cf. "Rio Grande", Republic Pictures, 1950, directed by John Ford (Irish-American).
The line "...by that famous Irishman, Sir Walter Riley", said by the Irish actor Victor McLaglen portraying the Irish sergeant-major Timothy Quincannon.

BB

Ralf Lemster

Germany
Local time: 01:51

Member (2003)
English to German
+ ...

Back to topic, folks...

Jun 25, 2008

Now that we've clarified a few things along the lines, can we please get back to topic?

Thanks.

Best, Ralf

Tatty

Spain
Local time: 01:51
Spanish to English
+ ...

Anyone thinking about becoming a translator...

Jun 25, 2008

should probably read the article.

I'm based in Spain and 45,000 dollar net to me seems like a dream. I like my job, I really do, but even so I don't think that there is any point in aiming to be a translator in life, it really isn't worth it, not for the effort or the money you spend on training. I personally am incapable of encouraging anyone to be a translator. I think it would be much better as a second career, something you just kind of fall into. I am very much of the opinion that translation is a job for people who are already comfortably off, so they don't have to translate five days a week. (I get really tired cos I work too many hours.) And for the same reasons I think it is a very good job for an educated housewife, working again on a part-time basis. This way rates probably wouldn't get dragged down so readily. Based on my experience in England, I have also found it to be true that once you only have freelance translation work on your CV or that is all you have done for the past few years that employers or employment agencies are very unwilling, or simply refuse, to consider you as a candidate for a position within a company. So you have pretty much worked yourself into a rut too. All doom and gloom, but it is the end of the month and I feel like I have been in fight!

Ralf Lemster

Germany
Local time: 01:51

Member (2003)
English to German
+ ...

Too much doom and gloom, methinks

Jun 25, 2008

I beg to disagree.

I like my job, I really do, but even so I don't think that there is any point in aiming to be a translator in life, it really isn't worth it, not for the effort or the money you spend on training.

I personally know numerous freelancers who make a very decent living (granted, they also work quite a lot). What seems to set them apart is a combination of language skills with business skills - OTOH I have seen examples of translators working in (supposedly) high-cost countries who are grossly underselling themselves.

I believe seasoned translators can help less experienced providers to learn about the essentials of running a business (starting with the concept of determining your price). It's an uphill battle, but worth it.

Best regards,
Ralf

KSL Berlin

Germany
Local time: 01:51
German to English

Ralf is right

Jun 25, 2008

With some business skills and careful planning combined with the ability to deliver a first-rate product, one can make quite a decent living as a translator. The business skills and planning probably count more in the mix. There are too many talented people who are really good at two things: what they do and underselling themselves.

I haven't seen Alex Eame's old book/e-book ("How to Make $80,000 a Year as a Freelance Translator") mentioned in a while, but despite its goofy graphics and rather idiosyncratic style, I think it's an excellent overview of important basic business principles for the profession. And I would say that if you get the business approach right even in fairly common language pairs, you can do better than the title suggests without killing yourself.

[Edited at 2008-06-25 22:39]

Mervyn Henderson

Spain
Local time: 01:51

Member
Spanish to English
+ ...

Biznis

Jun 26, 2008

Hi,

I don't agree with all of it, but I think Bernie makes some good points.

I do see a connection between two points, 1) the moaning and groaning, and 2) consideration (or not) of what we do as a Business. Business with a capital B.

Translators moan and groan very often because they do not take their Business seriously enough. Take the high-flyer executives who earn much more than many translators do - they don't sit around all day saying "Why oh why are the prices for our product so low? How come the XYZ company is more attractive to customers? If only we had some rules in this game. It's not fair" etc. They do something about it and they get respect.

"I'm a translator" - it sounds terrible. Sounds like you're sitting in a ghastly little room with no view, tapping keys for those executives all day, and have to ask them for permission to go to the bog. Haven't you noticed that people still ask for explanations once you've said that? Er, what do you mean, exactly, a translator?

Tell them you have a Business, for a start, because that's what it is. A Translation Business. Everyone understands that.

A relative of mine said to me a few years ago when I mentioned my "business": "What do you mean, your business? Aren't you a translator any more?" Maybe he thought I did it for the government or something, I don't know.

And I'll stop there, because I'm very aware that it's all been said before and so often.

Mervyn

Tatty

Spain
Local time: 01:51
Spanish to English
+ ...

You don't have a business

Jun 26, 2008

If you are a freelancer in Spain, you don't have a company, you are a professional. Up until a few years ago we did have the status of a business, but that changed at some point about 2 years ago, and I believe it is the same throughout Europe. It would be interesting to know if a freelancer is a company in the US or if it is a tax-paying arrangement.

I'm always very surprised when other translators assume that we don't have a business-like mindset. Surely, the first thing you when you hear about a job is calculate how much is in it for you. We are pure capitalists in fact, and we dance to the capitalist beat. I know exactly how much I want to earn and where I want my rate to be for the next three years. To be a good translator, you have to have a solid training in your languages, which costs loads, then have a solid training in translation, and then have a specialist area, and if you want to interpret too that's another specialist area. The effort and the money that goes into this is incredible. But you need to be able to do it fairly early on in your career, firstly so you can recoup your money and secondly, to remove the element of precarity from your existence; so that in times of crisis, like now, that you are not affected. It is also important from a pychological point of view to avoid fluctations in demand for your services.

Needless to say that I don't feel like a little person, but at the same time I do understand that there is a translation market and a prevailing band of rates. All I'm saying, again, from a very capitalist stance, is that at the outset I didn't realise how much I was going to need to train in order to do this job properly. It is not all set out for all to see how much time/money you will need to invest in the process. If you want to become a solicitor for example you can readily find out how long it will take you and how much it will cost. And again from a very capitalist stance, given the effort and expense, translating isn't worth it. You would be much better off going into accountancy, law, medicine... And once you have gone down the path this far you cannot transfer into another area, because everyone you show your CV to sees a translator.

Of course you can make a decent living, but does a doctor or an accountant make a "decent" living, no they make a very good one. And given our level of training, we should be make a very good one too.

You are the inconsistent ones, not me.