Marcelina Haftka Poland Local time: 10:26 Member (2006) English to Polish + ...
Rates and currencies
Feb 22
Emma Goldsmith wrote:
I've just checked out Spanish>English rates and see that it states $0.11/word or €0.10/word.
Without wanting to discuss the actual figure, it's a bit worrying that the exchange rate is not remotely accurate. This renders the guide quite useless because we don't know which is the "original" currency. And, more to the point, rates in profiles are entered in the currency of your choice.
I've just checked a couple of my pairs and the translation rates in EUR are exactly the same as the rates in USD. However, in the real life EUR 0.10 is not of the value of USD 0.10...
There must be something wrong with the algorythm.
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Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 09:26 Member (2007) English + ...
They earn less, but not peanuts
Feb 22
Vladimír Hoffman wrote:
you recommend that young colleagues should keep themselves in line with others and do not dare to endanger translation industry with lower prices. Then I wonder why a client should choose inexperienced translator instead of experienced one if both offer same conditions. In any business, young, freshly employed graduates generally earns less and works more than their colleagues with many years of practice. Why the translation business should be exemption?
I agree with Lisa that an inexperienced translator, who is ready to become a professional translator, should be capable of producing an adequate translation for general purposes. I would imagine that any client looking for very high quality will restrict their choice to experienced translators, whereas if the text does not have to be so polished they might go to a less experienced one.
So, I don't believe that a newbie should charge 50% or anything near that. However, ProZ.com gives a minimum and a standard figure and this gives a guideline, IMO. A newbie would be on the minimum (or slightly below), an experienced translator would be on the standard (or slightly above). Of course, those figures are only a guideline.
If a new translator is in any way unsure of the quality of the target text, they should send it to a proofreader - at their own cost. I don't believe that accepting any job for any price benefits anyone in the long run, though I imagine some agencies are getting very rich on it.
Sheila
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Hi Lula, if you're in the US you should start by contacting the national professional association ATA (www.atanet.org). Under US law, they are not allowed to give price guidelines, but why not contact members in your area and ask them?
FWIW, there is never "a price," always a range. This is because there is not "a market" rather hundreds of market segments.
If you want to be a professional translator, you will presumably be looking for the more attractive segments and clients. They are out there, although it may take some work to find them. (This is one reason why part-time translators often fail to locate them).
You should also keep in mind that whatever price you announce to a given prospect is your pain threshold; it will be very hard to raise that price *with that client*. So if you start out at very low prices you'll have to find new clients once you've got the experience and confidence to want to raise your game. Fair enough (if the hamster-wheel life of low prices, huge volumes, bulk work hasn't led you to wonder why you ever wanted to do this job in the first place, as already mentioned).
The SFT (national association for professional translators in France) publishes an annual survey of working conditions and rates that is freely available on its website (www.sft.fr, search for "chiffres clés").
There's a very interesting discussion going on right now on one of the SFT's lists (for members only). Translators (some very experienced and specialized, some less so) are explaining how they got themselves organized to move up from low-paying jobs to high-paying ones. How they built (or are building) a good practice. It makes very enlightening reading and is encouraging. Also a reminder that prices vary a lot.
Good luck,
Chris
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chris durban wrote:
There's a very interesting discussion going on right now on one of the SFT's lists (for members only). Translators (some very experienced and specialized, some less so) are explaining how they got themselves organized to move up from low-paying jobs to high-paying ones. How they built (or are building) a good practice. It makes very enlightening reading and is encouraging. Also a reminder that prices vary a lot.
Can you elaborate please?
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Sorry Christela, I've just been told that my proselytizing on behalf of a professional association is a bother, so... I'm outahere.
No hard feelings.
Contact me off list if you want to pursue this.
KR,
Chris
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Michele Fauble United States Local time: 02:26 Member (2006) Norwegian to English + ...
Feb 22
[Edited at 2012-02-23 07:43 GMT]
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Thank you all for you imput. I just got a gig to translate, and it was hugely paid (good though) and I was considering not taking it. I decided that I would, because it would give me great experience and money, of course.
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So, my advice is - accept rates offered to you by potencial clients, take small jobs, fast-around jobs, night jobs, and build your reputation. Require positive feedback on Proz as part of your compensation, collect references, gather experience in new fields. In any business, you firstly MUST get a leg into door.
I agree with Vladimir that you are yet to prove your skills, although there is of course no reason why a beginner should be a less capable translator than someone with several years of experience. Yes, you may lack *specialist* knowledge, but if you are prepared to put time into researching the subject area well you should eventually be able to produce equally competent results.
I also agree that you should be flexible, accept work that perhaps others have turned down (documents that are half-illegible, require a lot of formatting or that are just plain boring), be prepared to work evenings and weekends (while still ensuring you apply reasonable surcharges for these)... However, I don't agree that your rate should be lower, this devalues the profession and you will find that as a beginner you will invariably be working at a slower pace than your more experienced colleagues. A lower output combined with low rates means that you will soon ask yourself why on earth you decided to become a translator at all.
[Edited at 2012-02-22 15:01 GMT]
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Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 09:26 Member (2007) English + ...
Weekend work
Feb 29
Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote:
be prepared to work evenings and weekends
You don't have to be around ProZ.com for long to see how many of the jobs are posted on Friday afternoon - several thousand words for delivery 9am Monday. Some of these will be from agencies who have had a "No, thanks" response from all their regular translators and are now desperate. They may be very good agencies, willing to pay a decent rate and proofread your translation on receipt, that you'll want to get in with. Offer too low a rate and they will be highly suspicious. Why pay a "translator" peanuts for doing a machine translation when they could do that themselves? Offer to work right through the weekend for a decent rate, making it clear that you are a beginner, and you could become one of their regular translators.
Sheila
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