ProZ.com Translation Forums

How to get a publishing house to publish a translation | Thank You!

jarmen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:37:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: How to get a publishing house to publish a translation
Poster: jarmen
Post title: Thank You!

... for the advice and tips. I am in a similar situation as Agniezska, and you have pointed the way out to me. Thanks!

Forming a Study Group in NYC--SP, EN, FR | February Workshop: What We Can Learn from Great Translators

Lyandra — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:34:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Forming a Study Group in NYC--SP, EN, FR
Poster: Lyandra
Post title: February Workshop: What We Can Learn from Great Translators

One of the biggest concerns voiced during January's workshop on the future of the translation and interpretation industry was that translation jobs would dwindle in the future or continue to be poorly paid because many people do not value good translations. This month's workshop is an answer to that concern.

Using Edith Grossman's book, "Why Translation Matters," we will examine our profession from a historical, social, political, and economic point of view to find the arguments we need to increase our profile and our prestige in the marketplace--and our fees!

Reading Ms. Grossman's book is not a requirement to come to the workshop, however, I strongly recommend it. She is an award-winning translator and she's a New Yorker. You may have a chance to run into her sometime and it would be good for you to be familiar with her work as you mingle with other literary translators in New York. I also recommend reading "Is that a Fish in Your Ear?" by David Bellos for another take on the theme of the difficulty of translating.

I will give a formal presentation but I hope you will also come prepared to discuss your own experiences and, perhaps, to discuss some books by other famous translators that you have read and recommend for us to learn from.

The event will take place in midtown Manhattan on Sunday, February 12th, from 6:30-8:30.

Please RSVP so I can know how many handouts to prepare.
[url removed]

looking for a traineeship | Advice still stands

Sheila Wilson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:05:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: looking for a traineeship
Poster: Sheila Wilson
Post title: Advice still stands

Thanks for the info Veronica. Sounds as though a traineeship would be a good idea if you really think you need one, in which case I think you'll need to make personal application to likely agencies. Somewhere where they speak one of your source languages would be the obvious choice - with French and English as source languages that gives you a lot of choice! I don't know if there's anywhere better than the ProZ directory to find a place.

Good luck

Sheila

looking for a traineeship | thanks

Veronica11 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:36:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: looking for a traineeship
Poster: Veronica11
Post title: thanks

Hi Sheila,
thanks for your answer. You're perfectly right about my profile, I apologise and I'll complete it asap. As you said I'm Italian and I'm 36. I've never worked as a translator and I have decide to enter the course to have the possibility to improve my knowledge about it. Why now? Because for the first time I have the opportunity to think about what I have really wanted to do...translating. You probably know better than me that it is a long, and sometimes expensive, way to become a professional translater. I have never had too much time (and money) to think about it. Now, for different reasons, I can and I am getting concentrated on a subject I studied at the high school: finance and banking. I have a degree in english and french literature, but I have some knowledge about finance, economics and banking coming from my teen-age studies. How have I supported myself until now? With a job having nothing to do with languages, leaving this passion for my spare time. The course I have been attending does not include a traineeship (thanks for the corrections!!), but if I find myself an agency or a company letting me practise on the subject I'm studying the institute that has been organising the course will get in contact and start the traineeship. I could stay in Italy, but I would prefer spending some time abroad in Europe. I don't feel enough prepared to work already, I think I still need some practise and the best way of doing it is "breathing" translations for hours, for months. Sorry if I have been so boring telling you all this, but I thought you needed to know me a bit better...Thanks for your attention and suggestions!!
Veronica

Cloudsourcing & SpeakLike | I am not being paid either by Speaklike

Marie Martin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:24:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Cloudsourcing & SpeakLike
Poster: Marie Martin
Post title: I am not being paid either by Speaklike

Hello,

I have the same problem. I have sent several emails, without ever getting a response. I have called their offices twice, and of course got the voicemail, and left a message both times, and no one ever got back to me. Last week I got the notice that they urgently needed translations done, to which I replied, "love to help you but unfortunately, you didn't pay me for November and December 2011". Still no answer. They had 147 jobs in queue, and I checked again this weekend, and they had about 60 something I think...

Nevertheless, if they are having money problems, they should at least reply!! Getting no replies at all is very un-professionnal...

looking for a traineeship | ProZ.com and other directories

Sheila Wilson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:11:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: looking for a traineeship
Poster: Sheila Wilson
Post title: ProZ.com and other directories

Hello Veronica,

Welcome to ProZ.com and the world of freelance translations.

Do you think you could first of all tell us a little about yourself by completing some of the fields on your profile? At the moment we don't know what your native language is, what pairs you translate in - you say you are studying English and French so I'm assuming you are perhaps Italian as you say you live ther (though that's not necessarily the case as translators are an "itchy-bum" lot) - or what type of texts you are happy translating.

As far as finding a placement/internship ("stage" is a false friend :-)) is concerned, I imagine the first thing to do, if your college can't help you, is to search the directory here or on another site, looking for those agencies who are willing to take on a trainee and who offer your language combinations and specialisations and, prehaps most importantly, appeal to you as companies who would help you rather than just benefitting from your services for little or no pay.

Hope that helps,

Sheila

looking for a traineeship

Veronica11 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:54:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: looking for a traineeship
Poster: Veronica11

Good evening,
my name's Veronica and I have a four-year degree in foreign langauges. I have actually been attending a post-graduate specialised course on translation in finance and banking. I have nearly no experience as a translator (apart from the post-graduate course which started 4 months ago) and, thanks to this course, I have the possibility to ask for a stage lasting 6 months. I study english and french and I've also applied for EU traineeships, do you have any suggestions to find an agency for a stage? I would like to live in England, Ireland or France for a while, but I would have no problems staying in Italy
Thank you all!!!
Veronica

How to make an invoice | Thank You for Your kind reply!

krtko — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:58:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: How to make an invoice
Poster: krtko
Post title: Thank You for Your kind reply!

[quote]one only wrote:

Is this a correct expression? I have degree in accounting and it always used to say "create an invoice."
"Making an invoice" hearts my ears. [/quote]

First of all, please allow me once more to thank Derek for answering my question! Although his ears probably hurt too at that time, on that day, seven years ago, he managed to tell me what I was asking at that time. So hooray for Derek! I hope his ears are fine now!
Second, I would like to thank You, my dear American friend, for correcting my mistake! Thank You! In return for taking time to correct my mistake, I send You this present - this link will give u an opportunity to correct all those native and non-native English speakers who made same mistake as I did. You will finally get a chance to put that accounting degree of Yours to some good use.

[url removed]

Good luck, my dear American friend, and thank You once more for correcting me!

How to make an invoice | Ouch!

tabor — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:15:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: How to make an invoice
Poster: tabor
Post title: Ouch!

[quote]one only wrote: hearts my ears. [/quote]

This one keeled muy brayn.

starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted | thank you

luke mersh — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:13:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted
Poster: luke mersh
Post title: thank you

Thank you very much for all your suggestions.
I have just printed off some documents which I will attempted to translate.

By resources i was referring to books and old study guides you may have that you no longer use.

please keep me posted on your thoughts.
regards
luke

ps.- Do you think that if I took out a membership I may get work from here, or do you think thats a long shot?

regards

starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted | Feedback is invaluable, IMO

Sheila Wilson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted
Poster: Sheila Wilson
Post title: Feedback is invaluable, IMO

[quote]Oscar Rivera wrote:
I don't know what you mean by the right resources. You could also take some online clasess. The eye of a professional is always a good aid as we sometimes fail to recognize our mistakes.[/quote]

I agree very much with that. You can read all about translating, but then who is going to tell you whether you are actually interpreting the information correctly? Only a tutor can tell you that. I don't know whether I'm allowed to mention names here, but I was very happy with my distance learning course, which I believe is available in Spanish>English. It's only a minimum certification, for minimum cost, but I felt that I gained a lot from both the material and from the personal feedback of my tutor. I did their own certification programme, but they also prepare you for the DipTrans if you like.

If you're studying interpreting, I imagine you must have a high level in your two languages, so it's not about whether you can translate the words (obviously you can) but more about the way certain things should be handled, particularly as you don't necessarily handle a legal text in the same way as a marketing text. Whether you should keep very closely to the text or go for a freer translation of the message, how to deal with acronyms and proper nouns, the use of translator's notes etc.

Note that very few of us are truly bilingual as far as writing skills are concerned, even though we might be able to speak two languages perfectly well. We can rarely produce a text in a second or foreign language that is more polished than a native speaker with good writing skills would be likely to produce. So, translators normally translate into their native language unless there is a good reason for doing the reverse (e.g. highly specialised text, few translators available in the reverse pair...).

Sheila

starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted | I know of two possibilities

Diana Coada — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:33:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted
Poster: Diana Coada
Post title: I know of two possibilities

You can visit the Institute of Linguists website to read about their Diploma in Translation (DipTrans). There should also be information on who is offering online training for the diploma.

You could also volunteer in whichever field you wish to specialise. For example, there are many NGOs that need translations in the international development field. Some translations are published and this way you can compare your translation against the revised version.

Good luck!

My blog: Getting Started as a Freelance Translator | Get well!

Oscar Rivera — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:19:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: My blog: Getting Started as a Freelance Translator
Poster: Oscar Rivera
Post title: Get well!

I like to read other people's perspectives and was going to do that with your blog.

I hope you get well soon!

starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted | Here's my take on it

Oscar Rivera — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:07:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted
Poster: Oscar Rivera
Post title: Here's my take on it

My first answer would be for you to attend a translation course but if you want to do some self-teaching, imho, this is what you could do.

You say that you know Spanish, perhaps what you could do is to start translating for yourself previously known texts, I don't know a poem, an scientific article already translated in Spanish or English, a recipe, etc. and then compare your version to the previous translations so that you can spot the comparsions and the differences and see the common mistakes non-natives make.

I don't know what you mean by the right resources. You could also take some online clasess. The eye of a professional is always a good aid as we sometimes fail to recognize our mistakes.

I hope I have helped you or pointed you somewhere. One more thing, just stop to think which "Spanish" you'll be translating from and into. If you were schooled in Spain, I'd suggest you stick with it since Spanish from Spain and Latin America varies. I think I am more familiar with Latin American Spanish/Castillian than with the Spanish from Spain because of the distance and cultural proximity.

To illustrate what I mean, here's a video I found a couple of minutes ago from another forum:

[url removed]

Just for the record, in Argentina most of the objects have other names, not the ones mentioned there.

How to make an invoice | Picking on English?

Katalin Horvath McClure — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:25:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: How to make an invoice
Poster: Katalin Horvath McClure
Post title: Picking on English?

[quote]one only wrote:
"Make An Invoice"

Is this a correct expression? I have degree in accounting and it always used to say "create an invoice."
"Making an invoice" hearts my ears. [/quote]

You see, krtko is not a native English speaker. He doesn't even claim to be one.
And he probably does not "have degree in accounting" that "always used to say" the correct stuff, so I would forgive him if (7 years ago) he wrote things that "hearts my ears".

But again, I am not a native English speaker, and don't claim to be one, so maybe that's the difference between us.

[Módosítva: 2012-02-04 04:06 GMT]

How to make an invoice | Or

one only — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:07:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: How to make an invoice
Poster: one only
Post title: Or

you can "prepare" an invoice.

How to make an invoice | "Make An Invoice"

one only — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:04:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: How to make an invoice
Poster: one only
Post title: "Make An Invoice"

Is this a correct expression? I have degree in accounting and it always used to say "create an invoice."
"Making an invoice" hearts my ears.

starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted

luke mersh — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:53:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: starting to learn to translate at home.- feedback wanted
Poster: luke mersh

I may have asked this before in another thread.

I am currently studying Interpreting in EnglishSpanish,

but I would like to learn to become a translator as well, I understand that it is necessary to take classes, but with work and other study, I dont have the time or finance to take any more classes.

Is it possible to learn this trade at home with the right resources??

If anybody could provide me with a list of materials or have some old study books that are no longer needed.

Please help me in this matter.

Can I do this without buying translation software? | More info please

Madeleine MacRae Klintebo — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:08:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Can I do this without buying translation software?
Poster: Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
Post title: More info please

10 answers from 9 different professional translators and yet, with the exception of Siegfried, none have addressed the 1st part of 3divina's question. I'm fully aware that "can I do this" wasn't actually her/his question, but without more information about his/her ability to translate we can have no idea whether or not he/she can do so with or without a CAT tool.

As I'm sure we're all aware, CAT tools are actually just that - tools. Some of us find them useful, some don't.

I could give my son access to my CAT tool, but, even though he's fully bilingual and bicultural, it wouldn't be much use to him if all he wanted to do was 'Basically "will translate for food"' which is all we know about 3divina (empty profile).

3divina - could you please expand on your translation knowledge/experience?

Can I do this without buying translation software? | TM

Nicole Schnell — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:05:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Can I do this without buying translation software?
Poster: Nicole Schnell
Post title: TM

[quote]3divina wrote:

Pardon my ignorance, but what does TM mean? [/quote]

Don't allow anyone to bombard you with tech terms and preferred brands.

TM is short for Translation Memory, it means that this software will record everything that YOU ever typed. This comes handy, say, if you write a gazillion of press releases for a particular company, and they all start the same: "XYZ Corporation, super-duper supplier in blah-blah technology and whatever market leader in whatever products... etc.", this software has remembered what you wrote a year ago and will recognize it and will automatically insert it into your file.
This is cool. You don't have to look anything up.
Or, for example, you are working on a big, fat brochure or a technical manual and you can't remember how you translated "13-teeth double-twisted nano-sprocket" about 50 pages ago, the translation memory (TM) will remember it for you. It's a very, very nice thing.

Can I do this without buying translation software? | Another Wordfast fan

LucyPatterson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:34:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Can I do this without buying translation software?
Poster: LucyPatterson
Post title: Another Wordfast fan

I tried a trial version of Trados but it sure is complicated - and expensive.

Then I downloaded the trial version of Wordfast for free and loved it. I was able to use the demo version for quite a while until I ran out of the allowed memory, and did not hesitate to pay for the full version. Easy to use, simple - give it an hour or two and you'll be flying :)

Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work? | Speaking from experience

LucyPatterson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work?
Poster: LucyPatterson
Post title: Speaking from experience

Hi Toni,

I have been working as a freelance translator since 2007 and have a two-year old.
I've found it to be a stressful experience balancing a baby/toddler with translation work, but it has been well worth the extra effort. Your family has two incomes, you don't have to put a very young child in daycare (expensive and ideally they should stay at home at least until the age of two!). You are free to turn down work if too busy - lots of benefits.

A few tips:
*Ideally get as much experience as you can before you have a baby. I was really slow when I started and had no idea how long each project would take. It is also a good idea to know what to expect from clients and agencies and have invoicing/tax and other time-consuming issues in order. It's also important to gain the trust and approval of a few regular clients.
*Babies sleep a lot of the time, but can also keep you awake all night. You have to strike a balance between sleeping with the baby and working during their naps. Exhausting ... I did not want to lose contacts though. After six months most sleep through.
*I never told any of my agencies I was pregant/have a child. It can be difficult to answer the phone with a yelling toddler in the room - but agencies usually end up emailing anyway.
* Make sure your child has a clear routine - scheduled naps and same bedtime every night. Not only is this exactly what young children need, you will be able to work out how many hours you have to work each day.
*My son now goes to nursery 2 1/2 days a week and the grandparents help out occasionally. This has made me feel slightly more in control - and I kept up my business contacts so work is still coming in
*My son is used to me using the computer now and then and is great at playing alongside me while I work. He certainly prefers this to being at nursery.However, I do most work during nap times and once he's in bed.
*I actually earn more than my husband, who has an office job ;) We are glad to have two incomes as life is so much easier!

Cloudsourcing & SpeakLike | SpeakLike doesn't pay their translators.

Polska — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:32:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Cloudsourcing & SpeakLike
Poster: Polska
Post title: SpeakLike doesn't pay their translators.

Heidi,

I have the same problem. I have sent an email to SpeakLike in December 2011 to ask for my payment for several translation jobs that I have done over several months and this is what I got:

"(...)we have experienced delays with processing translator payments lately. The delays are due to cash-flow challenges which we are sorting out as quickly as we can in order to process translator payments. We apologize about any inconveniences caused by the delay."

In the meantime I kept receiving notifications about "urgent translation jobs" prompting me to log into the system to work on them. I have asked about my compensation again at the end of January of 2012 and didn't receive any response this time. The jobs were no longer available in the queue so I'm wondering if someone out there is doing that for free....

[Edited at 2012-01-31 21:48 GMT]

Can I do this without buying translation software? | What is TM

3divina — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:37:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Can I do this without buying translation software?
Poster: 3divina
Post title: What is TM

[quote]Heinrich Pesch wrote:

First of all if you have no experience with translation software start exploring Wordfast Classic. The free version has only one restriction, the size of your TM. Or you could use Wordfast Anywhere. Do some short exercises before you commit yourself to paid jobs.

The more you acquire direct clients the better for you. Most jobs on the net are low rate. [/quote]

Pardon my ignorance, but what does TM mean?

Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work? | Link to ProZ.com info

Claudia Brauer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:43:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work?
Poster: Claudia Brauer
Post title: Link to ProZ.com info

Toni, I suggest you read the following link thoroughly before thinking of establishing yourself as a freelancer.
[url removed]

Likewise, the ProZ.com forums have extensively discussed the issue, so you might find it useful to go to the forum and choose some of the topics that might interest you specifically
[url removed]

Good luck

Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work? | juggling translation and babies

Texte Style — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:33:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work?
Poster: Texte Style
Post title: juggling translation and babies

You need to be well established before even thinking of having a baby, otherwise what clients you have will simply find someone who is not pregnant to do their job, then they'll be wary of coming back to you in case you have another baby.

I don't know what things are like in Hong Kong but here in France you'd be better off starting your family as an employee, as you are entitled to maternity leave.

I worked as a translator while at home with my children.

I don't regret it in the least and they were easily the most enjoyable years of my life. If I were allowed to live any of my life a second time, that's the period I would choose.

However:

My top priority was my role as a mother. The children always took precedence. I was absolutely clear about that and stuck firmly to that decision. So I had to refuse a lot of work simply because deadlines interfered with that role. And I didn't earn very much money either. However, we had discussed it and it was clear for both of us that I was not to be the breadwinner during that period. The work I accepted was more a way of keeping in touch with the working world to make going back to work easier, to stop me going rusty, than to actually contribute to our finances. So we lived frugally and my money was only used for extras.

Deadlines always do mean you have to sacrifice something, I mostly sacrificed my sleep and the housework. I did a lot of typing using one hand with the other supporting a suckling baby, and a lot of proofing walking up and down trying to get the baby off to sleep. Nowadays you can easily find baby slings and carriers to at least free both hands, and if you sit on a stool to work you can even wear your baby on your back. And even though I refused work, I did still find myself having to ask friends to take my children off my hands when I misjudged the amount of time necessary for a translation or when something unexpected happened, like staying up all night with a feverish vomiting child. Bear in mind that of all possible roles in life, motherhood is the role which entails the highest rate of imponderables!

Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work? | Work-life-balance?

Williamson — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:09:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work?
Poster: Williamson
Post title: Work-life-balance?

[quote]Toni-Fisher wrote:

Is anyone here can share his/her experience of switching from full time employee to a freelancer? Is the transition hard? Or work as freelancer is not so "work life balance" as I imagine?

Thanks in advance!

Toni [/quote]

If you have to meet a deadline, how can being a freelance translator equal work-life-balance? So much money, so many words/pages/so much time. Those whom I know who earn above an average-translator's income work double hours, 6 days a week, sometimes Sunday's included.

Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work?

Toni-Fisher — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:32:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Getting started: is freelance translator a work life balance work?
Poster: Toni-Fisher

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and in the translation business, even I though I got my translation degree in 2008.

I am from Hong Kong, currently looking for day job, while considering starting my second career as freelance translator (English to Chinese). The reason is, I am thinking to be a stay at home mom once I have kid (not now) while my hubby would like me continue to work (due to financial reason). Being a freelancer seems a solution to this situation for I can work at home.

I had done some volunteer translation before but never work on paid project. I plan to use my job hunting period to learn translation software, while look for volunteer project again for gaining experience. At the same time I am learning German for hobby, but still at very basic level.

Is anyone here can share his/her experience of switching from full time employee to a freelancer? Is the transition hard? Or work as freelancer is not so "work life balance" as I imagine?

Thanks in advance!

Toni

Can I do this without buying translation software? | Don't invest money until you need to

Sheila Wilson — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:09:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Can I do this without buying translation software?
Poster: Sheila Wilson
Post title: Don't invest money until you need to

[quote]neilmac wrote:

[quote]Heinrich Pesch wrote:

First of all if you have no experience with translation software start exploring Wordfast Classic. The free version has only one restriction, the size of your TM. Or you could use Wordfast Anywhere. Do some short exercises before you commit yourself to paid jobs.[/quote]

Sound advice from HP there. I started with WF Classic and stayed with it - most other SWs I've looked at were too complicated, too expensive and took too long to learn. AFAIK the free demo version is still available. [/quote]

I've not felt the need to change from Wordfast Classic either, though I do have the paid version now and I also own (but have never used) Wf Pro. The free version is identical to the paid one and you aren't restricted in any way other than in terms of storage area for your TM. Even this can be got round to a certain extent, but if your TM is big then you should be earning enough to fork out for Wordfast.

I certainly don't feel the need to invest either the time or money required for Trados etc.

Sheila

Is that ok to contact outsourcers? | The odds in each method

José Henrique Lamensdorf — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:22:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: Is that ok to contact outsourcers?
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: The odds in each method

Some input on your chances using each method of contact...

[b]Contacting other translators -[/b] This is unlikely to work on the short run. A translator will only outsource whatever exceeds their own production capacity, and quite likely will be scared stiff of their clients preferring your work to theirs. On the long run, if you build a reputation for your specialization (e.g. subject areas, AV translation, handling special files, etc.) and promote it, chances are they will seek you when there is a need for that they can't serve.

[b]Replying to "translators in all pairs required" ads -[/b] These usually come from outsourcers that have failed to work on the demand side (i.e. to get clients), so their strategy (?) is now to work on the offer side (i.e. to have a big translators database). Does it work? You'll be the judge on that. Personally, I don't think so.

[b]Visiting outsourcers' web sites who request CVs -[/b] Sending your CV is okay, however this will depend on luck. If they have a high demand, chances are they will be too busy to rummage through all the applications they get, unless they are having trouble to cover a specific need. It will be [i]their[/i] luck if you are one of the few who can fulfill it.

[b]Visiting outsourcers' web sites that have online application forms -[/b] If their web site and translators database are well integrated, this is the most likely option. Whenever a PM needs your language pair and one of your specialty areas, they'll perform a search, and your entry will come up... before they go to square one and post a job offer.

The last two options may be carried out using the Blue Board. From most outsourcers' BB record you may use the 'Go' link to visit their web site. At least this will prevent you from applying to outsourcers that are being bad-mouthed by fellow translators who already worked for them.

It may take time and patience, however I am a witness that the last option above pays off on the long run.