| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: How many years of experience did it take for you to be confident as a freelancer? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many years of experience did it take for you to be confident as a freelancer?".
This poll was originally submitted by Kazuhiro Kondo. View the poll results »
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I had an unfair advantage. When I left my job as a staff translator, I already had a contract from my employer that kept me busy for two years. During that time, I gradually added more clients to my roster.
Prior to that, I had been "moonlighting" for many, many years, even before I became a staff translator. So it was the moonlighting that gave me the confidence to apply for the translation job, and the translation job that gave me the confidence to quit and work independently.
... See more I had an unfair advantage. When I left my job as a staff translator, I already had a contract from my employer that kept me busy for two years. During that time, I gradually added more clients to my roster.
Prior to that, I had been "moonlighting" for many, many years, even before I became a staff translator. So it was the moonlighting that gave me the confidence to apply for the translation job, and the translation job that gave me the confidence to quit and work independently.
Also, while I was working as a staff translator, I took a break for two years while my husband and I lived in Mexico, and my former office sent me work the whole time. When I returned to Washington, they hired me back.
I admit, I've been lucky. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | 20 years of part-time translating, | Feb 10, 2013 |
as part of my language teaching job, gave me the confidence (i.e. the experience) to jump into the choppy waters of freelancing in 2011 and feel confident that it would all work out OK, which it pretty much has so far. Those years of translation allowed me time to learn how to tackle translation problems, to know what to do and what the client needed to be approached about, and what not, etc. so that when I started freelancing, I felt that I was already experienced and had something to offer, an... See more as part of my language teaching job, gave me the confidence (i.e. the experience) to jump into the choppy waters of freelancing in 2011 and feel confident that it would all work out OK, which it pretty much has so far. Those years of translation allowed me time to learn how to tackle translation problems, to know what to do and what the client needed to be approached about, and what not, etc. so that when I started freelancing, I felt that I was already experienced and had something to offer, and I knew that I could work on my own and deliver on time. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tim Drayton 
Cyprus
Local time: 10:46
Turkish to English
+ ...
I answered '0 -1' because I felt supremely confident as a translator even as I embarked on my first ever paid translation (back in 1996). In fact, I wince when I look at work that I did about five years ago because I am so much better now; I suspect that, if I continue to work as a translator, I will do the same five years from now when looking back at my current work. In my opinion, the learning curve in translation never ends.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 09:46
Spanish to English
+ ...
I never doubted my ability as a translator. When I started out I had already been working in TEFL for several years and my main concerns were to do with being able to afford the tools required (PCs, SW, etc) and make enough money while paying my bills, Social Security and tax contributions by translation alone. I combined both occupations until four or five years ago, when I gradually found myself concentrating exclusively on translation and working from home.
I still occasionally... See more I never doubted my ability as a translator. When I started out I had already been working in TEFL for several years and my main concerns were to do with being able to afford the tools required (PCs, SW, etc) and make enough money while paying my bills, Social Security and tax contributions by translation alone. I combined both occupations until four or five years ago, when I gradually found myself concentrating exclusively on translation and working from home.
I still occasionally get wind of a TEFL course, or asked to give a class of some description, but nowadays I usually pass them onto colleagues still working in TEFL. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 09:46
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Under a bushel | Feb 10, 2013 |
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
...When I returned to Washington, they hired me back.
I admit, I've been lucky.
I doubt luck was the only factor. If they took you back, it's because you're worth it!
| | | | Chun Un
Macau
Member (2007)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| > 4 years of 'moonlighting' | Feb 10, 2013 |
enough said 
[Edited at 2013-02-10 13:18 GMT]
| | | | | Still not confident... businesswise, not technically | Feb 10, 2013 |
During my full-time employment years (1973-1987), in which part of my job description involved translation and interpreting, I was some sort of an in-house freelancer: all my bosses and peers could tell me about would be their needs, goals, objectives. I had to find out by myself the best and most cost-effective way to meet them. While I could rely on them for technical vocabulary issues, like any freelance translator can with their clients, I was the only one in those companies having expertise... See more During my full-time employment years (1973-1987), in which part of my job description involved translation and interpreting, I was some sort of an in-house freelancer: all my bosses and peers could tell me about would be their needs, goals, objectives. I had to find out by myself the best and most cost-effective way to meet them. While I could rely on them for technical vocabulary issues, like any freelance translator can with their clients, I was the only one in those companies having expertise in the nuts & bolts of actually getting the job done. Of course, I'd get my paycheck every month.
As a freelancer, while some clients treat the relationship in a professional way, there are some who desperately try to force me into playing their bank's role, struggling for longer and longer payment terms, and yet sometimes not meeting them. Some clients have their own legal departments or lawyers getting periodically paid no-matter-what. On account of those who pay me on the dot, I think it would be unfair, and marketing-wise suicidal, to embed potential (possibly overseas) attorney's fees into my own translation fees.
On top of it, I was "spoiled". My best client for the first 20+ years as a freelancer, usually accounting for half or more of my total income, always paid me within two business days from each delivery, no matter what.
It took me years to get rid of all clients that imposed a payment term beyond 30 consecutive days, as well as those who failed to meet the terms we had agreed.
So now, every time I take on a new client, I am not confident that they will match the effort I'll have made to never miss a deadline, and to always deliver with the high quality they require and deserve... by paying me on time!
While I was technically confident as a freelancer since day one (since I'm quick to turn down/refer to someone else any job I am not competent to do, fortunately not so often), while I never stop learning and improving, I am still not confident businesswise as a freelancer... financially, it is a high-risk enterprise. ▲ Collapse
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Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:46
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam | Confident not same as competent | Feb 10, 2013 |
Like Tim, I felt confident within a year or two. I was prepared to tackle jobs then which I wouldn't dream of attempting now, and I'm sure my attempts were not really satisfactory, even if clients accepted them. I'd say it took at least five years for me to become competent, As for confidence, even now I am hardly ever 100% confident. Confidence varies with the subject matter.
| | | | Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:46
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Jack Doughty wrote:
Confident not same as competent
I will never be 100% confident. Now, as I deepen my knowledge in my specialization fields, every time I send my translations to my proofreaders my heart sinks. But when I see the proofread files I'm always pleasantly surprised and pat myself on the back
[Edited at 2013-02-10 12:37 GMT]
| | | | | Me too, I'm with Jack! | Feb 10, 2013 |
Jack Doughty wrote:
Like Tim, I felt confident within a year or two. I was prepared to tackle jobs then which I wouldn't dream of attempting now, and I'm sure my attempts were not really satisfactory, even if clients accepted them. I'd say it took at least five years for me to become competent, As for confidence, even now I am hardly ever 100% confident. Confidence varies with the subject matter.
As the saying goes, overconfidence killed the cat!
| | | | | Peaked on a declining curve ... | Feb 10, 2013 |
I too worked in house for nearly five years, where my confidence went from happy amateur to humble and hopeful, and my approach became far more professional as I learnt from colleagues and studied for my diploma. My former employer remained one of my major clients for several years when I went freelance, and I still have contact with offshoots from that agency.
When I went freelance, I had recently completed my diploma and was planning to take a specialist module off my own bat. I d... See more I too worked in house for nearly five years, where my confidence went from happy amateur to humble and hopeful, and my approach became far more professional as I learnt from colleagues and studied for my diploma. My former employer remained one of my major clients for several years when I went freelance, and I still have contact with offshoots from that agency.
When I went freelance, I had recently completed my diploma and was planning to take a specialist module off my own bat. I did well in that, and was very pleased with myself... and was working for a second major client and several smaller ones.
So I was quite confident for the first three or four years. I still am, but I am also confident enough to say no thanks to jobs I would have struggled with earlier on, and still would not do well now. I too have found that confident is not the same as competent!
After ten years of freelancing, my confidence is tempered with a good deal of humility, and I know I have to keep trying to improve.
I am also lucky enough to be able to retire on a pension the day I am not sure I ought to carry on. I don't plan to stop yet, and the pension will be far better if I work at least five more years, but as long as I'm working, I'm enjoying my work and confident enough!
[Edited at 2013-02-10 13:00 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I note that there is some confusion about the real meaning of the question, although the two interpretations do go together to some extent. Perhaps the asker might like to comment on whether they were referring to confidence in our ability to translate, or confidence in our ability to survive the plunge into freelancing.
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 16:46
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Me three, I'm with Jack | Feb 11, 2013 |
Jack Doughty wrote:
As for confidence, even now I am hardly ever 100% confident. Confidence varies with the subject matter.
Yes, confidence does not necessarily = competence.
When I first started out, I felt absolutely "confident" that I could handle everything and like Tim I wince when I think about what I was probably churning out. In reflection, little did I know.
And, like Jack again, confidence varies with subject matter, and as a professional I do no accept work that I am not confident in.
@Noni
Interesting point. I am "confident/competent" about work I can handle now and deliver as a translator but not that "confident/competent" regarding business acumen.
Edited typo
[Edited at 2013-02-11 06:59 GMT]
| | | | | confidence and cats | Feb 11, 2013 |
I'm with Jack Doughty.
Actually, I was more confident at the beginning (i.e. with my first translations) than I am now - with the experience gained, I become more humble
Ewa
[Edited at 2013-02-11 03:35 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-02-11 13:58 GMT]
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