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Translation - art & business » Getting established »
Starting working as translator
Thread poster: Silvia Batti (X)
Silvia Batti (X)
Silvia Batti (X)
United Kingdom
May 18, 2015

I would like to know if with my education and work experiences I would be able to enter the translation profession.
I do not have a conventional training in translation, however, my mother tongue is Italian; I graduated from the Academy of Fine Art In Rome; and I hold a Master in Communication Art and a Doctorate in Theater Studies commended by outstanding English Universities. In addition, I have published several articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and I have experience of workin... See more
I would like to know if with my education and work experiences I would be able to enter the translation profession.
I do not have a conventional training in translation, however, my mother tongue is Italian; I graduated from the Academy of Fine Art In Rome; and I hold a Master in Communication Art and a Doctorate in Theater Studies commended by outstanding English Universities. In addition, I have published several articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and I have experience of working as visiting lecturer in London.
I also translated a couple of film scripts and funding applications, would this be enough to attract clients?

Thank you in advance for your support!

[Edited at 2015-05-18 17:02 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-05-18 17:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:16
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Welcome to ProZ.com, Silvia May 19, 2015

I'm afraid we don't really know enough about you to be able to tell whether you're likely to attract clients. A lot would depend on which clients you try to attract, and how you go about it. For example, if you're good at marketing yourself and you target specific clients in specific sectors where you've had previous experience and have knowledge of the terminology, then there's every reason to succeed, although it will probably be difficult at first. But if you just mass email all potential EN-... See more
I'm afraid we don't really know enough about you to be able to tell whether you're likely to attract clients. A lot would depend on which clients you try to attract, and how you go about it. For example, if you're good at marketing yourself and you target specific clients in specific sectors where you've had previous experience and have knowledge of the terminology, then there's every reason to succeed, although it will probably be difficult at first. But if you just mass email all potential EN->IT translation clients (I imagine that's your proposed language pair?), then you may well get zero response. Your rate is critical, too - too low and you'll attract the clients you won't want and put off the better ones, though of course too high a rate won't attract anyone.

You've come to the right place, anyway. Loads and loads of information here. Start with the Site Guidance Centre, but also spend time on the forums (this one in particular, of course), the Wikis and articles, the Scam Centre...

If you feel you might benefit from a basic training course in the techniques of the job, you could do worse than enrol for the course I did (see my profile - I don't like to advertise, just recommend). Otherwise, maybe a mentor (available on the site) would be the way to go.

Before you actually decide whether you CAN enter the profession, you might want to think long and hard about whether you WANT TO/SHOULD enter it. There are many who say that it isn't too healthy a career choice, particularly in the case of the Italian market, but don't let that put you off if you're really set on it. ▲ Collapse
 


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Starting working as translator


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