After completing my German/French degree, my European work experience in the business world, i.e. in the publishing (language-related) and technical (telecoms, SW etc.) fields, prepared me well for freelance translation. I believe that good writing is crucial, whatever the subject matter of the text to be translated.... 

Education:

•  BA Honours Degree in German/French (Goldsmiths, University of London). 

Employment history before becoming a freelance translator:

•  Almost 3 years spent living in Germany (Munich), working in a telecoms 
    department at Siemens.
•  3 years' work experience at a translation/language publications company in
    the UK (Leeds), including trips to translation/interpreting conferences in
    Germany/France. Writing reviews, articles and acting as editorial assistant of a
    languages e-zine.
•  3 years' translation/localisation work experience at a telecoms software
    company based in the UK (Leeds) with clients in Germany/France (including one         
    year of commuting to Bonn every week as a project translator/administrator).

Training in programming/database design. Localisation and technical authoring skills. Copy editing and proofreading skills.

Freelancer since May 2002:

Translation experience in the following:
•  Business: Banking, financial, legal, marketing, retail, e-commerce.
•  IT: Computers, HW, SW, SW localisation, programming, telecoms, websites.
•  Technical: Automotive, cars, trucks, technical manuals, GPS vehicle tracking.
    Medical/devices/life sciences. Scientific (research).

I specialise in MTPE work (German/French>English) and also proofreading documents translated by human translators.