Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Out as a Freelance Translator

This feels like a fun blog post to write for some reason. I think it’s just nice to pause and take stock of how far you’ve come. It’s a good little exercise.

It’s been well over a year and a half since I left my full-time in-house translation job and started out as a freelancer. I didn’t know at the time that freelancing would become a long-term thing for me, because I was quite unsure about what I wanted from my career. I assumed I’d either follow an academic path or find an in-house role that suited me more than my previous technical translation position. I’d done a bit of temporary freelancing work in the past and that’s what I imagined it would be for me in this instance: just temporary. 

That was until I discovered that the thing I really wanted to do more than anything else was work as a marketing translator. It combines all the things I love: flair, creativity and deep understanding of the emotional power of language. I quickly realised that in-house prospects in this field were severely limited, but working as a freelancer would give me the option to tailor my career so that I can do more of the work I enjoy.

Due to the fact that I didn’t really plan to become a freelancer before I became one, I was probably quite underprepared when I started out. I’ve definitely learnt a lot over the past year and a bit, so today I thought it might fun to put together a list of the things I wish I’d known when I first started out. Who knows, it might be helpful to somebody else who is in the early stages of their translation career.

Fluctuations Are Okay

When I mention to people that I’m a freelancer, they often raise concerns that self-employment doesn’t provide enough stability, and in the early days of my life as a freelancer, this was something that really troubled me too. I was convinced that my work schedule needed to resemble a regular 9 to 5 and, if it didn’t, all was lost. There was a lot of anxiety involved in thinking like this, and a really revolutionary moment for me was realising that I could take a different approach.

Now I accept that I will have busy periods and times when things are much quieter. Fluctuations are pretty normal in the translation industry and I used to notice that even when I worked in-house, so I’m not sure why I thought things would be different as a freelancer. Instead of panicking whenever work is slow, I focus on admin, side projects and hobbies. As long as you’re managing your money effectively (something I discussed in my last post) your life will still be sustainable.

Similarly, when things are really busy, I tell myself that it’s only a temporary thing. I don’t beat myself up for not having the perfect work/life balance at all times.

Freelancing Can Be Lonely Sometimes

One of the weirdest things about transitioning from an in-house role to working as a freelancer is that you don’t have any colleagues anymore. It’s just you working in your study by yourself. There are certain perks to that, but it does get a little lonely sometimes. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it suddenly became a lot easier to have conversations about feeling isolated and the things you can do to connect with other people. It opened up a conversation I’d probably always needed to be having.

If you admit that you will feel lonely sometimes as a freelancer, you can prioritise things like networking and making time to socialise with friends and family. It’s a really key part of making the freelancer lifestyle sustainable and I wish it hadn’t taken a global pandemic for me to come to terms with that.

Networking Doesn’t Have to Be Gross

I used to have a very negative visceral response to the word “networking”. It immediately made me think of someone really sleazy who brags all the time and forces everybody to take their business cards. I’d hear people say that networking is an important way to advance your career, especially if you’re a freelancer, but I refused to believe it. I was convinced that it would be terrible and I’d hate it.

It turns out that networking isn’t really what I thought it was. At least not these days. It can be a lot more authentic than approaching people with an explicit intent to sell, sell, sell. You’re really just making friends and sharing ideas with people in your industry. It’s fun and sociable and you won’t go away feeling gross about yourself. I promise.

You Have to Market Yourself

Considering that my specialist area is marketing translation, it’s pretty surprising that it took me so long to realise that marketing yourself properly is the key to people taking you seriously. Who’s going to employ a marketing translator who can’t market themself? It took me over a year to create my own website, but that ended up being a real turning point for me.

Branding myself like a professional gave me a lot more confidence. It forced me to really think about the type of work I want to do and what I stand for. Whereas before I’d been kind of winging it a bit, I suddenly felt like what I was doing was official. It made me really take myself seriously and I’ve benefited from that mindset shift ever since. 

Being a freelancer means that you really have to expand your skillset; becoming your own marketing department, accountant and project manager. That was something I found really daunting at first, but I don’t anymore.

Be Firm about What You Want

This is a lesson I’ve had to learn again and again in various ways. The translation industry is crowded and competitive. Between agencies trying to make maximum profit by underpaying translators and clients with unrealistic translation budgets, there’s a lot that can go wrong if you aren’t firm about what you want. A lack of regulation in certain areas of the market means that it is, regrettably, often up to you make sure that you don’t agree to arrangements that are simply exploitative.

You have to set really clear boundaries and communicate them to potential clients. This means being firm about your minimum rate and only agreeing to payment systems that you are comfortable with. Clients who are unfamiliar with the translation industry will often have unrealistic expectations, so you have to be really good at explaining what it is you do and how you do it.

I’ve also become a lot better at spotting suspicious translation requests. Basically, anybody who wants you to agree a fixed price for translating something without revealing the full wordcount of the text should make you very wary. Similarly, I’m often sceptical when agencies are looking for combined translation/transcription services. You have no way of verifying the quality of the audio until you’ve agreed to work for them and, since you don’t know how fast the speaker will be speaking (or if they have a really strong regional accent that you’re unfamiliar with!) there’s no way to ensure you’re getting paid your minimum word rate. 

            Ultimately, I’ve learnt to say “no” when I have concerns or I don’t like the sound of something. You have to trust that another project will always come along and that you’ll only regret it, if you settle for less than you’re worth.

So, to conclude, my first year and half of freelancing hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve definitely learnt some valuable lessons from the obstacles I’ve encountered along the way. In many ways, that’s the main thing I wish I’d known when I first started freelancing: there are going to be setbacks, things won’t be perfect all the time, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be worth it in the long run. Ultimately, I really appreciate the freedom and flexibility I’ve gained from being able to create my own schedule. I also feel like it’s really increased my confidence and expanded my skillset – and that’s not something I’d trade for anything.