Are Translation Tests Helpful?

Are Translation Tests Helpful? Like any other industry, being a rookie at freelancing is a tough time and you are made to put up with many uphill tasks. Once such task that every freelancer, searching for jobs, faces is the ordeal of taking up tests for translation. But, does taking up such tests really result in getting you jobs is the golden question. Different agencies handle the proposition of hiring people to do their jobs in different manner. Some just go by the CV you have provided while others resort to screening using samples that you have provided or by checking with some references that you have given. Yet there are others that ask you to take up a test free of charge for evaluating you. From the agency’s point of view, such tests are justified saying that samples provided may not necessarily be yours while reference response can many a times be questionable. For this reason, they have to take up a test for evaluation. They say that they cannot provide a response to every person who takes up a test. While there are agencies that do provide a feedback to tests that are taken, there is an equal or a higher number of agencies that do not do this. For this reason, many freelancers get dejected by not receiving proper responses and in several cases receiving devious replies. This brings us back to the question- Do such tests result in providing you jobs? While it is a general opinion that such tests are nothing but a waste of time, there definitely is a small percentage of people who claim that they have landed up jobs by taking up tests before starting out. So, the proposition of taking up a test or not is a decision that has to be made by you. The only kind of safeguarding that you can do from your side is to try and check the credentials of the agency to see if you are not being taken for a ride by taking the prescribed test.

How to set Freelance translation rates?

How to set Freelance translation rates? How to set Freelance translation rates? I am often asked by beginners either fresh from college or from those who have just entered the translation world. It does not matter who you are. But the fact is that you are a beginner. And as a beginner, you need to decide very soon how much you should be charging. The question could be formulated in a different fashion and that is how low can your rate go before it’s not worth doing a translation? You should do some thing else which is more remunerative rather than translation. Here are few suggestions on setting Freelance translation rates 1. Start at just about the minimum for your language pair and economic circumstances (where you live in the world, standard of living etc), then increase gradually as you get more experience and clients. 2. In some countries there are translators associations where they try to establish a minimum rate for translators. You can visit their website or go to their office to enquire about the minimum rate if at all they something like that established. It seems that in Brazil, the translators association has established a minimum rate. It is another thing how many beginner translators can successfully charge that rate to their clients or agencies. But then, it gives a fairly good idea about a starting rate in that country. 3. Another way is use Rate Calculator in ProZ.com site. You can play around with it. Though is quite simple but it does provide a preliminary idea about rates. 4. As a beginner you do not get many chances to receive an assignment, because there are established colleagues, with years of experience and translation degrees. You are pretty much in a difficult situation. And then there are those colleagues who charge so little per word, that your rate seems very high. But as a safe bet, a straight forward suggestion could be –“charge less in the beginning”. Start getting jobs then start increasing your rates for new customers. Keep your old customers happy with old rates. After some period when you have sufficient jobs explain the situation to your old clients and ask for a rise. But a word of caution, you certainly shouldn't charge less than what would constitute a living wage for your efforts. 5. If you can deliver high quality work on time and you have specialist expertise you may charge more even though you may be just a beginner in this market.

My favourite translation blogs

I read a lot of blogs by freelancers in general and translators in particular. Here is one of them. I shall continue to bring more such blogs for you. Do come back to this site. Bookmark and subscrible to it. Masked Translator. The purpose of this blog is to discuss issues in the translation industry and in the practice of translation--issues that are hard to discuss with colleagues, clients or translation agencies because translation is not always a field of directness or honesty.

Points to Getting Jobs as a Freelancer

photo credit Prakhar Points to Getting Jobs as a Freelancer Being a fresher to freelancing can be very intimidating and daunting, especially when you are trying very hard and not being able to land up with any projects. The first and foremost thing that you must remember is that you are not alone over here. No one usually lands up with a silver spoon in their mouth. Every freelancer when they began did go through this phase. Here are few pointers that will help you in planning out the right approach that you need to adopt to help you out. 1. As a fresher, you need to establish your credibility in the arena that you want to flourish in. You should remember that you are a newcomer in the sea of other freelancers and you should work towards measuring up to them. 2. Start by creating a good C.V. that has up-to-date information regarding you. Add important keywords related to your work in the resume. Try to impress the person reading your C.V. by keeping it polished but be honest. Do not falsify your resume in any way because your lies are bound to come out later. 3. Go looking for work. The advent of the internet has made it possible for you to find jobs on a global front. Check out the various websites offering freelancing work. You can start out initially by taking a free membership provided in many sites and then switch over to a premium membership later. 4. You can even try some agencies that may be present in the city that you live in by cold calling. 5. Never undersell yourself. If you believe that you can land up a job sooner or later stick to your estimates. Another alternative is that you can offer value added services such as proofreading, editing, etc within the quoted price. 6. Check on ways and means to make your presence felt. There are many forums and activity boards on the websites that will be able to help you do so. 7. Last and not the least, you need lots of patience. If you believe in yourself, it is only a matter of time when you will land up with that first job and many more to come.