Off topic: Starting out as a freelancer or joining a company / agency first Thread poster: Tim Schulze
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Tim Schulze 
Germany
Local time: 07:23
English to German
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Hello, everyone! (This will be my first post, so I am curious as to how this will go haha)
As for my question, or dare I say "asking for advice" almost, I was wondering what you think about the two following scenarios that reflect my current and future situation.
But first, some background information:
- I am 22, German and currently doing my bachelor's degree at a German public university in a degree called "Language, Literature and Culture", whereas English and... See more Hello, everyone! (This will be my first post, so I am curious as to how this will go haha)
As for my question, or dare I say "asking for advice" almost, I was wondering what you think about the two following scenarios that reflect my current and future situation.
But first, some background information:
- I am 22, German and currently doing my bachelor's degree at a German public university in a degree called "Language, Literature and Culture", whereas English and Spanish are my two majors. I am currently in my fifth semester, so I will most likely graduate within a year to a year and a half.
- As for my translation experience, my language pairs include Japanese to English / German and English to German. I have been doing mostly small-scale translation or proofreading projects, ranging from several hundred to several tens of thousands of Japanese characters. As I have started doing freelancing like this since around February 2020, however, I'd say I have translated and proofread several hundreds of thousands of Japanese characters by now. Mostly, but not limited to, adult content and traveling articles. The rates were and are rather low with 1-3 Yen per Japanese character. But as gaining experience was and is still the goal, I don't mind that rate too much. All hail the portfolio!
- As for how this was done, almost all of the requests came via the Japanese freelancing website "Coconala (ココナラ)". My Japanese girlfriend actually created the profile for us there, dealt and negotiated with customers, whereas I only did the actual translation and proofreading. We decided that she will get 30% and I will get 70% of the money we earnt. But money matters aside, what this obviously means, is that I have very little actual experience in terms of dealing with clients, marketing myself, etc.
Now, as for the main topic, it is important to mention that I would like to live in Japan once I graduate from university. Girlfriend aside, I have lived and worked there for about 9 months after graduating from highschool and really liked it. Maybe not my entire life, but I could definitely see myself spending my twenties in Japan.
In other words, I would also need to find a way to support myself financially in Japan. My first idea was to become a freelance translator based in Japan. By the time I graduate from university, I should have about 2,5 to 3 years of experience of translating, and my official JLPT N1 certificate in hand. Whether I would find a guarantor for the visa, I don't know. But I could alternatively also directly join a Japanese company or agency as an in-house or remote translator. However, this is where my girlfriend suggested that I might be better off joining a German company first.
These are the two scenarios mentioned (far) above:
1. Try to establish myself in Japan after graduating / Join a Japanese company / agency
2. Join a German company / agency
My girlfriend suggested joining a German company, instead of freelancing or joining a company / agency in Japan for the following two reasons.
1. To learn the necessary skills.
2. Japanese companies / agencies might take advantage of me, seeing that I'm a fresh university graduate, in addition to being a foreigner
Now, nevermind skills related to translating itself, being a freelancer requires even more skills, so I can see where she is coming from. And albeit it being a small sample, we also have a mutual foreign (to Japan) friend in the IT field, who received laughable pay offers in comparison to his Japanese equals.
As such, I do value her input regarding this matter quite a lot. However, I am not someone to easily give up, and I remain determined to find my way to Japan. That being said, even this very website and its community alone have by far much more experience and knowledge than my girlfriend and I combined concerning this matter. As such, I had hoped to gain some valuable insights from the professionals here.
If you have read until this point, then thank you very much for taking the time to read all of this, and if possible, I'd be really grateful if you'd also be willing to share your thoughts in regard to this matter.
All the best ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
| Working in-house first, then freelancing | Dec 19, 2021 |
IMHO, it's better to work in-house first, if you had the opportunity. The benefits you'll get are:
- connections
- you can learn about business and marketing while you're working as an in-house translator
- having access to industry-grade tools w/o paying a single dime
- having access to more areas of expertise, if you can put up with it
- a stronger portfolio when you started freelancing, and most importantly...
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... See more IMHO, it's better to work in-house first, if you had the opportunity. The benefits you'll get are:
- connections
- you can learn about business and marketing while you're working as an in-house translator
- having access to industry-grade tools w/o paying a single dime
- having access to more areas of expertise, if you can put up with it
- a stronger portfolio when you started freelancing, and most importantly...
- a minimum wage as your safety net, and health insurance from your job.
Because you see, we freelancers are having a war with abysmal rates. Your income as a freelancer may not be enough to sustain a decent life abroad.
As to where you should work, I suggest to stay in Germany. From what I've heard, Germany is one of the very few places in the world where freelancing is regulated. It should be helpful when you just started freelancing. Plus, it'll be easier for you to reach out to your family members when things were going south. Then after you know the ins and outs of it, and personally know several people who can help you, you can move to wherever your heart desires.
Just my 2 cents.
P.S.
If you asked why I don't work as an in-house translator myself, it's because I'm much more productive when working alone in the silence. That, and being around people just irritates me.
[Edited at 2021-12-19 18:00 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 07:23
French to English
I agree fully with Novian.
Working in-house, you'll have sales staff and project managers doing what your girlfriend has been doing up to now for you, and you can concentrate on honing your translation skills, branching out into various fields, finding which fields are of interest to you, or come easily to you, maybe get training on software and, if it's a half-way decent company with people proofreading translations, you'll be able to learn from the more experienced translators whose wor... See more I agree fully with Novian.
Working in-house, you'll have sales staff and project managers doing what your girlfriend has been doing up to now for you, and you can concentrate on honing your translation skills, branching out into various fields, finding which fields are of interest to you, or come easily to you, maybe get training on software and, if it's a half-way decent company with people proofreading translations, you'll be able to learn from the more experienced translators whose work you'll proofread, and also learn from the more experienced proofreaders who'll be proofreading your work.
Make sure to link up with as many people as possible on LinkedIn, everyone you come in contact with basically. I did that while working in-house, then about 90% of the work I did in my first year of free-lancing came from former colleagues who'd moved on to different agencies. Some clients didn't react to my email for a while, but they all seemed to hold on to my details, because one contacted me for the first time after four years!
If you work at the agency rather than at home, it'll also be an opportunity to learn a bit about the non-translation side of freelance translating: you'll see how estimates are drawn up, how the sales staff negotiate prices and deadlines, etc. I was glad to have spent time working at an agency for that: I basically reproduced the same simple Excel file they used to log jobs and keep track of billing. ▲ Collapse
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Freelancing may sound easy, but it is not until you learn the ropes. So, I wouldn’t advise you to start freelancing in a different country as the first year is always hard enough without the added difficulty of moving as far as to another continent! Besides that, as far as I know, most countries don’t issue a work permit visa to first-time freelancers unless you have a sponsor or demonstrate having at least money enough to support yourself for some time (6 months? 1 year?). This being said, ... See more Freelancing may sound easy, but it is not until you learn the ropes. So, I wouldn’t advise you to start freelancing in a different country as the first year is always hard enough without the added difficulty of moving as far as to another continent! Besides that, as far as I know, most countries don’t issue a work permit visa to first-time freelancers unless you have a sponsor or demonstrate having at least money enough to support yourself for some time (6 months? 1 year?). This being said, the solution will be to find either a traineeship or a job in a German translation agency or an international company or organization. Have you thought of a traineeship in an EU institution? Each year (things might have changed because of Covid-19) most of the EU institutions organize traineeships for young university graduates, each lasting usually between 3 and 5 months, some are paid.
https://traineeships.ec.europa.eu/
[Edited at 2021-12-20 09:31 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Tim Schulze
Germany
Local time: 07:23
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER | Reply to replies | Dec 20, 2021 |
First of all, Novian, Key and Teresa, thank you very much for replying to my forum post! I really appreciate it!
Reading your opinions in regard to this matter made me realize that I was definitely a tad too optimistic. If three people answer, and all three are in unanimous agreement about joining a company / agency first, then I doubt it would make sense to try and force freelancing, especially abroad. Be it the skills or connections necessary to work independently, I don't think I... See more First of all, Novian, Key and Teresa, thank you very much for replying to my forum post! I really appreciate it!
Reading your opinions in regard to this matter made me realize that I was definitely a tad too optimistic. If three people answer, and all three are in unanimous agreement about joining a company / agency first, then I doubt it would make sense to try and force freelancing, especially abroad. Be it the skills or connections necessary to work independently, I don't think I have them yet.
I also appreciate that you went into detail as for why it makes sense, and also concerning your own personal experience so far! And above that, recommending me other valuable options and resources like the traineeship, for instance!
Once again, I truly appreciate it! This has been very informative!
Best wishes,
Tim
P.S.
I wanted to reply to everyone individually, but I wasn't sure if quoting was the appropriate way of doing that, so I opted for replying to everyone at once.
[Edited at 2021-12-20 14:21 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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You’re welcome! Good luck…
Teresa
P.S. By the way, from where I stand it looks like you are very lucky to have your girlfriend’s support and good sense…
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I’ve just found out that the Delegation of the European Union in Japan organizes funded internships of up to 6 months. The last call was cancelled due to Covid and I don’t know when the next one will take place, but you could get in touch with them and find out. You’re probably in a very good ... See more I’ve just found out that the Delegation of the European Union in Japan organizes funded internships of up to 6 months. The last call was cancelled due to Covid and I don’t know when the next one will take place, but you could get in touch with them and find out. You’re probably in a very good position to be accepted…
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/japan/74942/cancelled-funded-traineeship-young-graduates-eu-delegation-japan_en ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tim Schulze
Germany
Local time: 07:23
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hello Teresa and thank you once more for your kind words and help! I do consider myself very lucky for having my girlfriend in my life, as well!
As for the Delegetation to Japan, I will be sure to check it out, as it seems like an amazing opportunity! Thank you very much!
Kind regards,
Tim
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