Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Have you ever thought of giving up on translation? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
| |
Things have gone well for me and I’ve never thought of giving up a profession I really like, even when I was starting out and I had just a single excellent client: a Belgian translation agency who gave me regular work (circa 150 pages every month) very well paid and on time until suddenly for no fault of mine their contract was cancelled and I found myself with no work at all! It was quite a blow and a hard lesson, but the fact is that I'm still here alive and kicking… | | | neilmac Spain Local time: 16:33 Spanish to English + ...
I like what I do, and it pays my rent. | | | Amir Arzani Iran Local time: 19:03 English to Persian (Farsi) + ...
Yes, I do burn out quite quickly even though I'm still young. However, there aren't that many job opportunities in Iran to begin with and I'm already good at what I do so might as well stick around until it becomes unbearable. Still, I am pursuing other lines of work (Programming, Video Editing) so that I can diversify my options further down the line. | |
|
|
It is the best thing that ever happened to me. Well, among a couple of other things
[Edited at 2018-09-14 10:11 GMT] | | | Other: not really | Sep 14, 2018 |
I'm past "retirement" age and can't give it up. Besides the money, when I get a job I enjoy (like the one I'm doing now), stopping just isn't an option. On the other hand, I do need more time to complete my work. I can't be rushed anymore. So I'm turning down jobs with crazy deadlines, tricky formatting, PDFs that I can't see to read, and topics that don't interest me as much, even if they are in my areas of expertise. | | | Edward Potter Spain Local time: 16:33 Member (2003) Spanish to English + ...
neilmac wrote: I like what I do, and it pays my rent. That says it all. It is a very nice job that brings in enough, and even more sometimes. | | | EvaVer (X) Local time: 16:33 Czech to French + ...
First time some years ago, when things were going badly for me. Now I am OK and could retire, but it seems easier to go on than to explain why I won't. When will I retire? When a job is boring (like just now!) or a client difficult, it feels like in the next 5 minutes. | |
|
|
Barely a day passes without me wondering why I didn't become a forex trader, prime minister, professional snowboarder, mathematical genius, gigolo, doctor/vet, international assassin, plumber, whatever. | | |
Yes when I realized that any freelance job in Italy is a nightmare, No when I thought that I love this job, and anyway no other in-house position would be ok for me (briefly: After such a long time as a freelancer, I don't think I could work in an office) | | | DZiW (X) Ukraine English to Russian + ... a magic circle | Sep 14, 2018 |
I already work as an interpreter, only part-time as a translator. Working with people == good communication skills == good contacts == good biz. The more contacts, the better the skills, the more flourishing is the biz. Working with papers... Alas, translators are working mostly with documents. Not a wonder even a decent specialist is often but a poor businessman, because he has too little exp in dealing with people and running the biz prope... See more I already work as an interpreter, only part-time as a translator. Working with people == good communication skills == good contacts == good biz. The more contacts, the better the skills, the more flourishing is the biz. Working with papers... Alas, translators are working mostly with documents. Not a wonder even a decent specialist is often but a poor businessman, because he has too little exp in dealing with people and running the biz properly, let alone few contacts... ▲ Collapse | | | Mario Freitas Brazil Local time: 12:33 Member (2014) English to Portuguese + ...
I worked for 20 years in other areas and took just too long to dedicate myself entirely to translating. Now that I have finally done that, I shall never give it up. I have proven to myself that the other areas are all a lot worse. | |
|
|
| Ricki Farn Germany Local time: 16:33 English to German Follow your dream | Sep 14, 2018 |
Chris S wrote: Barely a day passes without me wondering why I didn't become a forex trader, prime minister, professional snowboarder, mathematical genius, gigolo, doctor/vet, international assassin, plumber, whatever. Go ahead, you're still young! (Me - no, I would never think of giving up translation, it's the only thing I want to do. Apart from maybe following sunrays on the flokati, but the competition from kitties is too fierce.) | | | It took me long enough to get here... | Sep 14, 2018 |
But never mind, I did. The fact that in principle I can drop it any day - or after the next deadline... keeps me watching out for the next job! Even today, when some Norwegian journalist tried to explain how she wanted me to write English... Fair enough, she had written an exciting, carefully structured piece in Norwegian, so I tried to catch the style in English, and the result did not look as if it had come from a school textbook. I don't use semicolons the same way a... See more But never mind, I did. The fact that in principle I can drop it any day - or after the next deadline... keeps me watching out for the next job! Even today, when some Norwegian journalist tried to explain how she wanted me to write English... Fair enough, she had written an exciting, carefully structured piece in Norwegian, so I tried to catch the style in English, and the result did not look as if it had come from a school textbook. I don't use semicolons the same way as the Norwegians, either. To be fair, some of her suggestions were fine, but I certainly stuck to my guns with a lot of my text, and found a third option in some places to humour her. Who would expect a mere native to have any ideas about writing English? One day I'll decide I am too old for this game, but I'm fully booked all next week! ▲ Collapse | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Have you ever thought of giving up on translation? Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
| Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |