Jobs in translation/editing

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Dear All,

Over the past couple of months I have been looking into the possibility of working here as a German to English translator or editor/proof reader. I plan on doing an IoLET Diploma of Translation (anybody done this? is it worth it?) in January to boost my chances of finding something. I moved to Zurich two years ago and have been working as a teaching assistant ever since. Now that I am coming to the end of my contract, I have been searching for companies who may employ translators and jobs which require both English and German. It's proving more difficult than I first imagined!

Does anybody has any tips from working in this area or knows of any companies base in or near Zurich that are hiring or that often hire translators? If so, any information would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Chris

2
Hello and welcome to the forum!

May be this could help: www.astti.ch

I second your opinion that a diploma in translation would be an asset. The ones I know are from ETI in Geneva. http://www.unige.ch/traduction-inter...ion/index.html

Good luck !

3
To be a professional freelance translator you need to have translated a certain amount of text to be credible, something like 100k words! If you are just starting out as a translator, this may seem like a chicken and egg situation but you could start building up this amount by doing pro bono translations for NGOs etc. The UN has a volunteer program for example: www.unv.org

4
The Institute of Linguists Diploma in Translation is one of the standard qualifications, you can do it by distance learning. You will need to be at near-native level in your source language (ideally with a degree in that language), a native speaker of your target language and have knowledge of at least one (preferably more) specialist fields. It is debatable whether translation is an art or a science - probably both - but as I'm sure you realise, it's far more than just opening a dictionary and substituting one word for another. I suggest you find some German texts (I'm loath to suggest newspaper articles but they are easily available) and sit down and get some practice translating them. When you've done your first draft, walk away from it for a couple of days then come back and read the English version alone - does it sound like it was originally written in English? If so - congratulations, job done. If not, you need to refine your output.

I'm sorry to say, staff translation jobs were like hen's teeth twenty years ago - it's worse now. You might - with a first degree and a master's or DipTrans - find a staff project management / in-house translator job in a translation agency.

The vast majority of translators are freelance, and as the previous poster alluded to, getting started is a very catch 22 situation. There is also an awful lot of pressure on prices, deadlines, productivity, quality and "if you don't reply to an e-mail enquiry within 15 minutes you've lost the job". Granted I may be a little cynical after 20 years

You might want to look at the web sites of the British Chartered Institute of Linguists and Institute of Translation and Interpreting (links below) - they have quite a lot of info on getting started in the industry.

www.iol.org.uk

www.iti.org.uk

Pro bono/volunteer work is definitely a way of getting the initial experience. The trick is to know when it's time to charge for your time and skills - for instance there are a lot of posts on EF looking for "translators" [sic] but who are only willing to pay e.g. CHF 50 for a job that will take up at least half a day of your time, not realising (at least I hope it's ignorance!) the skill and responsibility involved. You might also want to consider looking into professional indemnity insurance.

(I should add, it's perfectly fine to offer work for beer/beer money providing you a) say so at the outset so people can judge whether or not they are prepared to do that and b) appreciate that you may not get a professional job and there is probably a heightened risk of your suffering as a result. It is entirely your prerogative to assess the relative risk, cost and benefit of the various options available to you).

HTH

5
Hello and welcome to the forum Chris

I would like to thank eng ch for this useful post with a lot of information.

I have been working as professional translator/interpreter for a long time now. And I can confirm many issues outlined by eng ch.

I run a small language service provider company and my experience is:

There are far too many persons who apply for a free-lance translation position, most of whom are not serious. They simply do not understand the nature of this business. When I send a job request, they answer about three days later asking for details. By that time the job is long gone. In this business the request is always URGENT! Most customers want the job done “yesterday” and get a quotation “now”. The faster you move the more successful you are.

Few tips:

The most vital skills for a free-lance translator are: communication, speed, reliability, accuracy and knowledge of the topic. So be curious and never stop learning.

If you mess-up a job once you will have a customer who never comes back. This country is a small country and this customer may talk about you to 10 potential customers.

If you want to set up your own business you have to be an entrepreneur. Moreover, just like in any other business you will have to have a sound business plan, a corporate identity and you have to concentrate on a niche market first, since you lack experience and resources. Start small but think big.

If you do direct mailing to translation companies, please do not send mass mailings. A proper address is key. Don’t write “Dear Sir or Madam”, if you apply to a one-man company where the address clearly indicates a name. Basic rules apply just as in any application for a job.

Also, do apply to colleagues who provide the same language pair as you. The chance that they have a project and need help is huge. Keep in touch with the ones you have already contacted. This is a people’s business and people normally buy a service from someone they know. Be aware that you may need up to 18 months to earn as much as in a full time job, provided you are persistent.

And, last but not least is Certification. Get certified. Please do not write “I am a language teacher applying for the translation position” the only chance a non-translator gets a job in my agency is when he or she is professional, i.e. engineer, lawyer, medical doctor, etc. and the text requires professional knowledge. Translating is a profession just as any other profession too. You need good education and experience to become an expert. Just to know the language is not enough.

Good luck and all the best

6
romainesol , maybe we should talk sometime

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Thank you all for your input. I'm looking at a number of different career paths and translation is just one of them. I enjoy translating so it may be something which I perhaps do in addition to any other job that I find. Either way I might get certified anyway - can't look bad on the CV and the practice will improve my German further. Thanks for all the website tips as well they're very handy.

Ciggies

8
www.cls-communication.com is another company doing translations.

9
Let me give you some tips from my personal experience. I'll need to start at the beginning. In 1993 at the age of 55 I gave notice and left my life-long job because quite simply I was working too much and saw no way out. My idea was simply to give English lessons at home. This work developed so quickly that in a short time I was earning enough to live from. I was then contacted by a small firm that had a lot documentation in German but wanted it all in English. I have to admit I got the work because I gave a price based on time and not words or lines. The subjects to be translated were not in any way complicated, nevertheless I invested in a number of specialised books available for translating needs. These proved to be worth their weight in gold.

Afterwards, when I realised that here was a market I could cope with, I'd go out with my newly-printed visiting cards and 'knock on doors'. Or I'd write directly to firms after finding out just who the right person would be.

In the meantime my English lessons had developed into a small school and was running easily.

To cut a short story even shorter, I retired after completing 323 translation orders which included a 300+ page biography, a stage play, a Radio Basel talk and a host of short stories.

I never took anything which I knew I couldn't cope with and I avoided working for translating agencies - it's not worth it.

The orders won't come to you - you have to go and get them.

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Thanks for sharing Busby

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Hi eng_ch

let's meet up then sometime???? I see that you are here in Richterswil, is it right? I am in Zug, not far. It is just 20 min via Hirzel :-)

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Hi Busby

I really enjoyed your story.

I know a guy who just for fun tried to become a fashion designer and he found himslef, after just a couple of years, jetting around from Roma to Paris, London and NY and earning millions :-D

He never anticipated to become someone famous he just wanted to try out and to play around a little. Besides, he likes design. After few years he became tired of the world of fashion and got involved into spiritual decvelopment.

BTW the story's ending is that he has become a Guru now after spending 20 last years in India and other spiritual places. Now he runs an esoteric retreat (BTW this retreat is beautifully designed too

13
I work for this company as a translator. To work as a freelancer, you'll need to have some sort of qualification in translation, otherwise your CV will go in the bin.

I agree with the person above about having to take translation seriously as a profession. So many bilingual people rock up thinking that translation is going to be easy and produce absolutely awful texts. If you're going to be a translator, it's something that you've got to dedicate yourself to. You can't just dip in and out of it, else you won't get much work.