| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Projecting oneself as a translator without areas of expertise Thread poster: Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez
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| Foot in the door | Feb 10, 2022 |
Kickstarting your business activity requires knowing what you are going to sell. Selling the fact that you think you have nothing special to sell is probably not the best sales pitch you have to offer. You need to get your foot in the door. Indeed, you might need to do this several times and even kick a few doors down. But don't waste your time forcing your way through doors that are already open. Use what you know, what you have, look for transversal skills that will be relevant in fields you a... See more Kickstarting your business activity requires knowing what you are going to sell. Selling the fact that you think you have nothing special to sell is probably not the best sales pitch you have to offer. You need to get your foot in the door. Indeed, you might need to do this several times and even kick a few doors down. But don't waste your time forcing your way through doors that are already open. Use what you know, what you have, look for transversal skills that will be relevant in fields you are interested in exploring. In my experience, the language skills themselves must be expected. It is the other stuff with those skills that will get you going. What do you know? Who do you know? What would you like to know? What ancillary skills do you have? What unusual skills do you have that few others have? What combinations of skills do you have that the person behind you in the queue is unlikely to have? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:51
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:
I guess that most of us started without a clear area of expertise or you tried to specialized in one or several areas but never received jobs on that fields and ended up in another area of expertise as the years went by.
You guess wrong. By specialising in a particular field (and its related fields) you will attract better clients, better rates, and more interesting, rewarding work; but it will take time to establish yourself and you will not be receiving dozens of jobs every day.
| | | | Adieu 
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Sometimes it CAN be dozens.
I think I just broke a personal record. 32 job offers yesterday ($50 minimum, average price slightly over $100).
All specialized jobs, all from genuine regular clients, none of them wildly unfamiliar new stuff that would require confusing research into the unknown.
Took just 3 of them because I'm fully booked and quite tired already.
Specialization isn't ALL fun and rosy, but it sure as hell helps.
Tom in London wrote:
Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:
I guess that most of us started without a clear area of expertise or you tried to specialized in one or several areas but never received jobs on that fields and ended up in another area of expertise as the years went by.
You guess wrong. By specialising in a particular field (and its related fields) you will attract better clients, better rates, and more interesting, rewarding work; but it will take time to establish yourself and you will not be receiving dozens of jobs every day.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:51
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Adieu wrote:
job offers yesterday ($50 minimum, average price slightly over $100).
All specialized jobs, all from genuine regular clients
What is your area of specialisation? Your profile says nothing.
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Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Good job security in a plague year.
Cleared out my profile since I don't have time for new clients anyway.
Less junk mail now, though.
PS to be clear, that WAS a record. It's usually more like 5 - 10, occasionally 15 - 20 offers. Just enough to cherrypick topics or milk minimums on lazy days.
Tom in London wrote:
Adieu wrote:
job offers yesterday ($50 minimum, average price slightly over $100).
All specialized jobs, all from genuine regular clients
What is your area of specialisation? Your profile says nothing.
[Edited at 2022-02-11 13:49 GMT]
| | | | | I can totally relate | Feb 12, 2022 |
I am hoping to get a clearer idea on what my interests are along the way...
| | | | | 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 » Projecting oneself as a translator without areas of expertise | CafeTran Espresso |
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