About being a freelance translator

Since returning to Indonesia, I decided to work as a freelance translator. This was not an easy decision at first, because I had thought about going back to teaching on campus. But after calculating the strengths and weaknesses, I decided to become a full-time freelance translator working from home.

I happen to have indeed started translating since 2006, when I was in college. I also worked as an in-house translator at one of the translation agencies in Singapore. However, being a full-time freelance translator is a very different matter. There are various classic problems that must be solved before fully plungingfree become a freelance translator.

The first problem is finding a client or partner, someone who needs my services as a translator. Do I have to stand on the side of the road carrying a sign that says 'I am a translator, contact me'? Of course not, I might be mistaken for a stressful door-to-door sales marketing who decided to become a translator. Or should I contact old friends and ask them one by one to offer services? What a waste of time and energy. There are a number of tips and more effective ways that I can give to start becoming a freelance translator.

1. Join the local and international translator mailing list or, if interested, become a member of the HPI (Association of Indonesian Translators). By becoming part of a group of people who have the same interests and professions, we will be more up-to-date with information about the world of translation, and it is not impossible to get a job translating.

2. Take advantage of social media. Social media here means not only Facebook and Twitter, but also Linkedin. You can join international translation agencies and ask for connections or friendships with people of the same profession. Display an interesting profile and emphasize on your translating experience. If you are a beginner překlady translator, you can also include other information that is relevant to the world of translation, such as educational background, interests, certification, etc.

3. Join various international translator and linguistic community websites that usually open up bidding opportunities for translation work. On sites like this you can register to be a premium member (by paying annual / monthly fees) or become a regular member (free without any fees). Examples of popular sites are Translatorscafe.com ,

ProZ, Elance.com , Odesk.com , Translatorpub.com , etc. Being a premium member certainly has its own advantages, for example, you will be one of the first people to know about a job offer so you can do the bidding processfirst before regular members find out. Thus, your chance will also be greater to get the job. The cost to become a premium member varies usually around 90 - 110 USD per year. You can also choose a monthly premium membership at a lower cost, if you want to test the market first.

4. Create a professional business card that shows your profession as a translator. The appearance and first impression is very important in terms of looking for potential clients. Include an email address, telephone number, or even a website that can be contacted if someone needs your services as a translator. Whenever you meet the right people or who have the potential to become clients, don't hesitate to give your business card.

5. Arrange a CV that accentuates your profession as a translator. Well-arranged CVand certainly not alay and look like a fresh graduate who just learned to make a CVcan be a major pull factor for prospective clients. Why is that? If you want to get a job translating online from someone or agency that you don't know or know you, often a CV is the only thing that can be used as a benchmark for your quality as an interpreter. So, the better and more effective CV you make, the more likely you will get a job. But remember, make a CV honestly, don't risk your credibility by including information that is incorrect or relevant in the CV.

After the client's problem is solved, then you might face the next problem, which is the payment method. If you get a job from a local client, then bank transfer is very easy to do.

But what if you get a job from an international client? Bank transfers can still be done, but this can be a little complicated if the amount you will receive turns out to be smaller than a bank cut that will be taken directly from your account. In the remittance process , often the sender (in this case the client who needs translation services) imposes shipping costs to you. The fee varies at each local bank, which obviously can reach around 30-33 USD per shipment. To avoid cutting costs like this, you can consider creating a Paypal account using a credit card. The advantage is that you can first collect the payment you receive until the amount you want is met and then withdraw it by making a transfer of existing funds to the bank account number that you choose.

Another challenge that translators might face is learning or using tools or software commonly used to help translate. The software that I am referring to here is not Google Translate or other machine / automatic translator sites. The translation software works to help translators maintain consistency of translations, check grammar and spelling, save previously translated words for later use in different documents, and many other functions. All the uses of this software will help translators work more quickly, effectively and efficiently.


Why software can be a challenge for a translator? Because not all translators are familiar or know how to use it. There are some very popular softwares used, for example WordFast and Trados. To learn this, translators can download the trial version first and learn the tutorial on Youtube or the blog tutorial that you can google.