Poll: Would you recommend the translator's profession to others? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Would you recommend the translator's profession to others?".
This poll was originally submitted by Valters Feists. View the poll results »
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:11
Spanish to English
+ ...
Horses for courses. In any case, in coherence witth a particular bugbear of mine, I would certainly only recommend it to people planning to translate into their own native language/s.
[Edited at 2011-05-21 14:14 GMT]
| | | | Allison Wright (X) 
Portugal
Local time: 17:11
In real life (apart from the 9 fellow students in my translation degree course), I have never met another individual with the talent, dedication, and innate PASSION that I believe are essential prerequisites. If I did, I would give such a person every possible assistance.
I am, of course, fortunate to have met like-minded individuals here.
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 13:11
Portuguese to English
+ ...
If a person seems to have the language skills and is interested, yes. In fact, I have already mentored two people and encouraged another to give it a try. The first one translated for around a year and then dropped it because things started to pick up with his preferred career; the second one did one long job and never got paid, so he dropped it; the third never did much of anything with the information I offered, and went on to do something else. You never know how it's going to work out, but I... See more If a person seems to have the language skills and is interested, yes. In fact, I have already mentored two people and encouraged another to give it a try. The first one translated for around a year and then dropped it because things started to pick up with his preferred career; the second one did one long job and never got paid, so he dropped it; the third never did much of anything with the information I offered, and went on to do something else. You never know how it's going to work out, but I still like helping and encouraging people. ▲ Collapse
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Mark Thompson
Brazil
Local time: 13:11
Member
Portuguese to English
neilmac wrote:
Horses for courses. In any case, in coherence witth a particular bugbear of mine, I would certainly only recommend it to people planning to translate into their own native language/s.
[Edited at 2011-05-21 14:14 GMT]
I'm right with you there.
| | | | DianeGM
Local time: 19:11
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
I think it can be a good, even a great career, for a person with the right skills, talents, drive, attitude, etc. ....
| | | | #JuliaC#
Local time: 18:11
German to Italian
+ ...
But only because I think that when you find your own way, your perfect job, you're sooo happy to do it (even if you do not earn that much) that you would like the all world to know what great job you are doing...
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:11
Flemish to English
+ ...
| Would you...? | May 22, 2011 |
So much talk about PASSION,whereas freelance translation is a BUSINESS and business is all about figures and money.
If a youngster comes to me and asks whether (s)he should become a freelance translator, I would advise him/her to think twice and ask the following questions:
Would you really like to spend three years of your life on a school for translators only to find out that career-chances on the real job-market are very limited and that you will be amo... See more So much talk about PASSION,whereas freelance translation is a BUSINESS and business is all about figures and money.
If a youngster comes to me and asks whether (s)he should become a freelance translator, I would advise him/her to think twice and ask the following questions:
Would you really like to spend three years of your life on a school for translators only to find out that career-chances on the real job-market are very limited and that you will be among + thousand people competing for a job at institutions which really offer translation as a career?
Would really like to work against the clock to deliver on time and when you have delivered on time, chase payment of your invoices, which are paid after 30 days at best, but in some countries after 60 or 90 days or even more (beware of some Italians).
Would you like buy an expensive tool only to give discounts for sentences which are x% the same or occurred in a previous translation, and in doing so make the intermediary, called agency grow by earning interest on the effort of you and your colleagues and on the interest of your money (and many other colleagues) waiting for say 30 days on their account.
Would you really like to compete in a(n) a virtual environment where every Joe/Jane Doe who has a pc/laptop can call himself/herself translator.
Will technological evolution (a combination of CAT, Databases, M.T., speech-recognition and robotics) not make your profession obsolete by 2067, which is the retirement age of a youngster of 20 in 2011, who starts out in life.
What a great (?) job you are doing??????????????????????
Would you like to practice a profession which is looked upon with a lot of ???? by the public and considered a job which you do because you are not able to do somthing else?.
Would you like start a career (??????) without a career-ladder?
Do you realize that 20 years experience as a freelance translator has no added value in the corporate world? 20 years in say banking or a legal profession has.
Do you like subjective nitpicking on words as an excuse to get paid less?
Do you like to work long hours and during week-ends?
If so, by all means, become a translator.
If not study law, science or quantitative courses. With those courses, the sky is the limit.
If you want to learn languages or improve the ones you know go and study those courses in countries where they are the main language.
[Edited at 2011-05-22 15:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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wonita (X)
China
Local time: 12:11
because every one knows in his heart what he wants to do.
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