| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Were you nervous to start your career as a freelance translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Anna Borek 
Poland
Local time: 01:19
Polish to English
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| A bit anxious | Mar 4, 2016 |
When I started translating few months after graduating I was rather a bit anxious, than nervous - but I had nothing to lose. I wanted to become a translator and somehow I needed to gain an experience. The most difficult issue in that time was to find and create my own "base" of clients. Now after 7 years of cooperating with Proz I can honestly say that it was worth it. Although the income at first wasn't as high as my first expectations, however with time I gained more experience, clients, self-... See more When I started translating few months after graduating I was rather a bit anxious, than nervous - but I had nothing to lose. I wanted to become a translator and somehow I needed to gain an experience. The most difficult issue in that time was to find and create my own "base" of clients. Now after 7 years of cooperating with Proz I can honestly say that it was worth it. Although the income at first wasn't as high as my first expectations, however with time I gained more experience, clients, self-confidence and job offers. ▲ Collapse
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Probably because I came to translating later in life.
As a "mature" male, I had already had the old-style prostate check. After that, there isn't much that can make you nervous 
| | | | Ventnai
Spain
Local time: 01:19
German to English
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I made sure I had a good client base before becoming a freelance full-time. It took me about a year..
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:19
English to Spanish
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| Memory fails, mixed emotions | Mar 4, 2016 |
I think emotions are predicated on expectations. So is disappointment when an expectation that built up into excitement does not crystalize.
I was beyond excited as I started small pro bono translation jobs back in my university years. Then, being in New York City, without job prospects and with nothing but $300 to my name in cash, my expectations of landing a full-time translator job hit the proverbial brick wall and I had to lower them a bit.
When I finally found the... See more I think emotions are predicated on expectations. So is disappointment when an expectation that built up into excitement does not crystalize.
I was beyond excited as I started small pro bono translation jobs back in my university years. Then, being in New York City, without job prospects and with nothing but $300 to my name in cash, my expectations of landing a full-time translator job hit the proverbial brick wall and I had to lower them a bit.
When I finally found the opportunity of working as an in-house proofreader/translator for 4 (yes, four) hours twice a week, I was ecstatic. My pay? $8 an hour, barely enough to cover my NY subway tokens at the time (1991). How did I secure clients? I didn't, they started calling me on my free time for proofreading jobs, which lead to translation jobs. After a string of jobs in early or mid 1992, I quit that $8/hour job and started working independently and never looked back.
Another expectation in the heart of a newcomer like me: I was coming from Argentina, where a good (lower middle class) salary was $500 a month. To start earning that amount a week was a big eye opener. At one time, I didn't now what to make with the “extra” money. ▲ Collapse
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Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 04:49
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER
My transition into full-time freelancing was a rather long and fully planned. I was in a full-time job as a writer when it became less of writing and more of administration and mentoring, I lost interest and decided to look for other avenues. I tried freelance writing in Hindi and English for a long time but couldn't make much money out of it. Then I accidentally discovered the vast market of international translation through proz.com. I set myself the goal that the day I surpassed the income I ... See more My transition into full-time freelancing was a rather long and fully planned. I was in a full-time job as a writer when it became less of writing and more of administration and mentoring, I lost interest and decided to look for other avenues. I tried freelance writing in Hindi and English for a long time but couldn't make much money out of it. Then I accidentally discovered the vast market of international translation through proz.com. I set myself the goal that the day I surpassed the income I made from my job through translation fees, I will hang up my boots as a 9 to 5 office slave and instead became a fulltime translator. It took me a couple of years to achieve this. There was no compulsion to succeed or tension of failiure. So the transition was smooth and painless. I was also helped by the fact that my wife had a fulltime job and that made me secure from starvation in case my adventure in freelancing turned sour. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 20:19
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| No. It was worse later on... | Mar 6, 2016 |
It's amazing how we are self-confident when we are younger, which is a very positive factor. I was more insecure 20 years later, after a long pause, when I resumed my career as a translator, despite all the experience and knowledge, also in new fields, than when I started at about 20.
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