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Questions on setting up my ProZ.com profile
Téma indítója: Jon Brase
Jon Brase
Jon Brase  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:13
német - angol
+ ...
Feb 24, 2011

Hi all,

I've just graduated from college and am looking at starting a career in translation. I'm setting up a ProZ profile, and have some questions about what I should put in for certain items.

Question 1:

With regards to my specialty, working, and interest fields, how knowledgeable should I be to put something in each field? Does putting something in as a "specialty" or "working" field imply to an outsourcer that I have actually done translations in that f... See more
Hi all,

I've just graduated from college and am looking at starting a career in translation. I'm setting up a ProZ profile, and have some questions about what I should put in for certain items.

Question 1:

With regards to my specialty, working, and interest fields, how knowledgeable should I be to put something in each field? Does putting something in as a "specialty" or "working" field imply to an outsourcer that I have actually done translations in that field, or merely that I feel confident enough with the vocabulary of that field to do such translations, and that I'm interested in doing them?

I ask because I managed to get a pair of translation jobs at one point in the field of architecture, and thus can tell an outsourcer "I have experience with this sort of translation", but I feel more confident and interested in translation in computer- or linguistics-related fields.

Question 2:

With regards to the "years of experience" and "year started" entries: I spent the Fall 2009 / Spring 2010 school year in Germany, and managed to get the two architecture-related jobs mentioned above when the international office at the school I was at put their architecture department in touch with me. Aside from those two jobs, I've not done much in the way of translation work yet. So I'd probably put "zero" for years of experience, but should I put "2009" as the year I started, or would outsourcers think that was a bit strange? (Would it be better to say that I've just now started in 2011)?

Question 3:

With regards to rates, what is advisable for a new translator?

Question 4:

With regards to language pairs, I'm a native English speaker and I've listed German -> English as a language pair. When one lists a language pair from a second language into ones native language, is it generally advisable to list the opposite pair? ▲ Collapse
 
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Yasutomo Kanazawa  Identity Verified
Japán
Local time: 11:13
Tag (2005 óta)
angol - japán
+ ...
Reference to your first question Feb 24, 2011

As to your first question, maybe the link below might give you some ideas.

http://www.proz.com/forum/getting_established/191605-using_your_hobbys_alter_egos_or_side_projects_as_source_of_specialization.html#1680503

Good luck.
 
ibz
ibz  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:13
Tag (2007 óta)
angol - német
+ ...
Just wondering Feb 24, 2011

Hi Jon,

Just wondering: When you say you "just graduated from college", does that mean that you have a degree in translation or what exactly did you study?

Could you give some more details, please?

Regards,
Irene
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Hollandia
Local time: 04:13
Tag (2006 óta)
angol - afrikaans
+ ...
@Jon Feb 24, 2011

Jon Brase wrote:
With regards to my specialty, working, and interest fields, how knowledgeable should I be to put something in each field?


Not at all. The purpose of these fields is not to inform clients of what you know, but to tell ProZ.com of what kinds of job offers you want to be informed.

So I'd probably put "zero" for years of experience, but should I put "2009" as the year I started...?


Yes, that is how I understand it too. Some translators worked part-time for a while, or had a break from translation, or regard training in the middle of their careers to be years of no experience gained.

With regards to rates, what is advisable for a new translator?


High. As a new translator, you'll spend more time doing it, so your per-word rate should be higher to compensate for the higher number of hours worked. And you'd probably send many of your translations privately to one or two proofreaders, so that you can learn from your mistakes, and the cost of the proofreaders have to be included in your rate too.

To find your rate, google for "This page shows the aggregate translation rates for your language combinations." Check out what is the average rate, and make your rate 1 or 2 cents per word more expensive, but also make sure your rate isn't among the highest.

When one lists a language pair from a second language into ones native language, is it generally advisable to list the opposite pair?


Only if you feel comfortable translating into it.



[Edited at 2011-02-24 09:54 GMT]
 
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
MUNKATÁRS
Free "Meeting clients at ProZ.com" webinar invitation Feb 24, 2011

Hello Jon,

Given the doubts you present in your post, I thought you would be interested in attending one of the free "Meeting clients at ProZ.com" webinars that are offered on a weekly basis:

http://www.proz.com/translator-training/format/webinar-presentations

This webinar will show you how tune up your profile to make sure potent... See more
Hello Jon,

Given the doubts you present in your post, I thought you would be interested in attending one of the free "Meeting clients at ProZ.com" webinars that are offered on a weekly basis:

http://www.proz.com/translator-training/format/webinar-presentations

This webinar will show you how tune up your profile to make sure potential clients find you and apply ProZ.com winning strategies (i.e. strategies to meet clients) to get the most out of your ProZ.com experience.

Next webinar is tomorrow, Friday, February 25 at 16:00 PM GMT:

http://www.proz.com/translator-training/course/4372

Hope to see you there!

Kind regards,

Lucía ▲ Collapse
 
Jon Brase
Jon Brase  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:13
német - angol
+ ...
TÉMAINDÍTÓ
@Irene Feb 24, 2011

ibz wrote:

Hi Jon,

Just wondering: When you say you "just graduated from college", does that mean that you have a degree in translation or what exactly did you study?

Could you give some more details, please?

Regards,
Irene


I have a degree in German (my university didn't offer translation as a major, and I hadn't been planning on being a translator when I started my studies), with a minor in linguistics. I spent a year abroad in Cottbus (near Berlin) studying computer science, with all but one of my classes being in German.

I took a translation class the year before I went to Germany, and found it enjoyable, and also did the two translation jobs I mentioned while abroad.
 
Jon Brase
Jon Brase  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:13
német - angol
+ ...
TÉMAINDÍTÓ
Thanks Feb 24, 2011

Samuel Murray wrote:

Jon Brase wrote:
With regards to my specialty, working, and interest fields, how knowledgeable should I be to put something in each field?


Not at all. The purpose of these fields is not to inform clients of what you know, but to tell ProZ.com of what kinds of job offers you want to be informed.


OK, thanks for clearing that up.


So I'd probably put "zero" for years of experience, but should I put "2009" as the year I started...?


Yes, that is how I understand it too. Some translators worked part-time for a while, or had a break from translation, or regard training in the middle of their careers to be years of no experience gained.

With regards to rates, what is advisable for a new translator?


High. As a new translator, you'll spend more time doing it, so your per-word rate should be higher to compensate for the higher number of hours worked. And you'd probably send many of your translations privately to one or two proofreaders, so that you can learn from your mistakes, and the cost of the proofreaders have to be included in your rate too.


Really? I'd expect that without much experience, I'd have to bid a bit low to compete with more experienced translators offering higher rates.


To find your rate, google for "This page shows the aggregate translation rates for your language combinations." Check out what is the average rate, and make your rate 1 or 2 cents per word more expensive, but also make sure your rate isn't among the highest.


OK, thanks. Given the power of Google, good search terms are always welcome.
 
Russell Jones
Russell Jones  Identity Verified
Egyesült Királyság
Local time: 03:13
olasz - angol
incestuous links Feb 24, 2011

Samuel Murray wrote:

To find your rate, google for "This page shows the aggregate translation rates for your language combinations."


All I get here is this forum thread!
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Hollandia
Local time: 04:13
Tag (2006 óta)
angol - afrikaans
+ ...
@Jon II Feb 24, 2011

Jon Brase wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
Jon Brase wrote:
With regards to rates, what is advisable for a new translator?

High. As a new translator, you'll spend more time doing it, so your per-word rate should be higher to compensate for the higher number of hours worked.

Really? I'd expect that without much experience, I'd have to bid a bit low to compete with more experienced translators offering higher rates.


That is a common misconception. It may seem logical that beginners should charge less, but by charging less you are undercutting those who are more experienced, and you create a false impression among clients about the real value of translation. Besides, your translation won't be less good than that of an experienced translator, will it? It'll just take you longer to do it.

To find your rate, google for "This page shows the aggregate translation rates for your language combinations."

OK, thanks. Given the power of Google, good search terms are always welcome.


Yes, but I had a very specific web site in mind... one that forum rules here prevent me from mentioning by name.
 


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