How to acquire long-term projects Thread poster: Kyoko Komatsu
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Hello everyone,
I've been working as a freelance translator for more than four years now. Can I ask you for a solution to finding long-term projects?
One of the largest projects recently ended suddenly due to end-client's matters. It lasted two years and enhanced my monthly income, adding to multiple other projects from different clients. I'm also working on increasing the number of customers and applying for jobs on business social networking sites, and I'm still in their scr... See more Hello everyone,
I've been working as a freelance translator for more than four years now. Can I ask you for a solution to finding long-term projects?
One of the largest projects recently ended suddenly due to end-client's matters. It lasted two years and enhanced my monthly income, adding to multiple other projects from different clients. I'm also working on increasing the number of customers and applying for jobs on business social networking sites, and I'm still in their screening process.
If you have been working on a project that has lasted more than three months, how did you find it, or what did you do before you were assigned?
I would appreciate it if you could share your story.
Best,
Kyoko ▲ Collapse
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I hope you didn't depend on just that one client/agency. I have several but I still try and get others as workflow can dry up sometimes like at present this year. Try and get Kudoz points to increase your visibility and participate in forums too. My language pairs (Eng./French/Italian to Maltese never has any Kudoz questions but your language pairs do. A good profile page too that will appeal can help you. Fill out your Bio, it doesn't really say much about you. Ask agencies you've worked for to... See more I hope you didn't depend on just that one client/agency. I have several but I still try and get others as workflow can dry up sometimes like at present this year. Try and get Kudoz points to increase your visibility and participate in forums too. My language pairs (Eng./French/Italian to Maltese never has any Kudoz questions but your language pairs do. A good profile page too that will appeal can help you. Fill out your Bio, it doesn't really say much about you. Ask agencies you've worked for to give you ratings too. ▲ Collapse
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...translation agencies from "London", China and India, which contact you for small and badly paid jobs, simultaneously offer a long term collaboration, you just need to take that opportunity.
| | | | Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 16:01
Member (Jun 2024)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Long-term projects are rarer but still possible | Aug 18 |
Here's some of my experience:
In 2012 (I think), a translator friend contacted me to be part of a team of translators for a health plan project. This project would last 3-4 months every year. It lasted four (4) years for our team, then the business manager in charge of it moved on to other things and the team disbanded.
Around that time (2012), a new translation agency client contacted me to work on a Spanish transcript + English translation project. The project lasted ... See more Here's some of my experience:
In 2012 (I think), a translator friend contacted me to be part of a team of translators for a health plan project. This project would last 3-4 months every year. It lasted four (4) years for our team, then the business manager in charge of it moved on to other things and the team disbanded.
Around that time (2012), a new translation agency client contacted me to work on a Spanish transcript + English translation project. The project lasted for four years and brought me recognition and cemented my relationship with the translation agency. Sadly, no more similar projects came about.
Moral of the story: getting long-term projects is sheer serendipity. You cannot will them into existence. You could say philosophically that these projects chose me and not the other way around. ▲ Collapse
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| Cast your net far and wide | Aug 19 |
Long-term projects come about in many ways. I have sometimes successfully answered ads seeking translators to work on specific long-term projects, but even clients with "small" initial jobs sometimes have a lot more work in the pipeline. For example, I once proofread something very short for $25 and thought that was the end of the story, but the client turned out to be a publisher who needed a lot more work done. In general, just do good work for your clients, be reliable and trustworthy, and th... See more Long-term projects come about in many ways. I have sometimes successfully answered ads seeking translators to work on specific long-term projects, but even clients with "small" initial jobs sometimes have a lot more work in the pipeline. For example, I once proofread something very short for $25 and thought that was the end of the story, but the client turned out to be a publisher who needed a lot more work done. In general, just do good work for your clients, be reliable and trustworthy, and they will often start asking you to handle more work. This is basically what has happened to me several times. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Long-term projects | Aug 19 |
Over the years I've been involved in several large projects (the longer one lasted one year). I know there are colleagues who don't like big projects, but I do. That's why I've either been recommended by a colleague or contacted directly by the client. As other colleagues have said, sometimes the client starts by asking for one smaller translation. In fact, I prefer it that way, because it gives us both the opportunity to ‘take the temperature’ of what lies ahead...
| | | | | There is no way of telling which project will lead to long term cooperation | Aug 19 |
I have several clients with whom I worked for over 5 years, out of all of them, only once I knew from the very beginning that client is looking for a long term cooperation. I believe that what we need to do is be open to new clients and perform every time to the best of our ability. We never know what it may lead to.
| | | | Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 16:01
Member (Jun 2024)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| And that's how a professional reputation (not 'personal brand') is built | Aug 19 |
I concur. We never know what's around the corner. Some clients who ask for a 50-word translation could end up sending us lucrative jobs over the years. So, the best policy to build a professional reputation (what marketeers call 'personal brand') is what Stanislaw described below.
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL wrote:
I have several clients with whom I worked for over 5 years, out of all of them, only once I knew from the very beginning that client is looking for a long term cooperation. I believe that what we need to do is be open to new clients and perform every time to the best of our ability. We never know what it may lead to.
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| Start specializing in something difficult | Aug 19 |
Things nobody knows how to write about in your pair. In my case, it's electrical engineering, civil engineering, metallurgy, and a few other fields. It's not that I'm a champion in them, but most translators I know can't compete with me (at least I hope I'm not being too sure of myself). Each discipline I mentioned can pose very challenging translation problems in my pair. Our main customer builds power plants in different countries, so we always have a steady flow of orders. I contributed to at... See more Things nobody knows how to write about in your pair. In my case, it's electrical engineering, civil engineering, metallurgy, and a few other fields. It's not that I'm a champion in them, but most translators I know can't compete with me (at least I hope I'm not being too sure of myself). Each discipline I mentioned can pose very challenging translation problems in my pair. Our main customer builds power plants in different countries, so we always have a steady flow of orders. I contributed to at least nine power plant projects at different times. Of course it only makes sense to tackle a difficult subject area if you're genuinely interested in it: you'll have to give it your all to even begin understading anything in it ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule | Michael Hughes 
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:01
Member (2022)
Japanese to English
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| Prioritise projects from large end clients if possible | Aug 19 |
When I reflect on which end clients keep coming back for more and more on a very regular basis, one thing they seem to have in common is that they are huge companies (with the content volume and funds to make translation a daily requirement for them).
| | | | | Outside Russia alright, why? | Aug 20 |
Wilsonn Perez Reyes wrote:
Power plants outside Russia, I hope
I mentioned different countries, didn't I? Maybe someone will say what we're doing is unprofessional because we're using English as a buffer language for communicating with our foreign counterparties, but the amount of materials that have to be translated under such projects is huge, so there's no way one can find an adequate number of professional translators in each direction to serve them. Some documents get translated directly from Turkish, Hungarian, or Arabic, but most of the work gets done through English. And the building goes on. Everyone who would like to hate me is welcome to do so
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Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 16:01
Member (Jun 2024)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Our Russian colleague's contribution was not only on point but cogent to me. What Denis suggested is what many of us have been doing for many years. I, for instance, took opportunities to specialize in finances, CAD software and in some medical areas with very good results.
That's why I'm astounded at this untimely comment, 'mmm, power plants outside Russia, I hope', short on solidarity, not to mention such an unprofessional retort.
Are we now going to blame translators... See more Our Russian colleague's contribution was not only on point but cogent to me. What Denis suggested is what many of us have been doing for many years. I, for instance, took opportunities to specialize in finances, CAD software and in some medical areas with very good results.
That's why I'm astounded at this untimely comment, 'mmm, power plants outside Russia, I hope', short on solidarity, not to mention such an unprofessional retort.
Are we now going to blame translators from or in a country because of that country's government? Let's show solidarity and professionalism.
MC
Wilsonn Perez Reyes wrote:
Denis Fesik wrote:
Things nobody knows how to write about in your pair. In my case, it's electrical engineering, civil engineering, metallurgy, and a few other fields. It's not that I'm a champion in them, but most translators I know can't compete with me (at least I hope I'm not being too sure of myself). Each discipline I mentioned can pose very challenging translation problems in my pair. Our main customer builds power plants in different countries, so we always have a steady flow of orders. I contributed to at least nine power plant projects at different times. Of course it only makes sense to tackle a difficult subject area if you're genuinely interested in it: you'll have to give it your all to even begin understading anything in it
Power plants outside Russia, I hope. ▲ Collapse
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Matthias Brombach wrote:
...translation agencies from "London", China and India, which contact you for small and badly paid jobs, simultaneously offer a long term collaboration, you just need to take that opportunity.
and everyone would be happy and there would be no worries for being dried up.
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