| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Are you satisfied with your income from translation/interpretation? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you satisfied with your income from translation/interpretation?".
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
| | | |
Especially at this time of global economic crisis and the downgrading of rates from increasing agencies offering 0.02 or 0.03 cents per word plus CAT tool discounts.
| | | | | more would be better | Dec 2, 2009 |
should I refuse it?
| | | |
Meaning "no yet", as I'm just getting started as a full-time freelance translator, but I didn't want to chose "no" because it sounds like it is a normal state and not a transition!
| | |
|
|
|
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
The value of a material object *may* go up, but the value of services *always* appears to go down.
As far as translators provide not goods, but services... At the final stage the Agency/ Client has both cash and your project then they often begin to draw inspiration for lame excuses.
Having my contract job I don't have a problem with the price at all. So, 'YES', I work for line as translator/ interpreter and really doubt that any local colleague can get even a half of my salary)
Yet when I was freelancing I either could get $1000 per an hour conference or get some job done and wait for almost a month to get paid... So, 'NO', I don't think that I got enough being a freelancer.
P.S. IMO the main problem about translators and interpreters is most of them are rather poor businessmen and managers.
| | | |
I can cover my mortgage, utilities, school and other expenses... but of course, more would be better. I raised my rate last year and I am not accepting any low rates. I haven't lost any clients due to the crisis, so I can say that I am satisfied!
| | | | Celine Gras 
France
Local time: 10:22
English to French
+ ...
Penelope Ausejo wrote:
I can cover my mortgage, utilities, school and other expenses... but of course, more would be better. I raised my rate last year and I am not accepting any low rates. I haven't lost any clients due to the crisis, so I can say that I am satisfied!
I could have written this
| | | | R. Alex Jenkins
Brazil
Local time: 05:22
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| A question of mentality | Dec 2, 2009 |
When I consider the amount of hours I have to work during a heavy working week - let's say 70 to 80 hours, I whimsically consider what I could/used to earn doing a normal 9-5 job, plus the weekends off and the holiday pay and Christmas bonuses etc, and I think to myself... well, you get the gist.
But somehow, I kind of put up with it all because I like doing it and I like the people and the whole working at home concept and self-management lifestyle... the whole package. You know?
| | |
|
|
|
| No - I used to make more! | Dec 2, 2009 |
Ten years ago I was not working as hard and making more money. I am really convinced that there is an overall gradual downward trend in rates, brought on by a globalized market, colleagues working for less because of the economy, and agencies wanting discounts for TM matches and "fuzzy matchesl.
Increasingly, when I bid on a job and quote my rates (which haven't increased since I joined ProZ in 2003), I am asked to settle for 3 to 5 cents a word. That's I was making in the 1960s!! A... See more Ten years ago I was not working as hard and making more money. I am really convinced that there is an overall gradual downward trend in rates, brought on by a globalized market, colleagues working for less because of the economy, and agencies wanting discounts for TM matches and "fuzzy matchesl.
Increasingly, when I bid on a job and quote my rates (which haven't increased since I joined ProZ in 2003), I am asked to settle for 3 to 5 cents a word. That's I was making in the 1960s!! And then the client wants discounts for matches and "fuzzy matches"!
Thankfully, I still have some clients that pay well, but they are doing less translation in general because of the economic crisis. The net effect has been fewer clients and lower income. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Translators - business people | Dec 2, 2009 |
[quote]DZiW wrote:
P.S. IMO the main problem about translators and interpreters is most of them are rather poor businessmen and managers.
Exactly! Freelance translators seem to be exceptionally poor at marketing their business, and often tend not to look at it as a business at all.
I think freelancers who are marketing savvy, and are able to attract direct clients, are the only ones who will be able to survive.
I have had another business running alongside my freelance translation business since 2003, and I realised recently that I am as guilty as anyone. I was moaning about being asked yet again to lower my rates due to the recession even though my clients say my work is excellent and my rates are already VERY reasonable, and I suddenly realised that I was not putting into practice all the marketing efforts I put into my other business. I was just relying on agencies sending work my way. I didn't even have a dedicated website even though I can easily build one (I sometimes do websites for my clients as part of my other business) and hadn't paid any attention to visibility in the search engines.
A few months ago I started to do this (quickly put up a website, starting doing some basic SEO etc) and am already seeing the results. Last week I had a translation/interpreting job with a direct client that paid around three times as much as I would have received from an agency.
If anyone is interested in joining me on this little venture (putting more effort into marketing), I have a newsletter at http://sarahferrara.com/newsletter.html , join up and I will be sending out some tips and tricks over the coming months as I continue this little experiment!
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 10:22
Spanish to English
+ ...
... to scrape by on this year, which has been really bad overall, with a drop of roughly 30% compared with previous years, so any more coming in is always welcome.
Last year was good and I made enough to afford a few extras (new digital TV for myself and one for the family too, a couple of holidays for them) over and above the usual bills, rent etc.
I agree with Muriel about the downward trend in rates, which is not so bad within the EU but still evident.
| | | | DianeGM
Local time: 11:22
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
| Other .. trade off | Dec 2, 2009 |
My thoughts don't fit any of the options.
Yes, I'm satisified with my income - if not I can always take on more work which still seems to be available in the market at reasonable rates, maybe there is less to pick and chose from than in other years, but its still out there.
I'd be even more satisified I guess if I made the same money for working less hours. I guess that's still true for any profession, frelance or otherwise.
However, like Richard said, ... See more My thoughts don't fit any of the options.
Yes, I'm satisified with my income - if not I can always take on more work which still seems to be available in the market at reasonable rates, maybe there is less to pick and chose from than in other years, but its still out there.
I'd be even more satisified I guess if I made the same money for working less hours. I guess that's still true for any profession, frelance or otherwise.
However, like Richard said, when I consider if I am satisfied freelancing I think about many things, not just the financial rewards.
If I considered only the bottom line I might well be doing something completely different. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
I subscribed to a site that posts jobs for translators and writers and the average rate is 5 dollars an hour. Mine is 15, but I could lower it and work weekends and nights. All my bids are turned down with the same reason "bid too high".
I was thinking of unsubscribing because I thought this site is probably a "low rates-low quality" kind of thing. But I just saw 30 minutes ago an offer to edit a machine translated text for US 0.015 per word right here. I've worked on machine translated t... See more I subscribed to a site that posts jobs for translators and writers and the average rate is 5 dollars an hour. Mine is 15, but I could lower it and work weekends and nights. All my bids are turned down with the same reason "bid too high".
I was thinking of unsubscribing because I thought this site is probably a "low rates-low quality" kind of thing. But I just saw 30 minutes ago an offer to edit a machine translated text for US 0.015 per word right here. I've worked on machine translated texts and they are a headache. I wonder who can live with rates like this.
I really don't want to lower my rates because it would mean that we are actually accepting to do a good quality job for little retribution. I studied for years and I think skills and quality cost.
I feel I'm loosing many jobs due to all the cheap translators who accept these kind of rates and promote this to go on and on. So for me it's a "No" because I know that I could be working a lot more. And I don't think my rates are high. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You are so right! | Dec 3, 2009 |
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
Ten years ago I was not working as hard and making more money. I am really convinced that there is an overall gradual downward trend in rates, brought on by a globalized market, colleagues working for less because of the economy, and agencies wanting discounts for TM matches and "fuzzy matchesl.
Overall dowgrading of this industry for freelancer such as myself in last 10 years is quite distressing.
Nonetheless, I am able to pay the mortgage, utilities, and other expenses, so I have to hung on until I can afford retirement .
| | | | R. Alex Jenkins
Brazil
Local time: 05:22
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| get busy or get bust - just joking | Dec 3, 2009 |
Whenever there's a financial crisis or an economic downturn there tends to be a general reshuffle which means that the stakes get higher. We need to work harder and sometimes take on 'shittier' jobs - that's life. There's no need to worry because as technology improves it will CREATE more work for us, not the opposite. It's just a question of adapting and staying positive! I'm not going ANYWHERE - and I mean that as positive encouragement to us all.
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Are you satisfied with your income from translation/interpretation? | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
| | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
