The answer is: to win a project you need to take a number of fundamental steps on the road to success. There is no guarantee that you are going to get a translation project but there are methods that you can take to try and increase your chances. This article focuses on tips for Translatorsbase.com freelance translators and agencies that might help to stand out from the crowd.
Translatorsbase.com website has created a significant number of opportunities for freelance translators. However, as you must know, the translation market is very competitive. There are several fields that project providers use to base their selection of translators. We will gladly point you in the right direction.
The process of recruiting focuses on translators’ resumes and their response message. It is very important to specify on your resume what tools you are familiar with, your education, your work experience, the number of items you are translating, rates and references. Many of our members skip selected sections while creating their resume, which actually drastically decreases their chances. It is quite obvious that clients, among which are many competitive bidders select these individuals who present their qualifications clearly. So, pay attention to details!
It is important to list all tools you are familiar with, especially CAT tools, editors, counting tools and graphic applications. Be sure to provide detailed information on your education in the proper section. You may include all kinds of certificates and courses achieved. Do not forget to specify name and location of the institutions you graduated from and completed the courses you have completed. Your initial freelance translating jobs are the best way to present yourself to your client, so it absolutely necessary to provide detailed information on your translation experience. What kind of assignments have you completed? Are you specialized in the selected area of expertise? Remember to create a list of companies you have been working for including dates. As you know, you are able to submit your bids for projects matching language combinations specified on your resume. Remember in order to increase your chances of getting a job, you can create up to three English combinations (English, English UK, English US) going with a second language of your pair(s). Also, you need to provide information if the target language of the combination you are working with is your mother tongue – it is valuable information for the potential client. Now, you can upload your picture or logo on your Profile to be viewable on your resume. It gives you a great chance to highlight your profile and make it more remarkable.
There are many translators applying for each translation project, so it is very important to bid on the project as soon as you receive a notification about it. The notifications are sent using automated software. Emails over the internet are going out via many mail servers and depending on the route the email has to go through it may take shorter or longer amount of time to arrive at its destination. The bottom line is that it is out of our control how fast you will receive the email. So, if you are experiencing problems with projects that are closed after receiving the notification email, you may want to check our website more frequently for new projects to ensure that you are the first one to bid on the new projects.
When responding to a bid, make sure you specify the quote for the project and when you will be able to deliver the translation. Here are two examples of successful bids: “Mr. Smith, I can translate your document for a fee of $25.00. I used to work for a catholic printing, advertising and promoting company, Liturgical Publications, and dealt with many churches around the US. I will be able to deliver the file translated by XX.XX.2006. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you,”
“Dear Michael, I have a MS Publisher and my bid is USD60. Accuracy and quality are ensured. Please consider. I am very interested in your translation project. I am a French native speaker translator. I translate general, economic and technical documents from English, Spanish and Japanese into French. I am available immediately for your project. Feel free to contact me for further details. Best regards, Ed Jackson”
It is up to the client to respond to translators or to decline bids or leave them pending. If a client has a rush project, accepts/ declines bid even the same day.
However, as it very often happens, clients are collecting translators’ bids and then they choose one or more in the period of 2-3 weeks. Sometimes it happens that clients do not decline bids right away. It happens in cases when they want to use them in the future, even after the project was closed. It means that when a project is closed no more bids are being accepted and also it does not have to mean that all bids are responded to or declined. Please notice, clients are often running negotiation processes with a couple of translators.
After completion of the project, the project provider is invited to provide feedback about the translators and agencies. The feedback provided by the client shows that the client was satisfied when working with the translator or not. We display the translator's rating on his/her resume. It is a great opportunity to prove your skills and abilities. Translation jobs will come to those who can present themselves in that area. If you provide good services, at a good price, the client will most likely use your services time and time again.
Establishing yourself as a professional translator is hard and challenging work. Prove yourself and your skills, and then the jobs will come. Language translation is a key to your success after all. Good luck!