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Looking for advice about obtaining more professional work after finishing my MA
Thread poster: Adam, MA Trans
Adam, MA Trans
Adam, MA Trans
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:06
French to English
+ ...
Mar 24, 2019

Hi everybody,

I'm currently studying for a Masters in Translation at the Open University, U.K. Either at the end of my first or second module I'm going to take the ITI exam because I've read good things on this website about being on the MITI list. I'm going to update my CV with these qualifications (at least I hope!) and also buy a personalised email address and maybe a professional photo for my Proz profile. I believe a Masters allows me to join the IoL as a full member too.
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Hi everybody,

I'm currently studying for a Masters in Translation at the Open University, U.K. Either at the end of my first or second module I'm going to take the ITI exam because I've read good things on this website about being on the MITI list. I'm going to update my CV with these qualifications (at least I hope!) and also buy a personalised email address and maybe a professional photo for my Proz profile. I believe a Masters allows me to join the IoL as a full member too.

Aside from creating a website (which I currently can't afford), is there any other advise people could please give me about kickstarting a professional career in translation? I have a lot of experience, but most of it comes from voluntary work for several charities. I found it very difficult to get a reply from agencies (despite writing a very brief CV and cover letter) and I would really like to obtain regular work once I have my qualifications.

I specialise primarily in sports due to work experience and hobbies, building surveying (for which I have a degree) and videogaming.

I've received a lot of useful information before from people on this forum and I thank you all very much for that. All the best,

Adam
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:06
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Buy Plus membership here Mar 24, 2019

Adam-MSCR wrote:
I'm going to update my CV with these qualifications (at least I hope!) and also buy a personalised email address and maybe a professional photo for my Proz profile. I believe a Masters allows me to join the IoL as a full member too.

Aside from creating a website (which I currently can't afford), is there any other advise people could please give me about kickstarting a professional career in translation?

Unless you're a paying member of a similar site, it sounds to me as though you should be investing in membership here, choosing the Plus option. Membership will give you enormous advantages in applying for advertised jobs and will boost your visibility in the directory, especially in combination with a great profile and KudoZ points (see the Site Guidance Centre and attend the free webinar). The Plus membership option offers you lots of perks which you should find very useful at this stage of your career.


Angie Garbarino
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:06
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Perk Mar 24, 2019

Sheila Wilson wrote:

....The Plus membership option offers you lots of perks .


What are they?


Mirko Mainardi
 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 02:06
Member
English to Italian
A couple ideas Mar 24, 2019

Adam-MSCR wrote:

I specialise primarily in sports due to work experience and hobbies, building surveying (for which I have a degree) and videogaming.


Look into sport VG localization. There's a market for that that IMHO requires (or would require...) specific knowledge. Also, you might want to consider translation/localization of betting-related content.

[Edited at 2019-03-24 15:11 GMT]


 
Angie Garbarino
Angie Garbarino  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:06
Member (2003)
French to Italian
+ ...
Perks Mar 24, 2019

Tom in London wrote:

Sheila Wilson wrote:

....The Plus membership option offers you lots of perks .


What are they?


Perks= vantaggi (since you know italian)


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:06
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Perks Mar 24, 2019

Angie Garbarino wrote:

Tom in London wrote:

Sheila Wilson wrote:

....The Plus membership option offers you lots of perks .


What are they?


Perks= vantaggi (since you know italian)



Of course I know what they are. I want to know what they are in this particuar case.


Elizabeth Tamblin
 
Angie Garbarino
Angie Garbarino  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:06
Member (2003)
French to Italian
+ ...
Oh sorry Tom Mar 24, 2019

Tom in London wrote:


Of course I know what they are. I want to know what they are in this particuar case.


Well, one of the perks is free access to video webinars, free download of a TM tool like cafetrans, those perks can be useful or not for you and for me, but who knows?


Moazzam Ali
 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 02:06
Member
English to Italian
With Tom Mar 24, 2019

Angie Garbarino wrote:

Tom in London wrote:


Of course I know what they are. I want to know what they are in this particuar case.


Well, one of the perks is free access to video webinars, free download of a TM tool like cafetrans, those perks can be useful or not for you and for me, but who knows?


However, Sheila wrote 'The Plus membership option offers you lots of perks which you should find very useful at this stage of your career'. In another thread in this very sub-forum, Adam writes he already has 7 years of translation experience, here he says he's finishing his MA in translation studies and that he'll probably soon apply to become a qualified ITI member... so, in that scenario, I'm not really sure what the "plus" membership can offer that the "minus" membership doesn't already in terms of 'obtaining more professional work', as Adam puts it...


Tom in London
Elizabeth Tamblin
Kaspars Melkis
Christopher Schröder
Yvonne Gallagher
 
Adam, MA Trans
Adam, MA Trans
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:06
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Pro membership and localisation Mar 24, 2019

Thank you everyone for your advice.

I actually had a pro membership last year and will definitely consider getting it again when I've finished my studies. I would look more to working with agencies rather than the jobs that come up on Proz, but I know appearing higher in the directory is very advantageous.

As for combining sports and videogames, I would love to do that! I guess I would write to videogame developers and publishers who specialise in sports games?


 
Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:06
Member (2016)
English to German
... Mar 24, 2019

Adam-MSCR wrote:

As for combining sports and videogames, I would love to do that! I guess I would write to videogame developers and publishers who specialise in sports games?


Since Spanish and French are your source languages, you would contact developers/publishers that create games in Spanish or French.
You can also contact agencies offering game translation or sports translation.
Think about what types of text may originate in Spanish or French that might need translation into English (for example, there's probably plenty of journalistic content and interviews having to do with Spanish or South American soccer leagues, or with French rugby) and then try to figure out where such translation work might happen.

[Edited at 2019-03-24 21:41 GMT]


 
Yoana Ivanova
Yoana Ivanova  Identity Verified
Estonia
Local time: 03:06
English to Bulgarian
+ ...
+1 for membership and a tip on website Mar 24, 2019

I agree that Proz membership offers a lot of benefits, especially when it comes to directory rank, but that has to be supported by activitely participating in answering Kudoz questions, especially in competitive language pairs like yours. It doesn't necessarily need to be the Plus Membership, unless you want a free CAT tool.

About making a website, it's actually quite affordable. Try one dot com, it's like 2 to 4/5 euros a month, depending on which package you get. You can use thei
... See more
I agree that Proz membership offers a lot of benefits, especially when it comes to directory rank, but that has to be supported by activitely participating in answering Kudoz questions, especially in competitive language pairs like yours. It doesn't necessarily need to be the Plus Membership, unless you want a free CAT tool.

About making a website, it's actually quite affordable. Try one dot com, it's like 2 to 4/5 euros a month, depending on which package you get. You can use their own very intuitive website builder or make a Wordress site, which is also quite simple.
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Angie Garbarino
 
Mair A-W (PhD)
Mair A-W (PhD)
Germany
Local time: 02:06
German to English
+ ...
false dichotomy Mar 25, 2019

Adam-MSCR wrote:

I would look more to working with agencies rather than the jobs that come up on Proz


... many (most?) of the jobs that come up on Proz *are* with agencies, and can be a good way to get yourself onto the books of that agency.

I mean, there may be other reasons for largely ignoring the ProZ job board, but "I want to work with agencies" is not one.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Christopher Schröder
DZiW (X)
Joe France
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Jorge Payan
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:06
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Perks: CAT + project management software; access to training videos + termbases ... Mar 25, 2019

Tom in London wrote:
Sheila Wilson wrote:
....The Plus membership option offers you lots of perks .

What are they?

I thought maybe people here could look that up for themselves, as they're already on the site . But here's the link: https://www.proz.com/professional-membership
Scroll down to "Compare Service Package Options" for a comparison between free and paying use of ProZ.com. Then scroll on to the "Added dimensions" and the "Basket of goods and services" to identify the extra features of the Plus package over the Standard one. Many of us who've had years and years in the profession may not find that much value in those differences, but anyone in the early years should get a huge amount of value from them. And although the OP has some experience, he clearly sees himself as still to become established as a full-time freelance translator.


Angie Garbarino
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Tickled Mar 25, 2019

Sheila Wilson wrote:
I thought maybe people here could look that up for themselves, as they're already on the site . But here's the link: https://www.proz.com/professional-membership


I love that the first thing I see there is a testimonial:

I am regularly headhunted by prospective clients, because they've seen my profile on ProZ.com. That's why I stay.

- Tom in London


Tom, the poster boy for ProZ, who'd have thought? Perhaps they have a sense of humour after all.

But I still can't see Plus membership being worthwhile for anyone.


 
Colleen Roach, PhD
Colleen Roach, PhD  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:06
French to English
+ ...
Pay attention to Seattle/Pacific NWest job market Mar 25, 2019

Adam-MSCR wrote:

Thank you everyone for your advice.

I actually had a pro membership last year and will definitely consider getting it again when I've finished my studies. I would look more to working with agencies rather than the jobs that come up on Proz, but I know appearing higher in the directory is very advantageous.

As for combining sports and videogames, I would love to do that! I guess I would write to videogame developers and publishers who specialise in sports games?
.



[Edited at 2019-03-25 11:51 GMT]


 
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