Getting valuable translation experience Thread poster: Michael Manion (X)
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Michael Manion (X) 
United States
Local time: 09:00
Russian to English
Hello,
My name is Michael Manion and I am a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Russian and Eurasian studies. The language combination I would like to translate is Russian to English. Now that I am out of school, I am looking for translation work so that I can gain experience as a freelance translator. Does anyone have any suggestions that could get me started? Any feedback would be useful.
-Michael
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Michael Manion wrote:
Hello,
My name is Michael Manion and I am a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Russian and Eurasian studies. The language combination I would like to translate is Russian to English. Now that I am out of school, I am looking for translation work so that I can gain experience as a freelance translator. Does anyone have any suggestions that could get me started? Any feedback would be useful.
-Michael
I suggest that you do trial translation on posted jobs of senior Prozian on specific Translator Name page, Portfolio tab. They are given in source texts and translated texts so that you can compare the translation quality. You can improve your translation arts gradually and it links to actual jobs.
Soonthon L.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 14:00
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Congratulations on graduating. One thing you can do now is update your profile here to indicate that success and show your availability for work. If you're hoping to find any work here there are a lot of things you must do to help convince potential clients that you're the one they need for their Russian to English translations. Start with the Site Guidance Centre - read and digest every relevant word in all the paths and links there. Attend the free webinar that will help you meet clients here.... See more Congratulations on graduating. One thing you can do now is update your profile here to indicate that success and show your availability for work. If you're hoping to find any work here there are a lot of things you must do to help convince potential clients that you're the one they need for their Russian to English translations. Start with the Site Guidance Centre - read and digest every relevant word in all the paths and links there. Attend the free webinar that will help you meet clients here. Even if that isn't your aim it's still all useful advice because, as you say, you DO want to meet up with clients somewhere. Before you get to do any translation work, you have to hone (or even develop) some marketing skills.
Do you have any more specific questions? Apart from directing you to the appropriate area(s) of the site, it's a pretty wide question to address in a few lines. Have you had any thoughts? Do you have any ideas? Do you know what you're aiming for (subject areas, document types, terms and conditions...)? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule |
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Michael Manion (X)
United States
Local time: 09:00
Russian to English
TOPIC STARTER | Finding clients and webinar that you mentioned | Oct 17, 2015 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
Congratulations on graduating. One thing you can do now is update your profile here to indicate that success and show your availability for work. If you're hoping to find any work here there are a lot of things you must do to help convince potential clients that you're the one they need for their Russian to English translations. Start with the Site Guidance Centre - read and digest every relevant word in all the paths and links there. Attend the free webinar that will help you meet clients here. Even if that isn't your aim it's still all useful advice because, as you say, you DO want to meet up with clients somewhere. Before you get to do any translation work, you have to hone (or even develop) some marketing skills.
Do you have any more specific questions? Apart from directing you to the appropriate area(s) of the site, it's a pretty wide question to address in a few lines. Have you had any thoughts? Do you have any ideas? Do you know what you're aiming for (subject areas, document types, terms and conditions...)?
Sheila,
Thank you so much for replying to my post. You provided me with helpful and advice and thus I have a few questions to clarify what you said:
1. Where specifically is the site guidance center on the proz website
2. Where is the free webinar that will help me meet clients- is that in the site guidance center or do I find that somewhere else?
3. Where do I include that I have recently graduated from college and am available to take on translation work? Would it be in my resume?
I do want to mention since I don't have any translation experience, I do not have a specific field that I am interested in. Since you said that I could meet potential clients in the webinar (the one that you just mentioned), would it be possible for me to find a field (legal, medical, or technical) while working for these clients for free? In other words, would working the clients for free (voluntary translation) help me to find what I would aim for?
Regards,
Michael
| | | | Michael Manion (X)
United States
Local time: 09:00
Russian to English
TOPIC STARTER | Finding Translating Work and Gaining Expereince | Oct 17, 2015 |
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.) wrote: Michael Manion wrote:
Hello,
My name is Michael Manion and I am a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Russian and Eurasian studies. The language combination I would like to translate is Russian to English. Now that I am out of school, I am looking for translation work so that I can gain experience as a freelance translator. Does anyone have any suggestions that could get me started? Any feedback would be useful.
-Michael I suggest that you do trial translation on posted jobs of senior Prozian on specific Translator Name page, Portfolio tab. They are given in source texts and translated texts so that you can compare the translation quality. You can improve your translation arts gradually and it links to actual jobs. Soonthon L.
Hello Soonthon,
Thanks for the advice about finding potential jobs. I do want to ask are you talking about the translating jobs that are offered on the jobs board? When you say looking on the translator name page, would that mean looking at profiles of members and looking at their work? How specifically would I improve my translation ability by looking at portfolios of other translator and how would it lead me to jobs?
Any answers to these questions would be helpful.
-Regards,
Michael
| | | | Emma Goldsmith
Spain
Local time: 15:00
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
| Language combination | Oct 17, 2015 |
Michael Manion wrote:
The language combination I would like to translate is Russian to English.
Your posts and profile content suggest that you're not a native English speaker. It would be wise to translate into your native language only.
I do want to mention since I don't have any translation experience, I do not have a specific field that I am interested in.
Sometimes it works as you say: translators get a number of projects in a certain field and end up specialising in that field.
Usually, however, translators have a specialism because they have studied or worked in that field, or because of a keen hobby or interest. So a specialism is something you should be working on right now, before you land your first translation job.
Where specifically is the site guidance center on the proz website
Go to:
About>Site Guidance Center
Where is the free webinar that will help me meet clients- is that in the site guidance center or do I find that somewhere else?
http://www.proz.com/pages/meeting_clients_webinar
Where do I include that I have recently graduated from college and am available to take on translation work?
In the "about" section of your profile.
However, none of the above advice will be useful until you fill in your profile. A client will only choose you for a job if he/she thinks you are the best person for it.
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