8 Reasons to hate freelance translation
Hint for readers: Irony
Well yes, there are some good points about it, but… Sorry, after few long years in the business, I think there are some serious drawbacks to consider!
1. Unstable income
Sure, you can earn quite a lot (so some fellow translators say). But looking at my income since January 2011, it’s like Norwegian skyline, which I miss, but certainly in Norway, but not on my bank account. It has quite a great impact on my life. I had to be a bit cheeky, and I rationalised my monthly spendings to make sure I can always cover them, even if I work only 7 days in a whole month. Ok, very often I do earn more than this survival line, but I can never be sure.
Oh, stop being irrational, Marta. Look at what you just wrote. How many professions do you know, honestly, where people would be able to survive working just 7 days a month? And what kind of person are you, if you can’t manage this “extra money” wisely? You don’t have to spend it all at once. You can introduce stability to your income pretty easily!
2. Stuck at home - social exclusion
People who go to work meet other people. That’s called a social life and that’s what I’m missing. I don’t go for lunch to a cafe just behind a corner, I don’t slurp Starbucks lattes (Soya!) every other day, I don’t need fancy suits and nice shirts. I am a social freek, stuck at home. One of the biggest excursions: going to the gym! What a miserable life!
I don’t agree with her at all! Work people certainly aren’t all the people I know. And I have you - my Readers- translators I know on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, forums… I can be very selective as to who am I spending my time with. And now I know I’m spending it well.
3. Tied to home office
Honestly, I can’t work anywhere else. I have my dictionaries, glossaries, reference materials all here, in thematic order on my bookshelves. I have my three screens radiating with ion and poisoning my air. I have my huge clock reminding me of all the time I spend here. And I hate it all. And I can’t take my laptop and go to the park, because I wouldn’t have all these dictionaries, my mouse, my other, bigger screen, my chair… How you, people, can say that a freelance translator can work everywhere?
Marta, LCDs don’t emit any ion. Nothing is poisoning your air. And you can open your glass door and walk straight into the garden, or just move your head and stare at it waiting for inspiration. You have your vintage clock and as many personal items as you want. Do you remember how awful it was in the proper office? Rows of exactly the same desks, grey walls and that constant murmur. Next time you play rock and roll out loud in your office, think of how would your bosses react to that.
4. Working endless, unpredictable hours
“A freelancer spends 16 hours a day to avoid having to work for someone else 8 hours a day”. True, true, true. Some translators say they “set their own hours”. Well, not a big deal if you have to work 16 out of 24. And I don’t know if I’m finally free this weekend, because my contractor may ask for another translation. And no, I don’t know when I’m going to finish this one today and most certainly I’m not going to any cinema. Misery!
You poor thing, don’t blame the profession for your shortage of management skills. Believe me that there are translators out there who can organise their time and work only 4 hours, but really work, not just start reading on something, make the fifth cup of coffee today, check e-mail 23 times, delete old files from their PCs, catch up on Proz… That’s what others to in their FREE time. Don’t be surprised that your client will be reluctant to pay you for all that!
5. Auctioning yourself
Competition is so high, that it’s no longer about who I am and what I know, it’s about how cheap I can translate. Translators are put in a row and auctioned. Other professions, certainly in-house, don’t have that problem. Look at lawyers or consultants - the more expensive they are, the more hype they create. Not like us. Ever heard of a celebrity translator?
You can’t be angry at free market, Marta. You’re no longer a child, so stop being whiny just because you can’t deal with the competition. Maybe you simply are on the Low End of the translation profession?
6. Being all in one
Recently, I have revised what am I actually doing as a freelance translator. I am a chief executive, I am a manager, I am the finance department, I am the marketing department, I am the office staff, and finally, I am a translator. And I’m still getting pay only for being a translator! What about this time, money, sleepless nights?
You do like going to extremes, don’t you? Why should you need a finance department if your whole “finance” is sending few automated invoices every fortnight? HMRC does the rest for you! And really, if you think you’re skilled enough to work in marketing, go ahead, they must be paying much better!
7. No appreciation whatsoever
Freelancing may be popular in the UK, but when I last went home and my Grandma asked me what do I do, I told her: “I’m a freelance translator, I work from home, Grandma!”. She nodded her head with understanding and said: “Well, so you still didn’t manage to find a proper job…”.
That must have been something that Mark Zuckerberg’s grandma would tell him as well. Just imagine that: “I started an online communication platform for people around the world!”. Grandma Zuckerberg: “Oh no, and all this money on Harvard got wasted!”. See my point?
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Thank you for your comment, Lis! I really like the last bit of it:
I had fun looking over this site. However, I cannot understand most of you.
I freelance. I know exactly how much money I bring home every month. My clients pay within 30 days or faster. I turn down thousands of dollars of jobs every day because Sometimes I cooperate with other translators. Unfortunately, I have only found a couple of handful of reliable ones in all those years. I am only one person. I do socialize with friends. I am a long-standing member of the chamber. I am appreciated by my clients and by my peer reviewers. I get lots of positive feedback. I am one of the more expensive translators and yes, I work odd hours because many clients are overseas. And to add to it: I use social sites only to keep up with friends not for business and not for shopping, etc. Mobile/cell phone numbers are only provided on interpreting assignments. I love my privacy! So, make your life easier. Invest in a few monitors so you don’t have to look and overlay work on one page. It allows you to respond to e-mails swiftly, which is appreciated in the day and age of anonymity! Set your hours, go for a walk, take some yoga classes, etc. and do lots of laughing — life is too short to worry!
Hello Marta,
love you web! Congrats!
I’d like to invite you to our next Network Meeting for Translators in Madrid next 23 & 24 September.
We’ll hopefully be in many! discussing translation issues, sharing experiences and having fun “de tapas”!
Thanks for your energy & enthusiasm!
)
Best of luck
Silvia
Very interesting twist on points of view! This is an excellent read!
Really nice post that makes us see things from a different perspective. You can always choose: either you go on complaining or you just learn to appreciate what you have. In the first case you will end up having nothing to be proud of, whereas the second option helps you in keeping your enthusiasm alive and improve yourself.
Nice summary about the pros and cons of a freelance translator However you forgot to mention job satisfaction - many employees are not very satisfied with their work and / or do not always get on with their co-workers, and some even suffer from bullying! At least when working as a Freelancer, the only person to bully you might the cat or dog for food and / or a walk
Plus, you can always add interpreting, and tuition to meet people - that’s what I did and it strikes a nice balance. And, some business networks and sport clubs also allow you to meet people face to face 
Arnout, thanks for your comment as well. I was hoping for someone to come up with the eight one! I simply don’t believe everyone loves freelance translation!
Now, being serious: It was the point of this post, indeed, to show that when we cut out our complaining nature, there’s no reason left in what we do to hate it.
8 hate reasons to hate freelance translation? I count only seven
Reinforces my idea that we shouldn’t hate it. Perhaps that is the point of it anyway.
Thanks Marta! Great, realistic post and good points made both in the post and in the comments. There are both good sides and downsides in what we do. I enjoyed reading this post, thanks!
Thanks for your comment, Wąsaty!
I do agree with your deeper insights. Just one point to make: this quote about working 16 hours a day: it’s taken from a book. I don’t work that much on translation. I think I would go mad already!
You gave us a nice look on two sides of every subject you touched, but still I feel that I have to add some thoughts.
1.Unstable income.
Well, that’s true, I’m never able to predict how much money I’ll earn any given month, but when averaging over the year it’s quite comfortable income. The point is - you have to put excess money to saving account. Don’t spend on a whim, just because you have some money now. IMO to get any financial stability you need a savings account worth at least half-year income (better a full year). Then you can enjoy some “extra” money. Of course you need time to accumulate such savings. The beginnings are never easy.
2. Stuck at home
Nonsense. Sure, you don’t meet people face to face “at work”, but you can go to that cafe just behind a corner whenever you wish. There’s no boss telling yelling at you for leaving your desk at non-standard hour. You just have to make that decision (see point 4). And if you really need face to face contact at work, you can find some coworking office. (Unless you happen to live in the middle of nowhere anyway, like me.)
3. Tied to home office
Well, I do like my very comfortable home office and usually I’m most productive at home. But it doesn’t mean I can’t go working somewhere else. And the dictionaries I use most often are on CDs, so I have them on my laptop all the time. Sure, two huge screens are better than one, but you don’t really need them all the time and working on a terrace for a few hours can be really refreshing.
4. Working endless, unpredictable hours
16 hours? Really? I do envy you. I’m not so young anymore. If I start working at 8 a.m., I’ll usually finish somewhere between 4 and 6 p.m. And that means 5-7 hours of pure work (use time tracker, it helps) and a lot of translated text. And at 6 p.m. I’m just too tired, to try working any longer, even if I would really liked to. Still, you have to have some other life, besides work, right?
I often go jogging during a day for an hour or so - helps to clear my mind and improves productivity. I can go to a cafe whenever I like or just say no to that other job offer and leave for a day to meet friends. Sure, it’s never an easy decision (what if the client won’t send me any offers again?) but you have to have a life. You work to live, not live to work.
5. Auctioning yourself
There are other ways of competing than just the price. If you provide quality services, you don’t really have to be cheapest - I’m not, and I’m often overbooked. Sure, getting there wasn’t very easy and I had some luck early on, but still, there are clients who really appreciate quality and competence.
6. Being all in one
No arguing there. I could even add a few jobs more… Still, if other tasks are preoccupying you too much, maybe you should outsource some of them?
7. No appreciation whatsoever
Well, I wouldn’t expect too much from the older generation. Since I do both medical and literary translation, at least I can show my mother a shelf with my novels and that means something to her.
On the other hand, what you really need is an appreciation from your clients. When a LSP sends me some job with a comment “the client asked to give it to the translator who did a previous job for them” - and this really happens - that’s when I really feel proud and appreciated.
This made for hilarious reading Marta. I could identify with every one of your points, especially the one about Grandma. One of my grandmothers was very supportive: “I think that’s great, an excellent thing to do while you look for jobs”. Me: “No gran, THIS is my job.”
A great site you have here - I will be looking out for your future posts.
Happy translating/procrastinating!
Hollie D.