Keys to success - I. part

SPECIALISATION is definitely one of the keys to a successfull carreer in the translation business!

Of course, when you have some professionnal training or experience in a field other than translation, you are a very lucky person! You should state your experience as clearly and as eye-catching as possible in your service proposals and continue deepening your knowledge! Agencies will love you!

If you do not belong to the crowned heads in the business, you should specialise in one field (technical, law, commerce, medical) which corresponds to your likes and to the demand on the market.

Do you ask yourself "But how, oh how can I become a specialist?"
Here is some practical advice!

First of all and in any kind of situation: Don't panic!

Then: 2. Make your choice and stick to it!
As a starting translator we are very proud of our first paid translations. As in the beginning, we make a grab at any order we can get hold on, the subject matters vary and we get a kind of kaleidoscop!
But be aware - nobody will believe in your skills and knowledge if you present yourself as an expert for software, designers shoes, allergies and financial issues simultaneously!

3. Learn!
The possibilities are unlimited! You can take on an on-line course, for example with the Open University, attend trainings, watch documentaries on TV, go to university as an auditor...

4. Keep yourself in the picture!
You should always follow up changes and developpements in your specific field! Read specialist journals and every single news about your subject matter! Talk to experts - the Internet is perfect for that!

5. Work on text!
Keep your terminology up-to-date! And work on a regulary basis on articles in your field of competence!

And last, but not least! 6. Be patient!
With the time, slowly but steadily, you will feel that your knowledge is growing! Very little in the beginning and after a time like a bramble bush!

Just keep on going!!!

A forced holiday

Back again after quiete some time! But I have a good excuse - I was forced to take some holiday from the translation and Internet business.

No, not because I would have won a week on the Caribbean or in Tahiti! Why roam so far afield? I just went next door, to Germany, for family reasons and could not get into the Internet!

I tell you, I was nearly going crazy in the first place. Running around like an headless chicken feeling the earth shuffeling under my feet!!! Awful! (Also for family and friends...)

But then, all of a sudden, after some days, the ZEN feeling took over: I laid back to relaxe, to have some good beer after the Reinheitsgebot and I just did not think anymore about all the clients I was loosing in just that moment! The western way of ZEN! What else can you do?

When I came finally back to my dear computer at home, I stroke tenderly his head! And he did not disappoint me: The damage was not too bad! I lost two new clients from which one was a German agency! They had offered some translation work by email. But the email was so unprofessionnal that I did not even bother to send an answer!


All in all it was an exhausting and though helpful experience: Now, I sometimes allow myself to break away from the office for a short while! And then, I dream of Tahiti!