freelance interpreter

[musicalwatch]

Hey guys. I have recently started working as a telephonic interpreter. Russian-English, English-Russian. Work is extremely stressful but very rewarding too. I don't know whether I can make any money with it but the experience is all that matters.

That whole interpretation business is so chaotic and seemingly unorganized right now with a lot of shady scammy companies, etc.

Have any one of you tried something like this? I would love to hear stories!

Thank you

[Michael569]

My girlfriend worked in translation agency for about 4 years and said exactly the same. Lot of translators submit incomplete garbage work, use translating software and upon double checking, numerous mistakes were being identified on page after page. 

I dunno, I think as translating software are getting smarter and smarter, the industry may be in jeopardy of gradually being replaced by robots. The competition is immense and margins are cut shorter by the year. 

That being said for very niche and specialist topics, you will still need humans so I think it pays to specialise in a niche technical field rather than do general translations but I don't know enough about the industry to be sure. 

[musicalwatch]

Translation might as well get replaced soon but not interpreting- oral real-time translation and also a culture broker. The machines won't be smart enough to feel all the nuances and emotions from human speech. At least for now

[Yarco]

My ex was a sign language interpreter, she made bank.

Your best shot at a stable career without having to worry about scams is finding a reputable agency to work for. There are companies that police departments, news agencies, and other large organizations have on-call for when they need an interpreter.

You can go solo and earn more but then the work will be more irregular, you'll have to find them yourself and sort out legit jobs from scams and time wasters.

[musicalwatch]

Sign language is so cool.

[Bird Larry]

Study marketing and sales. Advertise yourself through youtube or through your blog. Don't rely on anybody, any company, or something to do the marketing for you. I'm not saying never work for anybody. I'm saying, even if you are to work for someone, make sure you are doing your own sales, not the boss. The boss will disrespect you if you can't be independent from him. 

Of course, this is an advice for the ones who actually know how to interpret well. "Professional" interpreters out there, a lot of them are scammers, but you can persuade people and educate who are the real ones to the non-real. There is no better marketing than education. Leadership is ownership. 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Bird Larry