Long-Lost Freelancer

So  a long time has passed since I last posted on here. Thankfully it isn't because I have wallowing in sadness and cakes because I have had no orders - instead I have been doing work: big fat piles of it!

I have mainly be working for agencies. And the majority of these agencies are contacts I got from my old employer. So my number one piece of advice for anyone making a similar move would be COLLECT YOUR CONTACTS! I haven't even done a huge amount of work related to my old job, but I think just having the point of reference and recognition has helped. Despite what you hear from some sources, I have had a great experience working with agencies - really friendly project managers, punctual payments, steady flow of work, support with questions and technical issues - no translator complaints here!


I have also done some work for private customers which has been very enjoyable: writing about delicious Mediterranean food and sunshine, who wouldn't enjoy that? (apart from the slight tortured feeling you get doing it when you are stuck in front of a computer screen!). I am also a contractor for an Austrian company, helping with their translations one or two times a week. Not only is it nice to have a fixed income but it is also the holy grail for me when it comes to translation: pure marketing texts! It has also been good to force me away from my own computer and get out and about.

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Fortunately, I already had experience working with CAT tools as that has been really key to a lot of work. Make sure you brush up on your skills. Admin is also very important: keeping track of invoices has been hard but nothing is more rewarding than watching your hard-earned money slowly trickle into your account.

Accompanying this post are some snapshots of London. Life is very different to industrial German life but very much in a good way (mainly all the amazing food). Here is a meal I made when I was doing a particularly challenging translation: a nice bit of mackerel for some brain food! 

Rolling along

Get out your party hats...Last week I had my first paid jobs! Three small translation jobs and some proofreading. My mum got so excited when she heard she had to call me up! I also had an interview in a swanky part of London for what I hope will be regular contract work so that was all quite exciting - plus it was nice to pretend to be a swanky office lady for the day.

I have found recruitment sites to be a good source - as well as agencies actively looking for German to English translators, I have also found a few adverts for "normal" companies looking for part-time translators. So now that all the confusing bank holidays are over (for a couple of weeks at least), I am hoping that work will start flooding in!

My bank holiday was spent in beautiful Essex...

(seriously, who knew Essex was so delightful?!)

....eating huge amounts of chocolate cake

Remembering to leave the house

Yesterday I took a break from staring at the computer screen and remembering to sit up straight (my #homeoffice has not yet stretched to an ergonomic office chair) and went to an event at the Goethe Institute London. It was the launch of a new book about Berlin by Rory Maclean with interesting chats, lovely photography, film clips of David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich and lots of good people watching (wealthy #German academics sure know how to dress). And I even managed to beat the tube strike on the way home #success.

Week One over

Week one is over! It has been a productive week. Lots of applications, registrations, test translations and reacquainting myself with various software programs. Lots of learning! And not too much Daily Mail reading (my number one form of procrastination so I am proud of myself!).

One of my favourite things about being back in the UK is the food. After many years of arguing with Germans who said that British food was disgusting (because their only experience of  our food was a Klassenfahrt to a youth hostel in Eastbourne), I am enjoying each and every trip to the supermarket! Instead of traipsing around 5 or 6 shops looking for a variety of different ingredients, you go to one. AND you can buy peanut butter for under 4 euro! Here is one thing I made this week....
Grilled aubergines with a satay sauce and cucumber salad YUM

Day One

Today has been my first day of properly applying myself to finding work for my #freelancetranslation business. And what a long day it has been! Luckily I have had my manatee bag and Beyoncé to keep me from giving up :)

I am starting by applying to agencies to try to get a steadyish flow of work to begin with.

Every agency seems to have a different process or requires different information from you. Some have one short contact form, others have a long data collection process so it has been fairly complicated! I have tracked everything I have sent out and any replies I have received as I can imagine it will be easy to lose track of things quite quickly! I am also trying to add a personal message in any correspondence but who knows how long I will manage to keep that up!

One area that I am finding particularly difficult to navigate is the world of #rates. I don't want to price myself too low and have people thinking you are some kind of charlatan, but on the other hand I don't want to price myself out of the water. I suppose you get to learn these things along the way but it is pretty hard to begin with. Anyone else had this problem?

The time has come...

Gone are the days of luxury! A regular paycheck! Guaranteed work! The scary days of freelancing have arrived.

The past few weeks have been hectic but I have got to the stage now that I am ready to work. I have moved into a new flat, we have the Internet, my CV is ready and translated, various different cover letters are ready and translated, I have sent off a couple of applications, I have a list of old contacts, I am keeping track of my costs, I have a letter head and I have a website! I have updated my LinkedIn, I have a Facebook, a Twitter, 

a Proz account, I am trying very hard to join a professional association. I have some #translation software and a computer that works. I have an appointment to open a bank account. I feel ready(ish)! What else do you need to be a #freelancetranslator?

Now is the scary part. Will I get work? Will I get paid enough to survive on? Will I get paid as much as (I think) I deserve?
Well I guess it's time to find out!

Money makes the world go round

Organisation and thinking about #translation have been taking a break over recent weeks, being replaced by celebrating Christmas twice (don't ask), packing my life into the back of mum's car and obsessively checking right move! The day when I will cease to have a fixed income has unfortunately not stopped racing closer so it is time to pull my finger out.

As well as finalising my cover letters and CV and having these translated into German, I have also succeeded in setting up my email account and website (using the services of 1and1)...getting there slowly but surely. I have also been thinking a lot about the snoozetastic #tax money side of my new job and wondering whether to go down the sole trader route or to register as a limited company.

After discussing the pros and cons with an accountant and reading various articles (like this one on The Guardian) and threads on proz.com (such as this one and this one), I have come up with an initial plan. 

The accountant recommended the path of limited company, mainly for tax reasons. If you were to take a minimum salary and then take dividends, you would save on national insurance and pay the (currently) lower rate of corporation tax as compared to income tax. A limited company is also completely separate to you as an individual so there is limited liability (not that translation is a particularly risky business). There is also the aspect of looking "professional", however I am slightly worried that I would end up looking too professional, in other words, I don't want people thinking that I am agency when really it is just me! On the downside, this option requires a lot more paperwork and you would have to pay more for your accountant.

Sole trader is the simpler option, though you do have to squirrel away money and make sure you don't spend it as you have to pay your tax for the year in advance, and the tax rate is higher. Seeing as I have absolutely no clue as to how much I am going to be earning (or if I am going to be earning anything in fact), I have decided to start out as a sole trader, and always bear in my mind that I can switch to limited company if I find that I am earning big bucks (the most wishful of thinking!)