Considering Becoming a Translator? Read This!
It is estimated that there are around 640,000 translators around the world, a quarter of whom are freelancers (source: Translators Association of China).
Globally, translation industry is worth over $43 million in 2017, a rise of approximately 40% compared to 2012. This significant growth is due to increasing trends towards globalization. More companies take benefits of easy access to global market to sell their products, which cannot be done merely with a good marketing plan. It shall also be supported with excellent localisation and translation team.
The considerable amount of global revenue is balanced with extremely high competition and low barriers to entry. We do not need to have a degree in translation to be one. As long as we have a good understanding about the target language and culture, we can always declare ourselves as freelance translators.
In order to get the most out of translating industry, it's important to have strategic insight and planning. As for me, I start with these 3 simple questions.
1. How translation industry works?
To cut expenses, some big companies in taxation, energy, mining, and technology sectors have in-house translators under their Quality Assurance (or Control) Department. This is surely a steady job with monthly payment. However, as translating is only like a garnishing job for the company's product, we shall not expect much on earning much.
Meanwhile, the main players in translation industry are companies that work in-house for a brand or creative agency, in-house at a language service providers/LSP (i.e., Lionbridge, TransPerfect, HPE ACG, LanguageLine Solutions, etc.) or freelance translators working for agencies (i.e., vistatec, rev.com, etc.) To work in such agencies or LSPs, a deep comprehension in linguistic and target language is never enough as they mainly require CAT-tools proficiency.
Also, there are some medium-sized companies or individual translators commissioned by large translation agencies to work on specialized field of translation.
In cases of overload work, subcontracting between freelancers is a common practice. Meanwhile, the success keys of freelance translators are connection and client's trust.
2. Is there any specialization?
Sure, there is. The top specialization trend is localization. It is defined as a process of adapting product to a specific country or language. It is most often required for the adaptation of website, software, electronic devices, and so on.
Another promising specialization with far less players is legal translation. This is related to the transposition of legal document texts, i.e., agreements, certificate of birth, diploma certificate, wills, etc. from one language to another. In Indonesia itself, the court obliges any document evidences in Bahasa Indonesia.
Subtitling and novel translation are also common types of specialization. Although the rate is page-based or royalty percentage-based, almost all translators agree that novel translation requires big effort but makes little money. On the other side, it gives us benefit in another form, which is popularity.
Company translators have a different story. The job they take may vary, so their specialization depends on the main business of the company. It may be necessary for them to be excellent in various disciplines like mining or energy, legal, and general translation altogether.
3. How to win client's trust?
Simple! We just need to have the proficiency that meets the client's needs. When, let's say, there is a software builder companies trying to expand their market in Indonesia, the ultimate skills we must have is not only localisation, but also knowledge about CAT-based translation since such companies normally maintain vocabulary consistency and have their own term-base.
Another example is that in legal translating, we must know the purpose of the document. In agreement, we should use a cooperative tone, while in litigation case we should be able to transfer the express tone into the source language.
Whereas, the shortcut to win any client's trust is certification. When they require one, we must confirm which kind of certification they need as there isn't a single, global certification. If you are an Indonesian, mostly the client refers to 'sworn translator' or 'HPI' certification. But generally speaking, a certification is a stamp and an accompanying letter from an agency or a translator stating that the translation has been completed by a professional translator and is, to the best knowledge of the agency/translator, of high quality and true to the original text.
To conclude, we can get started by choosing the type of translator we will be. Then, we can plan the skill development program we must take to cope up with our specialization. Finally, we focus on the client's needs and take a certification test if necessary.
Source:
https://www.translatemedia.com/careers/how-to-become-a-translator/the-translation-industry/
http://icdtranslation.com/translation-industry-trends-2018/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_localization
