5 Important Things A Starting Out Translator Needs to Know

Here are 5 important things you should know if you're starting out as a translator:

1. YOU DON'T NEED TO HAVE A WEBSITE

You can leave investing in your domain and creating a website for later, and use your LinkedIn profile as your landing page.

? Fill in all the sections and make sure to optimize your profile by using the keywords you want people to find you for. For example, if you translate IT texts from French to English, you would use these keywords: "IT", "French", "English", "translator" in all the sections.

2. YOU DON'T NEED TO HIRE A PHOTOGRAPHER to have a professional LinkedIn profile photo.

You can take a few shots by yourself or ask a friend to help you.

? Look straight at the camera and smile, showing a little of your teeth.

3. YOU CAN USE YOUR GMAIL (OR ANY OTHER) ADDRESS

If you're just starting out, you don't have much experience, and you will probably work with translation agencies (LSPs) first—it's easier than getting direct clients (individuals or companies)—and they don't mind your Gmail address.

? Make it look professional though, i.e., only your first name and last name, or your future business name, e.g.,

your first name.your last name@

first letter of your first name.your last name@

your last name.your first name@

your business name@

Once you want to work with direct clients, you should get a domain and hosting to make a branded email address. It gives you more credibility and shows that you are serious about your business, which is why it is recommended when working with direct clients.

4. YOU NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH CAT TOOLS if you want to work with LSPs.

If you haven't heard of CAT tools yet, they are tools that help us, translators to maintain terminology consistency throughout all the text, and allow us to create translation memories (list of previously translated sentences) and term bases (glossaries).

? Not all translation agencies work with the most popular CAT tools, like Trados or memoQ. Sometimes they use a less popular CAT tool or their own. In the latter case, they give you access to it or provide you with a license. Keep it in mind before investing in any CAT tool.

5. Last but not least, WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO AT THE BEGINNING is

think about a general field you want to work in (e.g., medical, technical, legal, scientific)

find your niche (a specific field you like, you're good at and passionate about, e.g., aesthetic medicine, patents, civil law, AI)

specialize (attend workshops and industry events, do courses, read magazines and books)

know how to leverage CAT tools and where to find terminology.

More on all of these soon.

I hope it helps. :)

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