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The Savvy Newcomer aims to serve newcomers to the translation and interpreting professions by publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed content on a weekly basis. We strive to provide you with the answers to the many questions you face as a new or aspiring translator or interpreter.

Independent Contracting from A to Z: Everything Translators & Interpreters Need to Know

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 8, 2025
Independent Contracting From A to Z

Starting your career as a freelance translator or interpreter is exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. Beyond your linguistic skills, you’re stepping into the world of independent contracting: contracts, marketing, professional development, taxes, technology, and more. It’s not always intuitive at first, but the good news is that you can build a successful business with a strong foundation. Here’s a guide from A to Z covering the essentials every new freelance translator and interpreter should know: A – Agreements Never begin work without a signed agreement. Contracts clarify deadlines, rates, payment terms, confidentiality, and expectations, and they protect both…

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Professional Etiquette to Lower Your Stress and Improve Work-Life Balance

By The Savvy Newcomer | August 6, 2025
Professional Etiquette to Lower Your Stress and Improve Work-Life Balance

What people are looking for in a career is undergoing a massive shift in our culture. Younger professionals tend to prioritize mental health and often want the ability to arrange their schedule to make time for life commitments outside of their professional endeavors—such as pursuing other jobs or embracing family responsibilities. In fact, according to Upwork, “Gen Z is abandoning…

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Embracing the Part-Time Paradigm: Empowering Part-Time Professionals to Adopt the Small-Business-Owner Mentality

By The Savvy Newcomer | March 11, 2025
Embracing the Part-Time Paradigm Empowering Part-Time Professionals To Adopt the Small-Business-Owner Mentality

Many language professionals start out doing their work “on the side” of whatever else they are doing in life. When people find out you are bilingual, you may be asked to do some volunteer interpreting to help out a friend, family member, or someone in need, or you may agree or be expected to do the occasional translation—and maybe even…

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Cultivating Connection: 8 Tips for Interpreters and Translators to Tackle Loneliness

By The Savvy Newcomer | February 6, 2024
Cultivating Connection: 8 Tips for Interpreters and Translators to Tackle Loneliness

This post was originally published on KGH Interpretation. It is reposted with permission.  In 2022 I facilitated a session of the Language Access Café at the NCIHC Annual Membership Meeting and was asked to speak about interpreter self-care. Prior to the meeting, I decided to do an informal survey of medical interpreters asking them some questions about their mental health. I…

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Keep Track of Your Translation Time

By The Savvy Newcomer | January 23, 2024
Keep Track of Your Translation Time

Hot Tip for Translation Students Coming from an ex-student now freelance translator, who’s facepalming because she didn’t start this habit while doing university assignments. Are you ready? Keep Track of Your Translation Time What exactly do I mean by that? Make a spreadsheet with the following columns: project name, language pair, word count, difficulty, preparation, translation, proofreading, and total time.…

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Savvy Diversification Series – Advice I Wish I Had Followed on How to Become a Medical Translator

By The Savvy Newcomer | January 9, 2024
Savvy Diversification Series – Advice I Wish I Had Followed on How to Become a Medical Translator

The Savvy Newcomer team has been taking stock of the past year and finding that one key priority for many freelance translators and interpreters has been diversification. Offering multiple services in different sectors or to different clients can help steady us when storms come. Diversification can help us hedge against hard times. With this in mind, we’ve invited a series…

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A Translator’s Value(s) in a Shifting Market

By The Savvy Newcomer | November 14, 2023
A Translator's Value(s) in a Shifting Market

It has to be admitted that the translation marketplace in 2023 is a strange thing to experience. I sometimes imagine that it’s getting stranger by the moment, but I realize that the overreactions to the latest technology and the threats posed by artificial intelligence have to be understood from the perspective of a short history of market upheavals over the…

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The Best Google Search Tips for Translators

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 24, 2023
The Best Google Search Tips for Translators

All translators know that research is one of the key parts of the translation process, but not everyone knows that there are some simple ways of making your Google searches more effective. Below is a list of some Google search tips and strategies that are particularly useful for translators. If you didn’t already know about them, try them out! You…

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Conference Countdown: Your Guide to Preparing for Success at ATA64

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 17, 2023
ATA 64th Annual Conference (ATA64)

Less than two weeks remain until ATA’s 64th Annual Conference (ATA64) in Miami! Attending the ATA conference is a fantastic opportunity to connect with industry professionals, gain valuable insights, and broaden your horizons in the world of translation and interpretation. To help you make the most of this event, we’ve compiled a list of eight blog posts from the Savvy…

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What I’ve Learned in 8 Years of Blogging

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 3, 2023
What I’ve Learned in 8 Years of Blogging

This post was originally published on That Interpreter Blog. It is reposted with permission.  When I started this blog in 2012, I was thinking of applying to graduate school, and a friend told me that I should start to develop an online presence to give myself an edge over other applicants. He told me an easy way to do that…

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Linguist in the Spotlight – John Milan

By The Savvy Newcomer | September 26, 2023
Linguist in the Spotlight

There is much to be learned from our colleagues, but it can be intimidating to strike up a conversation with the “pros.” For that reason, we at Savvy have done the work for you in our Linguist in the Spotlight interview series, where we pick the brains of experienced translators and interpreters and bring their stories right to your screen.…

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