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.
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 past few decades, which have experienced their own share of technological advances, and the insecurity of translators who don’t want to see their jobs overtaken by computers. And while I’m not old enough to have witnessed this short history of…
Read MoreATA Business Practices: Workflow Management
What do we do during two weeks of enforced vacation, when the offices that usually send us work are on vacation? What do we do when we receive an email on Friday evening asking us to have a translation ready for Monday? Balancing work and life as a freelancer includes these challenges. The holidays are a good time to think…
Read MoreThe Top Three Things I Wish Somebody Told Me When I First Started As a Freelance Translator
By Pilar Saslow I earned a degree in translation and interpretation from a university in Peru a long time ago (I won’t share how long). I was naive enough to think my degree totally prepared me to enter the workforce. I had a rude awakening when I moved to the United States where the business of translation was handled very…
Read MoreATA Business Practices: Appropriate Prices for Services
Each month the ATA Business Practices Education Committee contributes a column entitled “Business Smarts” to The ATA Chronicle that discusses various management practices and business-related questions submitted by translators and interpreters. You can find this column online at www.atanet.org; in fact, this article was taken from the column at http://www.atanet.org/business_practices/smarts_2008_may.php. It addresses many factors involved in answering one of the…
Read MoreConference Wrap-Up
By Helen Eby & Jamie Hartz The 54th annual American Translators Association conference was held this year in downtown San Antonio, Texas, just a short walk from the Alamo and the beautiful Riverwalk. The conference was a huge success on several fronts: it drew over 1,400 attendees from all over the world, and it was the first year that featured…
Read MoreBuilding Your Presence Offline
By Daniela Guanipa I am a big proponent of making communications more effective, handling matters electronically as much as possible, and I really enjoy the enormous benefits of being able to connect with people anywhere in the world, from the comfort of my computer or any other electronic device. However, in this era of Internet, emails, and social media, it…
Read MoreFrom ATA’s Divisions: The Portuguese Division
By Mirna Soares Member of the PLD Leadership Council It took me many years to join a community of translators. When I started, I was unaware of best business practices, I missed all the interesting conferences and I never got any specialized feedback. Everything seemed to happen very slowly. Looking back, I realize I could have taken some shortcuts. I wasted…
Read MoreFinding your First Translation Clients
By Corinne McKay Reblogged from Thoughts On Translation with permission from the author I receive a lot of inquiries from people who would like to become translators, and most of these e-mails have something to do with finding those first few elusive translation clients. If you ask 100 translators how they got started in the business, you’ll probably get at…
Read MoreHow Do I Get My First Paying Gig?
By Giovanna Lester Let’s start from the premise that you already have some training, you know the language and culture you will be working with, and now what you need is some exposure, some clients. Where do you go from here? The answer is multi-tiered and demands determination. These are my recommendations to anyone about becoming a freelancer: 1. Identify your…
Read MoreWhy Be a Buddy?
By Helen Eby At my first ATA conference, back in Denver, I felt overwhelmed by the newness of it all. My roommate, however, acted as a buddy. She was great! I met her through the Roommate Finder, so she was a total stranger. We didn’t share a language, a specialty, or anything of that nature. Just a desire to have…
Read MoreDear Newbie,
By Jamie Hartz We’ve been in your shoes. In fact, I’m personally still in your shoes. Last year was my first time at the ATA annual conference, and let me be the first to tell you: it’s overwhelming. But take heart! “Buddies Welcome Newbies” is here to help. I was a first-time attendee and an undergrad student looking to learn…
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