After completing their translation training programmes at higher professional education or university level, many students can't wait to set up as a freelance translator. However, gaining a foothold as a freelancer in a very competitive translation market may turn out to be a pretty complicated business. Translation agencies are not usually keen on contracting inexperienced translators, business clients are difficult to find without commercial tools, and the tax authorities won't just accept anyone as a self-employed person. So what do you need to do to set up shop as a successful freelance translator?
Translation agencies
Most translation agencies are wary of admitting new freelancers into their networks. After all, it takes a while before it really becomes clear whether a freelancer can live up to their expectations: does he/she stick to agreed deadlines, offer a consistent level of quality, consult relevant reference resources, deal effectively with various registers and specialisations (commercial, technical, medical, financial, IT, etc.)? Many translation agencies begin with a 'trial period' in which they closely monitor the work submitted by new freelance translators. To reduce the risk of a fiasco ? and avoid the associated costs ? translation agencies normally only accept applications from freelance translators who have had at least two or three years' fulltime experience in the translation business.
Business clients
In their attempts to introduce themselves directly to companies, freelancers usually find it difficult to gain access to the people that matter and, once they are there, to secure orders. Companies tend to prefer outsourcing translation services to partners that are able to offer comprehensive solutions. They look for agencies that can fill their translation needs in a range of different languages, are always available, can take on specialised texts and have the procedures in place to ensure that all deadlines are met. In view of their need for continuity, capacity and diversity it is hardly surprising that many companies select an all-round translation agency rather than individual freelancers. An agency may be more expensive than a freelancer, but the additional service and quality guarantees justify the extra investment.
Tips to achieve success as a freelance translator
What steps will you need to take after graduation to develop into a successful freelance translator?
1.After completing your studies, it's best not to present yourself on the market straightaway as a freelance translator, but first to find employment at an all-round translation firm and spend a couple of years there to gain the necessary practical experience. As a salaried employee your income will be less compared to what you might potentially earn in a freelance capacity, but don't forget that without experience you're never going to be successful in the first place. In many cases, you will be assigned to a senior translator who revises your translations, monitors your progress, and makes you aware of your strengths and weaknesses. This will enable you to acquire the skills and baggage you need on your way to becoming a professional translator, and will give you the opportunity to experiment with various types of texts and disciplines.
2.If you can't find a position in paid employment, try to find a post as an (unpaid) trainee. A translation agency may not have the capacity or resources to take on new staff, but it may still be able to offer you an excellent training post to help you gain practical experience in a commercial environment. A traineeship may serve as an effective springboard for a career in the translation business, perhaps even within the same agency that offered the traineeship.
3.After having whetted your skills at a translation agency for a number of years, you may decide that the time has come for you to find your own clients. Ideally, you should move on to a part-time contract so that you have enough time to recruit clients and work for them, and enough money to live on. It is important to make clear arrangements with your boss at this stage, to avoid a conflict of interests. The best strategy is to send your personal details and CVs to a selected group of professional translation firms and translation departments within companies and governmental institutions, explicitly referring to your work experience. Don't forget to highlight your willingness to do a free test translation.
4.Make sure to register as a self-employed person with the relevant tax authorities and seek their advice if necessary.
5.Once you have managed to find enough freelance work to keep yourself busy for around 20 hours a week, you might consider terminating your employment contract and devoting the extra time to attracting new business. In 20 hours most experienced freelance translators tend to earn around as much as a full-time translator in salaried employment.
These are obviously very general guidelines, and your personal career may evolve along quite different lines depending on your preferences, skills and personal conditions. Whatever your circumstances, however, you will find that experience and a certain amount of business acumen are the things that matter most in a successful freelance career.


Fester Leenstra is co-owner of Metamorfose Vertalingen, a translation agency in Utrecht (The Netherlands). After having worked for several translation firms in paid employment, he took the plunge in 2004 and incorporated his own company.
For further details about Metamorfose Vertalingen, visit VERTAALBUREAU.

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When you're looking to get hired or get promoted, what do you think is your most important asset? Your experience? Knowledge? Skill? Talent?
While all of those are advantages that will help you achieve your goals, there's one thing that's more important than all of them combined.
Your attitude!
Let me illustrate my point.
I attended a board meeting recently. It should've been spelled "bored." Just about everyone's eyes were glazed over or nearly closed with fatigue as one dull presentation after another was foisted upon the board members, staff and audience.
Then something changed.
Someone who had never spoken at a board meeting before got up, went to the lectern, fired up her PowerPoint presentation, and totally blew everyone away!
People perked up in their seats and listened attentively to her every word.
When she was done, people clapped! (If you've ever attended a public agency board meeting before, you'll know how remarkable that is!) The board president said, "I've seen hundreds of presentations. This is the first time I've ever seen one that elicited applause!"
Was this presenter more experienced, more knowledgeable, more skilled or more talented than all the others? Absolutely not. As a fairly new employee, she was actually inferior in all of those areas.
What made the difference? Her attitude.
She was enthusiastic, positive, upbeat, energetic and truly excited about what she was talking about!
It wasn't the quality of her presentation that impressed people, it was how she made them feel. Her enthusiasm was contagious, so the audience greatly enjoyed listening to facts and figures that, presented by someone without her energetic attitude, would've bored them to tears.
Everyone in that room will remember and think very highly of her because of her attitude.
You know why companies conduct time-consuming, labor-intensive job interviews instead of simply hiring people based on the qualifications presented in their resumes? One of the reasons is to find someone they'll enjoy working with.
This can only be conveyed in person, by your attitude.
Think of your own co-workers. Who do you enjoy working with? The smart guy who has all the answers but acts superior? The woman who has the most experience but whines or complains whenever she's asked to do something in a new way?
Or the person who always smiles, listens to you, stays positive, friendly and supportive no matter what?
How's your attitude?

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This year we are experiencing the most dynamic and rapidly changing economy in all of history except for next year, and the year after, and the rest of our working lives. The days of being able to get a college education, then get a good job for life, which will give you financial security and retirement are gone forever.
There will be more changes in your current field in the next year than there has ever been before. The only thing we know for sure about the future is that it will be different from the past. And not only is change inevitable, the rate of change is accelerating. And these changes will affect every part of your life.
The future will bring more competition in your field than ever before. More and more people and companies will be struggling to take advantage of the same economic opportunities and customers. And your competition is both ruthless and determined. It is both national and international. Your competitors want your business, and they will do anything and everything to get it.
This new economy will open up more opportunities in your field than every before, but they will be in different areas. Possibilities are opening up at this very minute for you to sell your product or service to different customers in different forms, in different places, and in different ways. People who focus on the opportunities of the future, rather than getting bogged down by the problems of the past, will be the people who enjoy the rewards of tomorrow.
Government and university studies have concluded that a college graduate with a non-professional degree will have an average of ten to twelve different jobs or careers during his or her working lifetime. The majority of the people working today will be out of their fields and doing something else within two years. Anyone who does not adjust rapidly to greater change, greater competition, and opportunities of the future, will be swept aside by those who do.
To master today's job market it is important that you first understand how we got to where we are by taking a look back at history. At the end of World War II America and American industry dominated the world. Not only did we have abundant natural resources, but we had advanced technology. Meanwhile, the rest of the industrialized world was largely ravaged by war. For these reasons, anything that American factories produced found a ready market, both nationally and internationally. The economy took off. After a few years of this robust, expanding economy with opportunities and jobs for all, Americans began to accept this as their birth right.
By the 60's the world was beginning to change. Our industrial competitors like Germany and Japan, had already begun to rebuild, manufacture, and export products. In the 70's America began to be flooded with high quality products from all over the world. American companies and American working people had become complacent with their captive markets and had let their quality deteriorate. By the 80's we were in a real race. Everyone in the world wanted to enjoy the same living standards Americans had. And they were willing to work long hours and produce high quality goods and services in order to achieve those living standards.
And by the end of the decade it all came to an end. In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down ending the Industrial Age and the World Wide Web went up ushering in the Industrial Age. We entered into a global economy where not only jobs, but whole industries are coming and going at a speed never before imagined.
Many people who are suffering during this period of rapid economic change don't seem to understand what is going on. Many of them have been brought up with old Industrial Age ideas which no longer work. They are upset and angry that they are out of work, or working at jobs completely different from their training or previous experience. They are baffled by the rate of change and they are often angry or depressed.
To be successful in today's job market you must be flexible. Being laid off or fired is not personal in our rapidly changing economy. It is a fact of life. It simply means that, because of the level of sales activity, the company can no longer afford to keep you. Your job is to find a place where your contribution has value in excess of the salary you need to achieve your goals, support your lifestyle, and plan for retirement.
There are always jobs for the creative minority. You never have to be unemployed if you will do one of three things; change the work that you are offering to do, change the place where you are offering to work, or change the amount that you are asking for your services.
If there is no demand for your particular skills and experience, you will have to learn to do something else and provide skills that are in demand at the time. Employers don't care about your past. They only care about your future and your ability to contribute value to their customers.
You can change your location. Sometimes you will have to move from one part of the country to the other, from where there are few jobs to where there are more jobs. Many people transform their entire lives by the simple act of moving from an area of high unemployment to an area of low unemployment.
You can stay employed by lowering your demands. Remember, because your labor is a commodity, it is subject to the Law of Supply and Demand. If you ask too much, people will not hire you, because customers will not pay your demands in the price of the product or service that your company produces. But it is not the employer who is forcing this downward revision in wage requirements, it is the customer, through his or her buying behavior.
Education is critical in today's job market, you must constantly be updating and upgrading your knowledge and skills. Remember, we are living in a knowledge based world and the future belongs to the competent. It belongs to the people who know the most. So you must set aside one to two hours every day to read business books, magazines, trade journals, and newsletters. You must be listening to business and motivational audio learning programs while you're in your car. And you need to attend educational seminars on a regular basis.
An option that you should explore today is starting your own business. Because of the Internet it has never been easier or more cost effective to start a business. A great place to start is with a good and established multi-level marketing company. This way you can keep your current job in order to support yourself financially and build your business and gain valuable business skills in your spare time.
But let me give a word of caution here. Whether you are starting an Internet based business or a multi-level marketing business, there is no such thing as getting rich quick. It still takes careful business planning, marketing, and persistence. And you must have a product or service that solves a problem or fulfills a need for people.
There is a small creative minority in America who are never unemployed. No matter what happens, they always either have a job or their own successful business. If they lose a particular position in one place, they find another position doing the same, or something else, or somewhere else. They are fast on their feet. They move quickly and they don't accept unemployment or failure as an option. And they a always have jobs.
There are always jobs to be done. Even in the worst economy, there are always problems to be solved and consumer needs to be met. For this reason, all long-term unemployment is ultimately voluntary.
You are the president of your own personal services corporation and president of your own career. Your job is to be preparing yourself for your next job while you are in your present job. You must be one of the rare few who recognizes that your skills are becoming obsolete even as you read this.
There are more opportunities for you to fulfill your dreams and aspirations in the American economy than have ever existed before, or that exist anywhere else in the world. You can be, have, or do anything the you can dream of by preparing yourself for better and better jobs. You simply need to become better at creating value for others in your relationships, for your employer, or in your own business. You can take complete charge of your financial destiny by incorporating yourself into the fastest moving, most exciting economy in history.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many of America's largest corporations, on the subjects of leadership, self-esteem, goals, achievement, and success psychology.
Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

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You're a scientist, you're very well educated, you're intelligent, and so writing your own résumé should be easy, correct? I mean, how hard could it be? Especially if you have written your own thesis or dissertation in the past, you may feel that you can save the $300 bucks (or however much it costs, even if it is a tax deduction!) and simply do it yourself. The answer to this may surprise you?
Sometimes you can write your own résumé, and write it well. From my experience as an industry recruiter, where I saw hundreds of scientific résumés every day, there would be maybe 1 or 2 résumés that were REALLY well written. Then there was the tier of résumés that you had to suffer through in order to find out the actual skills that the individual possessed. I will confess, there are times when I threw out a résumé because it was simply too jumbled, and it was just frustrating to read.
Here are some tips:
Step 1: What are the secrets to writing a great résumé? First, you need to have a plan. Get an actual written example of the position to which you are applying. Your résumé has to be tailored to this position, or your résumé ends up looking too general. I know there are times when you are a bit lost, and you don't know what kind of job you want. My advice? Find out. Unless you are a new graduate, a general résumé will only hurt more than help.
Step 2: Organize your abilities. Focus on skills, not research projects. I can't say this enough. The title of your dissertation is really not as interesting as the fact that you conducted small molecule scale up in a Medicinal Chemistry Department and have experience with HPLC and NMR. Don't be afraid to sell your most marketable skills!
Step 3: Know what a hiring manager wants to see and give it to them! This is where it becomes very hard, and it's a bit like playing Russian Roulette unless you know the industry, the market forecast, and recent downsizing / shifts within the industry. This is one of the main reasons why people use a Certified Professional Résumé Writers that has biotech / pharmaceutical industry experience (there are only a handful around the nation). It is invaluable to get that key "hiring manager perspective", simply because you may not know you are doing anything wrong in your résumé. Have you ever sent your résumé to a prospective employer, and it just seems like a black hole? There is zero feedback; it is almost as if you had never sent your résumé at all. The reason why this happens is that you may not be a match for the position, even if you feel like you are. It is amazing what red flags can go for a hiring manager just from your résumé, so you need to be very, very careful in how you word and structure your experience.
Step 4: You are ready to edit! And edit again, and edit again! Don't you dare hit the "SEND" button on your email until you have had at least 3 friends review your résumé. And those friends need to be harsh about their feedback, not nice! Your friendship may suffer for a week or so (but I sincerely hope not!), yet your résumé will be all the better for it, and honestly, this is the only way your résumé will improve. This is perhaps the most humbling part, because it is human nature to be offended when someone critiques your work. I'm not just talking about grammar, either, although this is probably the most popular offense. Your friends have to really be able to THINK like a hiring manager, and your résumé needs to reflect your strengths, highlight your true skills, and lowlight all those things you want to hide.
Yes, it is certainly easier to simply contract a Certified Professional Résumé Writer to write your resume. It saves you the headache, saves at least 10 hours of your time, and gives you the confidence that you end up with a legal document with which you can be proud. The downside of course, is that it will cost you money. Your resume may be tax deductible, however, so make sure you check with your financial advisor to see if this applies to you.

But if you don't have the money, make sure you have some good friends around, the kind that can withstand the rigors of editing!
Laura Innis Yaldo http://www.apexresumes.com/
Ms. Yaldo earned her Masters of Arts in Biology from Smith College and continued on to finish one year of doctoral studies in Biochemistry. After completing lab work in Europe, she worked at the Center for Aids Research (CFAR) in La Jolla, California, as a bench scientist. Ms. Yaldo was later recruited into a prestigious scientific recruiting firm, where she wrote, edited, and critiqued thousands of resumes, provided career coaching, and interviewed top candidates from around the nation. Her combined talents at recruiting, resume writing, career coaching, life coaching, and interviewing skills were directly responsible for placing people in positions that ranged from $30,000 to $150,000. Ms. Yaldo is one of only a handful of people in the United States that can write scientific and federal resumes, and she has a strong track record in career coaching.

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Is an International Resume still a Resume? This is a very common question among those looking for work overseas for the first time. When you contact companies about applying for a job with them you will not often be asked for a resume, you will be asked to send along your CV. I remember the first time I was asked for my CV, I had no idea what they wanted and I couldn't seem to be able to find out, no one I knew, knew what at CV was either. Thank goodness there is the Internet now where information is easy to find! A CV is basically an international resume. CV (Curriculum Vitae) or international resume will differ from your regular run of the mill resume that you are used to writing. For example each country has different guidelines that they like to work within. Finding out these guidelines will take you much further in your international job hunt.
Before you start writing your international resume you will need to decide if moving overseas is really something that you want to do. This is a huge step and it can be quite intimidating. Make sure that you do a lot of research about the country you are thinking of moving to before you start writing and especially before you start sending around your international resume. This does not mean that you cannot put out some feelers to see what companies would be open to hiring someone from another country. You can send a letter of interest to as many companies as you would like and then wait to see who responds. But sending your international resume shows a commitment level that you need to be able to meet. If you have any doubts about your commitment to move overseas do not send out your international resume.
One of the confusing aspects while applying to a multinational company is what format to choose. It is an interesting topic which really depends on the company you are applying for. Typically one should use the format for where the post is and really where the HR person is. Typically the HR would be your contact person and they might be in a better position to let you know which other formats or details they may need on top of your resume. Folks in North America are not used to submitting their marital status, sex, or a photo. If you are seeking employment in an Asian country these are one of the main things they would expect in your resume. There are not many privacy laws and as part of their culture they expect more personal information than what is needed in a North America based company. Be prepared for that. Do you know that in many countries they don't care about cover letters for example some Asian countries? The European companies on the other hand may even demand a handwritten cover letter tailor made for a particular post and that too in a business like format.
Having good references are always helpful no matter which country you are trying to be employed at. But you need to be prepared for recommendation letters from your references which is more valuable in some parts of the world. In other parts you don't have to divulge unless you are asked to, but more so often people expect references as part of your resume and a failure to add one may end up in rejection without a second chance. This is where a good chat with the HR person about all data that is needed becomes more useful. No matter what country you go your technical skills and stand out and the keywords you employ in your resume may be the deciding factor.

To learn more about the how to write resumes and how to write resume cover letters you should visit this wonderful website http://www.eresumes.com/. This contains very good information on how to apply for specific positions and how to tailor your resume based on the industry you belong to. This article was coauthored in part by my friend TP.

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