The real life of translators
Translators' life is not
that cool, you know?
People think that we just stay home, working whenever we feel like, wear our pj until 6 pm and able to take breaks at any moment.
Reality is much different.
Much, much different.
First of all the basics.
There are 2 different types (at least) of translators: freelancers and employed. None of them is really happy....
Employed translators works in an office, usually a scary open space, together with the other employees of the company and, what's scarier, with the other translators of the company.
If you think that 2 angry girls are scary, it's just because you have never seen 2 frustrated translators together, even worse if they translate the same language.
Anyway, apart from this, employed translators life is not that bad. I mean, yes, they mostly translate super boring and repetitive stuff, they are obliged to stick to office working hours, they need to get off the bed even if outside is cold. But hey, that's what you get in change of safe salary, sure holidays, granted medical assistance, sure retirement and of switching your head off at 18:00 every day!!!
On the other hand you have the freelancers.
Oh, freelancers life.
Just so adorable.
A freelancer does everything an employee does, but plus he/she has to work for many more hours per day. The office is in a room of the house and you are never really able to switch off your translator antennas. You work while eating, watching TV, playing with your kids. Your life is pretty much fully focused on work. Because to get exactly the same as the employed translator, you need to earn about the 45% more.
Ok, it's true, freelancers most of the times earns more than 45% above the average employed translator, but don't think that that money compensate them. Of course, freelancers work from everywhere, and by that I mean it. Seaside, countryside, cities, small villages, tropics, North Pole, anywhere they want. And believe me, your mood improves greatly if you can live just where you want and not where your work decides.
In the middle of these 2 scary people, there is at least other 2 type of person that you will always have to deal with. These are the "project managers". I put it between brackets because project managers in translation industry are not really Project Managers, but more like that dude which has an office position just slightly better than your but feel like the CEO of the company and is treated like the least valuable of the janitors.
However, I said 2 types of person, and the PM is only one. Well no, not really, because there are 2 different types of PM:
- The One Who Has Been Hired Because Is A Damn Organized Person (the "Bastard" for short)
- The One Who Was A Translator Once And Decided To Move Forward (the "Frustrated" for short)
Bastards and frustrated are always present in any agency, any company, everywhere.
In the Translation industry you can recognize them because they are the same, but, the Bastard will act as a cynical animal, treating translators as Babel Fish and imposing crazy deadlines, impossible reference material, and unintelligible registration process. And he/she will like it and will enjoy it...at least it will seem like it.
The Frustrated will do exactly the same things as the Bastard, but he/she will not like it, and you can perceive it. It will be empathic towards translators, almost apologizing. He/she knows that, not long ago, on the other side of the email there was him/her.
So the good and the bad?
No, the Bastard usually doesn't understand much of translation so it will piss translators off but he/she will not be really able to understand if the translator did good or bad.
The Frustrated instead knows.....hell if he/she knows.
And the translator has no chance to survive, no mistake, no delay, no problem will be tolerated because the Frustrated, if translating, would have done it better...or at least he/she believes so.
What's the moral of all this, I don't really know.
I have studied translations and languages for my whole life. I became a translator, freelancer and employed, then I became a PM, and now I own a company, so maybe I am getting able to see things from outside, or maybe I'm just the next step in translator evolution.
I just know that I love my world, a world of weirdoes, frustrated people, inepts, wannabes, crazies, irrationals, dorks, grammar nazis, logorroics, pedantics, bastards.....
I just love it.
So, welcome to our blog, I hope you will enjoy it and I am sure it will help you to understand a bit better what translation industry really is!
People think that we just stay home, working whenever we feel like, wear our pj until 6 pm and able to take breaks at any moment.
Reality is much different.
Much, much different.
First of all the basics.
There are 2 different types (at least) of translators: freelancers and employed. None of them is really happy....
Employed translators works in an office, usually a scary open space, together with the other employees of the company and, what's scarier, with the other translators of the company.
If you think that 2 angry girls are scary, it's just because you have never seen 2 frustrated translators together, even worse if they translate the same language.
Anyway, apart from this, employed translators life is not that bad. I mean, yes, they mostly translate super boring and repetitive stuff, they are obliged to stick to office working hours, they need to get off the bed even if outside is cold. But hey, that's what you get in change of safe salary, sure holidays, granted medical assistance, sure retirement and of switching your head off at 18:00 every day!!!
On the other hand you have the freelancers.
Oh, freelancers life.
Just so adorable.
A freelancer does everything an employee does, but plus he/she has to work for many more hours per day. The office is in a room of the house and you are never really able to switch off your translator antennas. You work while eating, watching TV, playing with your kids. Your life is pretty much fully focused on work. Because to get exactly the same as the employed translator, you need to earn about the 45% more.
Ok, it's true, freelancers most of the times earns more than 45% above the average employed translator, but don't think that that money compensate them. Of course, freelancers work from everywhere, and by that I mean it. Seaside, countryside, cities, small villages, tropics, North Pole, anywhere they want. And believe me, your mood improves greatly if you can live just where you want and not where your work decides.
In the middle of these 2 scary people, there is at least other 2 type of person that you will always have to deal with. These are the "project managers". I put it between brackets because project managers in translation industry are not really Project Managers, but more like that dude which has an office position just slightly better than your but feel like the CEO of the company and is treated like the least valuable of the janitors.
However, I said 2 types of person, and the PM is only one. Well no, not really, because there are 2 different types of PM:
- The One Who Has Been Hired Because Is A Damn Organized Person (the "Bastard" for short)
- The One Who Was A Translator Once And Decided To Move Forward (the "Frustrated" for short)
Bastards and frustrated are always present in any agency, any company, everywhere.
In the Translation industry you can recognize them because they are the same, but, the Bastard will act as a cynical animal, treating translators as Babel Fish and imposing crazy deadlines, impossible reference material, and unintelligible registration process. And he/she will like it and will enjoy it...at least it will seem like it.
The Frustrated will do exactly the same things as the Bastard, but he/she will not like it, and you can perceive it. It will be empathic towards translators, almost apologizing. He/she knows that, not long ago, on the other side of the email there was him/her.
So the good and the bad?
No, the Bastard usually doesn't understand much of translation so it will piss translators off but he/she will not be really able to understand if the translator did good or bad.
The Frustrated instead knows.....hell if he/she knows.
And the translator has no chance to survive, no mistake, no delay, no problem will be tolerated because the Frustrated, if translating, would have done it better...or at least he/she believes so.
What's the moral of all this, I don't really know.
I have studied translations and languages for my whole life. I became a translator, freelancer and employed, then I became a PM, and now I own a company, so maybe I am getting able to see things from outside, or maybe I'm just the next step in translator evolution.
I just know that I love my world, a world of weirdoes, frustrated people, inepts, wannabes, crazies, irrationals, dorks, grammar nazis, logorroics, pedantics, bastards.....
I just love it.
So, welcome to our blog, I hope you will enjoy it and I am sure it will help you to understand a bit better what translation industry really is!
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