The Linguist

FEATURES All three of us are CIOL Career Affiliates and Andrew stresses that professional membership can be a huge help. It offers "many social events which help you feel like you belong to a community of linguists, rather than being a sole trader going it alone. This has made it much less intimidating to reach out to colleagues, whether for advice or just a friendly chat, which has made the idea of working from home much less daunting." While freelancing doesn't have fixed hours, I used to stick to 9-5 as much as possible, so that I wasn't working when the rest of my household was socialising. The beauty of being freelance, though, is that you don't have to have to stick to standard office hours if it doesn't suit you. For Ruth, freelancing appealed due to the flexibility it offers around her long-term health issues. "I make sure I'm always available to contact during business hours," she says, "but sometimes I find I get my best work done in the evening." Others feel that this flexibility affects their focus and motivation. How do you make yourself work when there's no line manager telling you what to do? Andrew recalls having very structured days when he was starting out, spending his mornings researching and contacting potential clients, and afternoons volunteering for organisations such as Translators Without Borders (TWB) and doing CPD. How has that changed, one year on? "I have a couple of regular clients who keep me busy, so I'm able to spend most of my time actually translating. The problem I'm having now is making sure I keep up with my CPD, so I recently made my first CPD plan to keep myself focused and on track." As a final word, I asked the pair to imagine travelling back in time. What advice would they give themselves before embarking on their freelance adventure? "Don't second- guess yourself so much – you know more than you think," Ruth says. "Often I've doubted my instincts, only to confer with my mentor or another translator and have my initial instinct proven correct. Of course accuracy is key, but absolute perfection is impossible to attain, and at some point I have to accept that and move on." Andrew adds: "Be realistic and manage your expectations. You're not going to work full-time from day one. It takes time to build up a client base, but don't let that deter you. I would also tell myself to make a CPD plan to focus on areas that will help achieve my goals, rather than trying to do a bit of everything. Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help – everyone was in your position once." To this I would add, don't shy away from experimenting in the beginning – with working hours, office location and setup, and rate negotiation strategies. Freelancing may not be for everyone, but its beauty is that it's highly mouldable to suit your own needs and preferences. Don't give up before you've tried every version of what freelancing can be. Whatever your experience, is there any professional advice you would give your past self? Send your thoughts to linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk. Ruth recommends • ProZ: the Blue Board was invaluable for knowing which agencies were trustworthy, and the KudoZ feature is handy for getting help with terminology. • 'Crash Course: How to find work as a translator', a LinkedIn series of articles by Martina Russo. Andrew recommends • How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator by Corinne McKay. • ClickUp for organising your daily, weekly and monthly schedule. • LSP.expert for the admin side of freelancing (subscription required after the free trial). • Toggl Track for time tracking. LSP.expert has a time-tracking feature for translation assignments, but Toggl is great for those non-billable tasks.

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