14 The Linguist Vol/54 No/6 2015
www.ciol.org.uk
After leaving her job to become a
freelance translator, Katya Roberts
tried everything from skills swaps to
job shares in her quest to find work
A
ccording to a survey carried out
by WorkingMums.co.uk, 90% of
women struggle to find flexible work
and 83% say it is hard to find flexible jobs that
use their skills. After graduating as a native
Russian linguist with an MA in translation,
I spent ten years working in an office, first
as a PA, in-house translator and marketing
manager for an architectural practice, and
most recently for a PR agency. But when
I had a baby in August 2014, I knew that
I would need to work more flexibly.
Continuing the daily commute to central
London would have meant seeing my son only
at weekends, and it turned out that returning
to my old job following maternity leave wasn't
even financially viable. Once we factored in
childcare costs, my earnings would have
been less than my basic expenditure, so even
if I had no income we would be better off.
I handed in my notice in May. Leaving my
comfort zone of salaried employment for
freelance work was a scary thought. Where
would I start? How would I support myself
while I developed my business? How would
I do my accounts? Where could I get advice?
WHERE TO START?
Fortunately, I had done enough translating
and interpreting work to build up a portfolio,
but in terms of freelance work, I was starting
from ground zero. Having done some initial
research online, I talked to friends and
colleagues who were familiar with the industry,
researched freelance rates and potential
avenues for professional growth, and joined
the Chartered Institute of Linguists. After
narrowing down my specialisation to legal
translation, as this is where the bulk of my
experience had been, I signed up for all the
relevant industry newsletters and started to
attend networking events.
As I lacked credibility due to a lack of
freelance experience, I registered as a
voluntary translator for TED and began
translating subtitles for their talks, which was
both useful and fun. Additionally, I offered
my proofreading services, free of charge, to a
private members' club, Russians in the City,
which sends out ten newsletters a month,
taking me about two hours a week.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Looking for more ways to engage with
potential customers, I created a Facebook
page (www.facebook.com/MasterPlusUK)
and Twitter account (@MasterPlusUK), and
invited my friends to support me. I used
these channels to keep them updated on
my progress and to look for work; my first
job, indeed, came from Facebook.
The more I searched for translators to share
job opportunities with, the more I realised that
there was no unified database for translators
working with my language combination, so I
set up a LinkedIn group for Russian translators
and interpreters in the UK. The membership
criteria is rather strict, as we only accept UK-
based professionals, but it is already starting
to generate results, particularly in terms of
sharing workload and seeking advice.
Going SOLO
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