Hello everyone and welcome back!!
Last week we had the amazing opportunity to meet some of the most experienced professional translators, who not only offered tips and tricks on how to emerge yourself into the translation world, but they also addressed some of your questions/concerns and I am sure that this event was much appreciated by everyone.
Among the professionals, we had the MA Translation graduate from Exeter University, Matthew Bird, who currently works at Sure Languages and therefore was able to offer an overview on the translation agencies. In terms of free-lancing, Natalie Soper accompanied us, along with Lisa Simpson and Alison Exley, the last two having gathered more or less 20 years of experience in the translation area.
Having said that, here are some of the tips and advice they offered, everything drawn from their very own experience:
- Get a job in the area that you are interested in, in order to gain some insight information and only then go ahead and become a translator
- Travel a lot, if possible move abroad to get accustomed to the culture and traditions-this will lead to a more accurate translation in/from that certain language
- Do NOT be afraid to contact direct clients through phone rather than e-mails
- ALWAYS be positive
- Look professional in the e-mails that you send
- Create your own website- it makes you look reliable and committed to your work
In conclusion, it turned out to be a very fruitful afternoon, which I am sure aided you in making some more steps towards a bright future translation career. Also, here is one of the websites recommended on that day: https://www.sft.fr/statistiques-traduction.html#.WLQQMU0afcs.
Looking forward to seeing you again at the Final Gala! All the best! 🙂 
