An Interpreter Way To Success

Lay persons don’t differentiate the two roles, but many people understand that an interpret*r works with spoken languages, and a translator works in written languages

Interpr*ters can work in different settings such as:

• court

• conference

• over the phone

or you work with

• sign language

As required, an interpr*ter may provide simultaneous service or consecutive service in these professional roles. Of course you do have to go through some extensive training for those professional roles.

Generally, interpr*ters are paid by the hour while translators are paid by the number of words worked on.

An interpreter usually works for these places:

• hospitals

• medical clinics

• law firms

• court

• police department

• and government agencies.

And of course corporate businesses and individuals are a big source of freelance work, too.

They are also facing some hard realities:

• It’s difficult to find regular and consistent interpreter jobs that are well-paid.

• Too much time is spent travelling to and from jobs. Mileage sometimes is paid, but often not if within the same geographical area.

  This makes it even harder when you have a couple or more jobs in a day. You waste lot of time travelling and before you know it the day is over.

• Late cancellation of jobs. Usually you can only charge cancellation fees up to 48 hours. It’s hard to line up other jobs with such a short notice.

  Cancellation means lost revenue – nobody likes cancellations but it’s often seen as the industry norm.

• It is hard to earn a decent income due to the limit of hours you can work, and the number of assignments you can get. Not to mention the uncertainty of cancellations.

The bottom line is, you’ve got to do everything you can to attract clients and get work. At the same time you also have to look for ideas that would break you out of the dollar-for-hour business module. You need to learn how to be creative and how to earn extra income.

So here are some general ideas for you:

1) Let people know what you do and what services you offer.

2) Make yourself visible to your potential clients by improving your on-line and off-line presence.

3) Learn more about your potential clients. Find out what they need.

4) Create different services and products that cater to their needs.

5) Combine your language skills with other transferable skills and sell as a package.

6) Work with other professionals or businesses to offer related services.

There’s only so much time you can spend working for clients one-on-one. So it is crucial for you to identify different needs and desires from your clients. Create new services and products that solve their problems as well as leverage your time.

This is a business. You have to work at it to succeed, which means honing your skills and sharpening your business sense.

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