I was recently asked what it’s like to work as a freelance translator and what sort of work I do as a marketing translator. Here’s an insight into a typical day’s work:
8 a.m.
My office hours officially start. 90% of my clients are based in Germany, which is one hour ahead of the UK. So it’s already 9 a.m. there and the e-mails and phone calls are starting to come in. Settle down at my computer with a cup of coffee and start to go through my e-mail inbox.
8.20 a.m.
I start proofreading 500 words of copy for a customer newsletter for an online shop. I translated it and revised it yesterday and, although it’s not due until 4 p.m., experience tells me that I am far more likely to catch any typos or other hiccups first thing in the morning.
9 a.m.
Take a five-minute break to see what’s going on in the world of Twitter this morning and to check out any useful links and resources that fellow translators have shared.
9.05 a.m.
Start preparing to translate some promotional brochures and leaflets on a new technology for washing machines, 5,000 words in total. The texts focus on energy efficiency and the environment, so I do some initial background reading on the subject and bookmark some similar promotional materials I find online – they may come in handy later.
10 a.m.
Start translating the brochures. 5,000 words will keep me busy translating for at least two and a bit days, plus the extra time needed to edit and proofread my work.
11 a.m.
Coffee break. Time to catch up on my RSS feeds – other translation blogs and marketing and advertising news. I also browse the BBC News website and have a quick read of The Guardian online.
11.30 a.m.
Back to my translation. I need to come up with some creative headings as quite a few of the headings in German involve word play that doesn’t work in English so I start brainstorming some ideas and jot them down. I’ll come back to them later because sometimes a really great headline sounds really naff when you come back to it with fresh eyes.
1 p.m.
Lunch. If the weather’s nice, then I’ll go for a walk to give my eyes a break from the computer and to recharge my creative batteries. I take some time out to read something non-business related – a chapter of the novel I’m currently reading: Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore. I come across a beautifully-worded sentence that I love so I make a note of it in my writer’s notebook, which I use as a source of inspiration and ideas.
2 p.m.
Back to the translation. Yuck. I no longer like one of my ideas for a heading. It’s a bit stilted. Back to the drawing board. It can take several drafts and much editing and proofreading until I’m totally happy with my translation.
2.30 p.m.
I’m interrupted by a phone call from a client who needs an urgent 100-word text translated by 4.30 p.m. It’s an additional couple of paragraphs for an advertising campaign description as part of an agency’s competition entry. Seeing as I translated the rest of the text, they need me to do this bit for them, too. I agree to take the job on and start working on it immediately. Marketing texts, particularly advertising texts, are frequently needed urgently so I often have to juggle longer projects with short items as and when they land on my desk.
4.15 p.m.
Three drafts later and, after one final proofread, I have handed in the urgent text. I decide to spend another half an hour on my washing machine translations before finishing for the day.
4.45 p.m.
I spend the last fifteen minutes of my day watching German-language news in a video podcast while my computer makes back-up copies of the day’s work. Unless I have made a specific arrangement with a client, my office hours end at 5 p.m. – I’m quite strict about when I work as I am far more productive and far more creative during the daytime. Some translators are night owls and enjoy burning the midnight oil but I find that I can’t produce quality work much later than 7 p.m. so I stick to my computer-off-at-5 p.m. rule whenever possible.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
A colleague and I were recently discussing why we are always juggling lots of short deadlines and came to the conclusion that it’s due to the kinds of text we translate. Marketing texts, promotional material, press releases, they tend to be quite short and it’s assumed you can turn the job around almost instantly. It was interesting to see that you have the same experience, also of having to fit in extra little urgent jobs because you translated the rest of the text a week ago. I try to factor in leeway on deadlines for longer jobs for dealing with these kinds of things but it’s not easy.
Hi Kate. Good to know that I’m not the only one! In my experience, most marketing and promotional texts are usually so urgent that the deadline should actually be ‘yesterday’… I agree, it’s not easy to juggle urgent jobs with longer projects. We do our best to accommodate our clients’ needs but sometimes there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.
I work as marketing assistant. May day have so many deadlines and so many tasks minute by minute: PR, text translation, text corection, etc
Serena, looks like you are the ultimate translator combining all a translator should do - translating, talking to clients, keeping yourself updated with the industry and most important - finishing you day at 5pm :>)
@Ofer: I’m not sure I would describe myself as the ultimate translator but I do my best to juggle everything so that I can fit in all the things that are important for my business and for my translation skills. Some days it works well, other days it’s more challenging!
@Serena Glad you found the time to reply during your coffee break. Have a great day ahead