| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | How is it possible to make a decent living when working at the low rates offered by some agencies? Thread poster: Andrew Howarth
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Apologies if this has been covered in depth elsewhere (@mods: please move to relevant discussion if needed).
I often browse the German-English jobs posted on ProZ by agencies (although the following could apply to any language combination).
Let's say, for example, that an agency is offering USD 0.05 per word for a large, complex translation (highly technical, legal, financial, patents etc.), which is not rare by any means.
Maybe I don't translate as quickly... See more Apologies if this has been covered in depth elsewhere (@mods: please move to relevant discussion if needed).
I often browse the German-English jobs posted on ProZ by agencies (although the following could apply to any language combination).
Let's say, for example, that an agency is offering USD 0.05 per word for a large, complex translation (highly technical, legal, financial, patents etc.), which is not rare by any means.
Maybe I don't translate as quickly as some, but my calculations on this payment basis reveal that I would be far better off registering as unemployed and claiming state benefits.
Does anybody actually succeed in making a decent living working at these rates in such specialist fields?
A lot will depend on where you live, of course.
Genuinely interested to know if you think that there are people out there who are good and fast enough to make such jobs worthwhile. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jan Willem van Dormolen (X) 
Netherlands
Local time: 20:22
English to Dutch
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| How is it possible to make a decent living when working at the low rates offered by some agencies? | Feb 7, 2022 |
Short answer: it is not.
Just stear away from those agencies. They're bad news.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:22
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Inherent contradiction | Feb 7, 2022 |
There's an inherent contradiction in your question, since it is not possible to make a decent living when working at the low rates offered by some agencies,
You would need to be working continuously for very long hours, including weekends and holidays (assuming that these agencies were feeding you continuous work) - so your quality of life would not be "decent".
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 20:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Andrew Howarth wrote:
Let's say, for example, that an agency is offering USD 0.05 per word for a large, complex translation (highly technical, legal, financial, patents etc.), which is not rare by any means. ... Maybe I don't translate as quickly as some, but my calculations on this payment basis reveal that I would be far better off registering as unemployed and claiming state benefits.
Yes. If you work for low-paying agencies, you'll end up making less money, unless you can work faster. Whether you can afford to make less money, depends on your situation. E.g. if you are married and your partner makes enough money to allow you to make less money.
Does anybody actually succeed in making a decent living working at these rates in such specialist fields?
I would have struggled if I weren't married. This is because my language combination doesn't pay a lot.
But your language combination does have high-paying jobs, so you should be able to make more money, as long as you don't accept low-paying jobs. This means that you should not focus on the jobs that are posted on the Job Board -- instead, you should seek out the jobs that are *not* posted. In other words, you should contact hundreds of agencies and offer them your services directly.
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 21:22
Member
English to Turkish
| I'd also be interested to know | Feb 7, 2022 |
Yesterday I checked out the profile of a translator featured on the featured translator section of the main page, and saw that she worked into Russian (along with some other 'exotic' Eastern European languages), lived in Vancouver, Washington, and worked for 0.03-0.04 USD per word.
I'm aware that EN>RU is a fairly oversaturated pair and the jobs in that pair should not be as steady as that of EN>Dutch or Spanish. I'd really like to know how one makes ends meet (never mind making a decent ... See more Yesterday I checked out the profile of a translator featured on the featured translator section of the main page, and saw that she worked into Russian (along with some other 'exotic' Eastern European languages), lived in Vancouver, Washington, and worked for 0.03-0.04 USD per word.
I'm aware that EN>RU is a fairly oversaturated pair and the jobs in that pair should not be as steady as that of EN>Dutch or Spanish. I'd really like to know how one makes ends meet (never mind making a decent living) by translating into Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian etc. for 0.04 USD per word anywhere in America. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Andrew Howarth
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:22
German to English
TOPIC STARTER | More of a rhetorical question | Feb 7, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
There's an inherent contradiction in your question, since it is not possible to make a decent living when working at the low rates offered by some agencies,
You would need to be working continuously for very long hours, including weekends and holidays (assuming that these agencies were feeding you continuous work) - so your quality of life would not be "decent".
I agree with you, Tom. I don't think it's possible to make a decent living at those rates, certainly not in my home country. But I am interested to know if there are any outliers out there who make it work for them.
| | | | Andrew Howarth
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:22
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Samuel Murray wrote: Andrew Howarth wrote:
Let's say, for example, that an agency is offering USD 0.05 per word for a large, complex translation (highly technical, legal, financial, patents etc.), which is not rare by any means. ... Maybe I don't translate as quickly as some, but my calculations on this payment basis reveal that I would be far better off registering as unemployed and claiming state benefits. Yes. If you work for low-paying agencies, you'll end up making less money, unless you can work faster. Whether you can afford to make less money, depends on your situation. E.g. if you are married and your partner makes enough money to allow you to make less money. Does anybody actually succeed in making a decent living working at these rates in such specialist fields? I would have struggled if I weren't married. This is because my language combination doesn't pay a lot. But your language combination does have high-paying jobs, so you should be able to make more money, as long as you don't accept low-paying jobs. This means that you should not focus on the jobs that are posted on the Job Board -- instead, you should seek out the jobs that are *not* posted. In other words, you should contact hundreds of agencies and offer them your services directly.
@Samuel.
Yes, I agree. My question was more out of general interest, but I think your advice is very good advice.
| | | | Andrew Howarth
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:22
German to English
TOPIC STARTER | Hats off to anybody who can make this work for them | Feb 7, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote:
Yesterday I checked out the profile of a translator featured on the featured translator section of the main page, and saw that she worked into Russian (along with some other 'exotic' Eastern European languages), lived in Vancouver, Washington, and worked for 0.03-0.04 USD per word.
I'm aware that EN>RU is a fairly oversaturated pair and the jobs in that pair should not be as steady as that of EN>Dutch or Spanish. I'd really like to know how one makes ends meet (never mind making a decent living) by translating into Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian etc. for 0.04 USD per word anywhere in America.
I really can't see how it is possible. But genuinely interested to hear if there is anybody out there who can survive for long under these conditions.
[Edited at 2022-02-07 11:15 GMT]
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:22
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Andrew Howarth wrote: Baran Keki wrote:
Yesterday I checked out the profile of a translator featured on the featured translator section of the main page, and saw that she worked into Russian (along with some other 'exotic' Eastern European languages), lived in Vancouver, Washington, and worked for 0.03-0.04 USD per word.
I'm aware that EN>RU is a fairly oversaturated pair and the jobs in that pair should not be as steady as that of EN>Dutch or Spanish. I'd really like to know how one makes ends meet (never mind making a decent living) by translating into Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian etc. for 0.04 USD per word anywhere in America. I really can't see how it is possible. But genuinely interested to hear if there is anybody out there who can survive for long under these conditions. [Edited at 2022-02-07 11:15 GMT]
They probably haven't got time to read these forums or reply to them.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 14:22
German to English
When I started translating full time in the 1980s I was never offered less than $.06/word by agencies, and even then I was underpaid. Nowadays translators making twice that in the US have a hard time making ends meet without working 50 hours/week, unless they have a couple of better-paying direct clients..
[Edited at 2022-02-07 13:41 GMT]
| | | | | Working a lot of hours | Feb 7, 2022 |
very fast to make ends meet and producing utter garbage... 
| | | | | Definitively not! | Feb 7, 2022 |
Given your language combination, which may offer high-paying jobs, the answer to your question is a resounding "no".
If I were in your shoes, I would stay away from this kind of so-called "translation agencies", which are mushrooming across the world and killing the profession from day to day. You should ignore them instead of chase them.
Could ever the vast majority of translators do likewise, instead of accepting to prostitute themself for a bundle of peanuts, it wou... See more Given your language combination, which may offer high-paying jobs, the answer to your question is a resounding "no".
If I were in your shoes, I would stay away from this kind of so-called "translation agencies", which are mushrooming across the world and killing the profession from day to day. You should ignore them instead of chase them.
Could ever the vast majority of translators do likewise, instead of accepting to prostitute themself for a bundle of peanuts, it would have never come to your mind to post this topic... That's offer which creates demand, not the contrary. The more prostitutes dragging the market with low rates, the more clients offering more lower rates, and so on. That's as simple as that...
Pulling prices downwards has never proved to be a long-term paid-off strategy. For any profession.
[Modifié le 2022-02-08 09:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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| Sounds like an amateur pastime | Feb 7, 2022 |
Retirees, persons collecting disability, stay-at-home moms, etc. can afford to do part time work for fun, self-esteem, and pocket money
Alternatively, these people may ACTUALLY be from one of the poorer 'Stans, a dilapidated post-industrial Russian backwater, or one of the unrecognized separatist "Republics" of Eastern Europe (if several Eastern Euro languages, likely Transdniestria/Pridnesterovie) and just claiming to be from North America hoping to make themselves look more believ... See more Retirees, persons collecting disability, stay-at-home moms, etc. can afford to do part time work for fun, self-esteem, and pocket money
Alternatively, these people may ACTUALLY be from one of the poorer 'Stans, a dilapidated post-industrial Russian backwater, or one of the unrecognized separatist "Republics" of Eastern Europe (if several Eastern Euro languages, likely Transdniestria/Pridnesterovie) and just claiming to be from North America hoping to make themselves look more believable as proficient bi/multilinguals.
Baran Keki wrote:
Yesterday I checked out the profile of a translator featured on the featured translator section of the main page, and saw that she worked into Russian (along with some other 'exotic' Eastern European languages), lived in Vancouver, Washington, and worked for 0.03-0.04 USD per word.
I'm aware that EN>RU is a fairly oversaturated pair and the jobs in that pair should not be as steady as that of EN>Dutch or Spanish. I'd really like to know how one makes ends meet (never mind making a decent living) by translating into Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian etc. for 0.04 USD per word anywhere in America.
[Edited at 2022-02-07 22:41 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-02-07 23:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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Could this be a "flat" $0.05 without any match/rep discounts? In that case, that can be worth about the same as weighted 0.07 - 0.11 USD per word for a large job, depending on the text.
Andrew Howarth wrote:
Apologies if this has been covered in depth elsewhere (@mods: please move to relevant discussion if needed).
I often browse the German-English jobs posted on ProZ by agencies (although the following could apply to any language combination).
Let's say, for example, that an agency is offering USD 0.05 per word for a large, complex translation (highly technical, legal, financial, patents etc.), which is not rare by any means.
Maybe I don't translate as quickly as some, but my calculations on this payment basis reveal that I would be far better off registering as unemployed and claiming state benefits.
Does anybody actually succeed in making a decent living working at these rates in such specialist fields?
A lot will depend on where you live, of course.
Genuinely interested to know if you think that there are people out there who are good and fast enough to make such jobs worthwhile.
| | | | Olga Koepping
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:22
German to English
+ ...
It's depressing, isn't it. I just saw someone advertise on the jobs board:
Despite a tight budget, very high quality is required! Kindly only apply if you can accept this.
It is in the legal field and will require considerable formatting. Invoices will be sent to me, only after the client accepts the work. Then, I will inform you and you can send the invoice
So you will be paid less than half of the lowest market acceptable rate, and you may or may not be... See more It's depressing, isn't it. I just saw someone advertise on the jobs board:
Despite a tight budget, very high quality is required! Kindly only apply if you can accept this.
It is in the legal field and will require considerable formatting. Invoices will be sent to me, only after the client accepts the work. Then, I will inform you and you can send the invoice
So you will be paid less than half of the lowest market acceptable rate, and you may or may not be paid at all.
I currently work very much part-time as a translator. I did have some very good clients who paid properly, but over time all these requests just grind you down.
[Edited at 2022-02-08 15:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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