Poll: Are you satisfied with your income as a translator? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you satisfied with your income as a translator?".
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| | | | Yes, to a certain extent | Oct 20, 2015 |
If you count my pension from my full-time translating job, then I'd say that I'm fully satisfied. | | | tilak raj India Local time: 12:04 Member (2012) English to Punjabi + ... Yes to a certain extent | Oct 20, 2015 |
It is good job, I like to work. It gives satisfactory income. | |
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Natalie Soper United Kingdom Local time: 07:34 French to English + ...
But then, I'm still building up my client base - I only became freelance 7 months ago | | | neilmac Spain Local time: 08:34 Spanish to English + ...
I should really have put up my rates across the board a few years ago, but (and despite government claims to the contrary) Spain is taking a long time to recover from the 2008 economic crisis, so I have done my best to keep my rates affordable for clients. I managed to raise my basic rate 25% this year for two of my regulars though, which is nice. | | | Anthony Baldwin United States Local time: 02:34 Portuguese to English + ...
It's been a struggle since about 2008, when W flushed as all down the drain with his unpaid for wars and tax-cuts (and almost nothing's got any better with O, either...Clearly, I'm American, although it's clear others have been affected by the stupidity here, too...sorry, I didn't vote for these morons). I've barely raised rates since then, and am trying to raise them now, and I get all kinds of whining from the agencies (but not so much from private clients). All MY ex... See more It's been a struggle since about 2008, when W flushed as all down the drain with his unpaid for wars and tax-cuts (and almost nothing's got any better with O, either...Clearly, I'm American, although it's clear others have been affected by the stupidity here, too...sorry, I didn't vote for these morons). I've barely raised rates since then, and am trying to raise them now, and I get all kinds of whining from the agencies (but not so much from private clients). All MY expenses have increased! I don't care about their whining anymore... I work way too hard to be having trouble paying the electric bill, which has gone through the roof!
[Edited at 2015-10-20 13:09 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | |
Yes, if it wasn't for the taxes and the payment delays... | |
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Good months and bad months | Oct 20, 2015 |
I worry that I will have a difficult time becoming a millionaire through pure translation. I have been diversifying my income a little, in order to stave off the months of famine. I just started teaching Spanish classes in the local technical college and my app is starting to bring in clients (we just need to finalize the contract and I will have my first official client!). I also make about $10 a month from YouTube... | | | Paul Dixon Brazil Local time: 03:34 Portuguese to English + ... No, not at all | Oct 20, 2015 |
In Brazil, rates are very low and expenses (especially rents and taxes) are sky-high. Some lucky people get good incomes, but in general the situation in Brazil is very bad indeed. | | | DZiW (X) Ukraine English to Russian + ... not with middlemen, direct only | Oct 20, 2015 |
When I worked as a translator/interpreter for some agencies (still a politically correct term, yep?), I could barely break-even after expenses and taxes, because they always tried to squeeze my payment to nil. Of course, sometimes there was a relatively generous client, but it was once per hundred (ahem!) greedy and unfair ones--no more than once or twice a year. How come that similar (regarding the field, the difficulty, and the terms) projects are paid $3 and $20 per page?! How up... See more When I worked as a translator/interpreter for some agencies (still a politically correct term, yep?), I could barely break-even after expenses and taxes, because they always tried to squeeze my payment to nil. Of course, sometimes there was a relatively generous client, but it was once per hundred (ahem!) greedy and unfair ones--no more than once or twice a year. How come that similar (regarding the field, the difficulty, and the terms) projects are paid $3 and $20 per page?! How upon the Earth one client is glad to pay $800+/h for interpreting and bonus while the other by all means wants to cut it down to under $200? Take it or leave it? Forget it. I couldn't find the difference, nor feel satisfied with my job, until I started working with local/direct clients ONLY. ▲ Collapse | | | Mario Freitas Brazil Local time: 03:34 Member (2014) English to Portuguese + ... Yes, but some things have to be settled | Oct 21, 2015 |
I'm very pleased with my income, but in order to offset the fact that I don't have annual leave, bonus payments, health plan, meal vouchers, severance fund, unemployment pay, and time counted for social security, I still have to increase it a bit to pay for these things in a private manner. However, I would never ever return to an in-house job, because all these benefits do not offset the advantage of not having a boss, not having working hours and not having to drive to and from office ev... See more I'm very pleased with my income, but in order to offset the fact that I don't have annual leave, bonus payments, health plan, meal vouchers, severance fund, unemployment pay, and time counted for social security, I still have to increase it a bit to pay for these things in a private manner. However, I would never ever return to an in-house job, because all these benefits do not offset the advantage of not having a boss, not having working hours and not having to drive to and from office every day. ▲ Collapse | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Are you satisfied with your income as a translator? Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
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