In this article we have dealt with the subjects “what does freelance translator mean?” and “how does freelance translators work?”.

Freelance translator is the name given to translators who do translations from home without working at a translation office regularly. It is a commonly used working method in our country due to the translator and interpreter costs but it also increases the unrecorded employment. Many people are also doing translation about their professional field as a part time job although they are not translators. This system has advantages to some translation offices but on the other hand it reduces the translation costs because these translators do not pay tax and this causes unfair competition. Another disadvantage of freelance translators is that they don’t give a guaranty for their translations and don’t offer services like editor, proofreading and desktop publishing as it is offered in translation offices. Also the work can go wrong because only one translator works.

Who can work as a freelance translator?

People who are a student of or are graduated from translation and interpretation departments or departments related to language are doing freelance translations for translation offices. Freelance translators can pay their insurance on their own if they want and have to pay their taxes. The price of the translation is determined according to the translation amount and this amount is calculated as characters with no spaces. 1000characters with no spaces are accepted as 1 page all over the world but some translation offices use the word number as basis. In order to be a freelance translator you have to see translation offices and make an agreement. To do it with a confidential office will help you about not having problems with your payments in the future. To send a CV and state your experiences is the first step for working as a freelance translator. The most important features of a freelance translator are proper and correct translation, good timing and availability.

Freelance translation seems like a comfortable job but it requires very much discipline. Intense working hours and being at home all the time can tire of your mind, but it is a very comfortable working method for the ones who can discipline themselves and love their job.

If you want to work as a freelance translator for a long time or want to adopt such a working method you can do a one year contract with the big translation offices in Turkey. Generally between the translation offices and freelance translators a contract including subjects likes confidentiality and privacy, payment, timing and accuracy is signed.  These contracts can differ according to the translation offices. Another point is, if you pay your social security on your own in order to guaranty your future and health, this can prevent you from being regretful in the future.

Being available all the time means to get work for freelance translators. Translation offices immediately call the next translator if they can’t reach you. If your phone is always open, and you answer their emails, you can be one step ahead among the other translators. But today due to the smart phones this is no longer a problem. So, having a smart phone can provide you to check your emails whenever you want and you can be free as if you have a computer with you all the time.

Written by: EGE ALPEREN

We have dealt with English Language Education in our previous article.