Poll: Do you have some skills that "go to waste" as a freelance translator/interpreter?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Nov 27, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have some skills that "go to waste" as a freelance translator/interpreter?".

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Edith van der Have
Edith van der Have
Netherlands
Local time: 16:54
Member (2016)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Yes Nov 27, 2017

Many crop protection companies would probably kill to hire me as a specialist in regulatory affairs, a very specialised profession with a lack of people who can do it. Well, they can consult me for top-notch translations of crop protection product labels instead, so not all is lost

[Edited at 2017-11-27 08:43 GMT]


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:54
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Nov 27, 2017

As these days most projects I’m asked to do are EN→PT, sometimes I feel that my translation skills in French, Spanish and Italian are going to waste, even more so because I prefer translating from those languages than from English…

 
VICTOR PRIETO
VICTOR PRIETO  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 10:54
English to Spanish
+ ...
Not that much. Nov 27, 2017

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have some skills that "go to waste" as a freelance translator/interpreter?".

View the poll results »



In translation I found a field which let me take advantage of many other fields I am interested in, such as Industrial, Chemical, Biology, Religion, Literature, Music, Marketing, etc. I love to read and research, and in translation field, I have to do it in many fields which envolve most of my different skills


 
Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 16:54
Member (2016)
English to German
Many Nov 27, 2017

For example, I'm one of the best backwards inline/ice skaters in Berlin.


 
Magdalena Altieri
Magdalena Altieri
Argentina
Member (2010)
Italian to Spanish
+ ...
The face-to-face interaction... Nov 28, 2017

It's something I miss in this job where we are always behind the screen. Teaching is something I love to do because of the social, face-to-face interaction that I think I am missing as a full time translator. I don't know if I am specially skilled, but some of my former students said that!!

 
Sundar Gopalakrishnan
Sundar Gopalakrishnan
India
Local time: 21:24
English to Tamil
+ ...
Yeah! Not one or two... Many... if not most of them or all of them!!! Nov 28, 2017

Teaching Skills, Writing Skills, Researching Skills, Research Guiding or/and Research Leading Skills, Leadership Skills, Speaking Skills, Communicating Skills, Debating Skills, Collaborating/Coordinating Skills, Decision Making Skills, Problem Solving Skills, etc.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 12:54
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Nov 28, 2017

I've worked as admin/HR/project/finance/procurement manager for 20 years. Although experience is mostly useful in any area, of course there are several skills I developed in other areas that are not quite useful for translation, and that have all been sitting in a shelf for many years. But I honestly hope they stay right there on the shelf building-up dust.

 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:54
French to English
yes Nov 28, 2017

Except that I don't just translate, I do plenty of other stuff as a volunteer in an NGO, where I put my other talents to use. It balances out.

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:54
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Nov 28, 2017

For one thing, I rarely get work from Portuguese, which is my strongest second language and the one I enjoy working in the most.

I also do desktop publishing. When I'm translating full time, I don't get to do that work.

And finally, I'm a certified landscape designer, but the profession pays so poorly that I can't afford to give much time to it. That realization came to my as I was finishing my training and had to choose between an assignment in 3D modeling and a large
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For one thing, I rarely get work from Portuguese, which is my strongest second language and the one I enjoy working in the most.

I also do desktop publishing. When I'm translating full time, I don't get to do that work.

And finally, I'm a certified landscape designer, but the profession pays so poorly that I can't afford to give much time to it. That realization came to my as I was finishing my training and had to choose between an assignment in 3D modeling and a large well-paid job for a new client that has turned out to be the best client I ever had.
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Poll: Do you have some skills that "go to waste" as a freelance translator/interpreter?






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