22 more reasons why an agency might stop working with you

Back in October 2014 on my old blog I wrote about some reasons why an agency might stop working with you. As both the original post and the republished version on this blog on WordPress, My Words for a Change, amassed a lot of interest and comments, I’ve highlighted some more reasons below why you might suddenly find an agency no longer calls or emails you. They are based on the feedback and a few of my own observations.

Although this and the previous post focus on working with agencies, some of the points are equally valid for working with direct clients. I hope you find them useful.

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What I learned in June 2016

That the free in freelancer means just that. Free to do a test or not. Free to refuse if you feel unwell, have no time, or just don’t like the look of the test (why do some agencies insist on using a cutting from a newspaper that has absolutely nothing to do with the types of texts you will supposedly end up translating for them?). And, of course, as I discussed with Elena Tereschenkova and Dmitry Kornyukov when they kindly invited me to chat with them one Wednesday on their live Blab chat show on translation called “Blabbing Translators“, free to pick and choose the advice we are bombarded with in this profession on social media without worrying about ignoring something often portrayed as essential.

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Revision Survey

road-sign-63983_1280This is just a quick post to ask you all if you could please complete the survey on revisions that I have created using Google Forms.

Regular readers will know that revisions is a pet subject, although I promise I do have lots of other posts/ideas in the pipeline. I just need to find some time to finish writing them (hopefully during the summer).

Thanks very much. I will blog about the results of this revision survey at the beginning of the next academic year.

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My Career-changing MA in Translation Studies at the University of Portsmouth

MA PortsmouthI had spent twenty years teaching French, German and beginner’s Italian in comprehensive schools in the South of England and had also worked for CILT and CfBT.

I then was fortunate enough in early 2014 to have been able to pay my mortgage and all loans off and thought if I wanted to change my life, then was the time.

For a few years I had been toying with the idea of doing the MA in Translation Studies as a 3-year online correspondence course. However, being a full-time teacher I really had no time spare to devote to studying for a Master’s Degree over and above the demands of the general teaching workload. Now, however, I was able to seriously consider a career change for the better to my mind, at least on the work/life balance front.

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#BlabbingTranslators – On creating useful resources for translators

BlabLast week I was delighted to be invited as the guest on the newish live translation chat show run by Dmitry Kornyukhov and Elena Tereshchenkova. Called Blabbing Translators, because it’s held on a platform called “Blab”, it airs every Wednesday and the first season will be ending on 22 June. As they won’t be returning until August, now’s a good time to catch up on any of the episodes you might have missed. With topics ranging from the past, present and future of the profession with Steve Vitek to collaboration with colleagues with Emeline Jamoul, and including interviews with Tess Whitty on diversification, Paul Urwin on marketing and Christelle Maignan on coaching, there’s bound to be a podcast to suit everyone.

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Masters in Interpreting and Translating at the University of Bath, 2014-2015

Bath Emily Bailey

An interview at the University of Bath kicked off my experience as a student on the Masters in Interpreting and Translating (MAIT). I had two interviews (one for each of my working languages, French and Spanish): the interviews involved on-sight translation, memory exercises, discussions on current events in France and Spain and a general interview. Following the interview, I did two written tests consisting of a translation test and a short essay. The interview process lasted a day and was a fairly relaxed affair.

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What I learned in May 2016

Unfortunately, I learned in May, and not for the first time either, that some clients show no respect for me at all. After chasing payment from a direct client for three months and listening patiently to their promises and excuses, I decided to send them another invoice detailing the late interest* now due. This is the second time I’ve had to reissue an invoice and demonstrate to a direct client that I mean business. But it’s also the second time that interest has not been paid.

Although in both cases the new invoice met with an immediate response (agreed new payment date one week later that was met, and same-day payment), I’m rather dismayed that the interest I added (which, let’s face it, is a paltry sum) was totally ignored. Besides complete non-payment and ignoring reminder emails, nothing else feels like such a slap in the face.

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Review of Masters of Interpreting and Translation Studies (MITS) at Monash University

MonashToday’s guest post is by Nicola Thayil and it’s the first review on an MA at a non-European University on this blog. The European MAs page lists a number of courses with links to other reviews.

I am always on the look-out for reviews, so please get in touch if you completed your MA recently and would like to take part in this series. You’ll find more information about writing for this blog here.

Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, offers a Master by Coursework in translation and interpreting (T&I), in two streams, translation only and translation & interpreting.

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What I learned in April 2016

April was completely overshadowed by my female greyhound, Lara, being ill from start to finish. We noticed she was limping badly and had a swollen back leg with a strange lump on her foot over the Easter weekend. The vet thought she had an abscess, so she lanced it, but instead it turned out to be a strange case of blood vessels that had somehow clumped together and risen to the surface. As it wouldn’t stop bleeding (she’d cut an artery), we had to take her to the Queen Mother Hospital in north London where she stayed for a couple of days.

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