Starting out as a freelancer

I decided to start seeking out freelance projects when I began working at DISD. A lot of my colleagues have side jobs/projects and they inspired me to do the same.

One of my co-workers told me she did freelance work as an interpreter for a company in Denver called Community Language Cooperative. She invited me to do an interpretation with her on a Saturday and I was thrilled to join her. Even though I preferred translation over interpretation, I was still hopeful that I would start getting assignments on a regular basis. Unfortunately, that has been my one and only assignment with CLC, but I did not let that stop me from pursuing other contracts.

In January 2022, I decided to create a profile on Upwork. The first three months were rough and I was not capturing the attention of any clients. After two months, in March, I finally got a hired by a business called Calm Heart Therapeutic Massage to translate their website from English into Spanish. The project went well, and they rehired me to translate it into French. I continued to sent out proposals every time I saw a relevant job posting. I eventually got a couple of contracts, which turned into a couple of more. I have been steadily building my reputation and my client relationships on Upwork. I was very exited and motivated to grow as a freelancer, but even after getting a few jobs, I still felt like I was not doing enough to stand out.

I met an incredible woman that has been a professional freelance translator and a member of the ATA for more than two decades. She convinced me to become a member of the ATA, even if I did not feel ready to take the certification test yet. I bought my 3-year membership and I also applied to a mentor/mentee program. I have attended (and will continue to attend) to all the webinars and seminars possible. I have been able to meet incredible people from all over the world through the ATA, and I am just getting started, since it has only been a month since I joined!

There are some lessons to be learned when trying to become an independent contractor. Not only is it difficult to get noticed, but it is also very common to get scammed since so many people out there take advantage of freelancers. I have been contacted to complete fraudulent jobs where they want to get away with not paying me, I have also been asked to connect to interviews where they just want to gather my personal information. Thankfully, I have never disclosed anything crucial, but I have, however, been cheated out of payment. Fortunately it was a small job, it only took a couple of days, but it is outrageous how often freelancers get used and conned. I have talked to freelancers that have submitted jobs that took weeks to complete and never received any payment.

It is a terrible feeling to be lied to as a professional translator, that is why it is important to learn from experience (and from other people's experiences as well). I have established some criteria before accepting a job offer, and if you are a freelancer, I encourage you to do the same. It's nothing personal, just business, and there is nothing unprofessional about having some dignity and wanting to do the right thing by your time and pocket. Some of the boundaries I have set for myself are: A percentage of the payment up front (that percentage can vary depending on the job), and at least between 3-7 days notice prior to needing the document (also depending on the complexity of the format and translation in order to do a good job on the translation without having to pull all-nighters). If a company says they do not agree with my terms, then I will thank them for the opportunity and move on to the next project.

Another thing I highly recommend all contractors to do is to make sure that the entity that is contacting them is legitimate. One way to do this is by googling the state name + "secretary of state" + "corporation search". This will pull up a website where one can verify if the company is a authentic registered business in the state they claim to be in.

Best of luck to all my fellow freelancers out there! It can be challenging and tiring at times, but it is so worth it. Remember, these things take time.