Poll: Did you receive help/mentoring when you first started as a freelancer? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Did you receive help/mentoring when you first started as a freelancer?".
This poll was originally submitted by Irène Guinez. View the poll results »
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 20:14
English to French
+ ...
I would rather call it support and trust, though.
| | | | Samir Sami
Qatar
Local time: 21:14
Arabic to English
+ ...
A rephrasing of the question may be necessary: Have you ever received help throughout your freelance career?
I could hardly remember any. Forms of assistance came indirectly and unintentionally in informal exchanges with colleagues.
Two of a trade never agree ... perhaps never help too.
[Edited at 2010-10-16 18:06 GMT]
| | | | Thayenga 
Germany
Local time: 20:14
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
I'm learning as I go.
And then there is a colleague who has answered my questions as they arose.
So that is help.
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mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 14:14
Spanish to English
+ ...
I got no help from anyone when I started freelancing – and didn’t want/need any either, since I already had around 25 years’ experience of translation / editing / publishing and related activities under my belt, gained in-house in a well-known international organization.
It wasn’t much different when I first joined that organization as a translator, back in 1978, having previously qualified and worked in engineering. The only help I got on my first day in Brussels was being... See more I got no help from anyone when I started freelancing – and didn’t want/need any either, since I already had around 25 years’ experience of translation / editing / publishing and related activities under my belt, gained in-house in a well-known international organization.
It wasn’t much different when I first joined that organization as a translator, back in 1978, having previously qualified and worked in engineering. The only help I got on my first day in Brussels was being shown to my new office and presented with a freshly-sharpened pencil and a notepad to write down the translations of the documents that were already overflowing from the in-tray.
Self-reliance and the ability to think laterally lead to survival - and success - on both occasions.
MediaMatrix ▲ Collapse
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 15:14
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Never received any myself, but... | Oct 16, 2010 |
...I have mentored several colleagues in recent years.
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My ex girlfriend introduced me to my first client, and, as she worked for the same company(as in-house translator), she was my proofreader, and taught all the things I needed to know. Now we have separate lives, and every now and then I receive some translations she does and I am the proofreader. I still can learn something, I have to admit, and anyway, without her help at the beginning, I wouldn't have started working as a freelance translator.
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I did have a friend of my sister who sent me some clients and names early on, but that's about it. I started on my own, gathered my own clients, made all my own contacts, etc. I had been a freelance journalist before, but I admit I'm more successful now! I am proud to say I did this all on my own, starting from ground zero, with no help from anyone! I am woman hear me roar!
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Caryl Swift
Poland
Local time: 20:14
Polish to English
+ ...
Help, support, advice, you name it, they gave it. They know who they are. And it's ongoing. I just hope the people to whom I continue to be deeply indebted feel that it's a bit more mutual now than it was at the start...
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 14:14
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Mentor Program | Oct 16, 2010 |
No help for me. If fact, in 1994, one of the articles I wrote for the ATA Chronicle was about the need for the creation of an ATA mentoring program. Scroll down to Newcomers' Column:
http://www.atanet.org/chronicle/index1994.htm
I also wrote a review that was published in the Chronicle in '94 or '95 (which I cannot find) about one of the first electronic dictionarie... See more No help for me. If fact, in 1994, one of the articles I wrote for the ATA Chronicle was about the need for the creation of an ATA mentoring program. Scroll down to Newcomers' Column:
http://www.atanet.org/chronicle/index1994.htm
I also wrote a review that was published in the Chronicle in '94 or '95 (which I cannot find) about one of the first electronic dictionaries.
Guess I was just ahead of my time.
[Edited at 2010-10-16 16:25 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Thankfully, yes. | Oct 16, 2010 |
Some clients I already knew through various avenues took a special interest in me and gave me a "push" right after I got my MA. It was very good experience and I'm still grateful for it.
| | | | | Had already been a staff translator | Oct 16, 2010 |
During my career as a staff translator I received wonderful mentoring from senior colleagues - I owe it all to them.
But once I became a free lance, I was on my own!
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Rebecca Garber
Local time: 14:14
Member (2005)
German to English
+ ...
Although it was more help than direct mentoring.
I was referred to agencies through friends.
I was helped through the invoicing process by an accountant.
I met a few times and emailed often with another local translator. We didn't end up collaborating, but that's more because he works in automotive and I can tell a sedan from a truck, but not much more than that.
I got a lot of informal help at ProZ, both directly from KudoZ and indirectly by reading what o... See more Although it was more help than direct mentoring.
I was referred to agencies through friends.
I was helped through the invoicing process by an accountant.
I met a few times and emailed often with another local translator. We didn't end up collaborating, but that's more because he works in automotive and I can tell a sedan from a truck, but not much more than that.
I got a lot of informal help at ProZ, both directly from KudoZ and indirectly by reading what others had written. ▲ Collapse
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