Our interviewee Angela Benoit launched her freelance French<>English translation business (yes, she really is a native speaker of both languages!) after working as a translation project manager in New York for over six years. Angela has now been freelancing for about a year and a half, and she recently shared some of her insights from both sides of the translation industry: How can a translator move from an agency’s roster to actually getting work? Are rate negotiations just about the money, or are there other factors? How can project managers find the best translators, or help the best translators find them? This interview is chock-full of helpful information for translators and project managers alike!
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Tips from a project manager turned freelancer
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Thank you Corinne and Eve for inviting me! Recording was a lot of fun!
Dear Angela, Corinne and Eve,
After graduating as a professional translator in Lyon (EN-DE>FR), I worked 7 months as a freelance translator before moving to Munich and starting to work as in-house translator and project manager for a translation agency. Listening to this interview brought a smile on my face because I can relate to EACH AND EVERY single thing that Angela mention: what to do to get contacted for work, why project manager prefer to work with long trusted freelancers rather than new ones, things that a translator should never do, literally managing 7 translation projects in more than 8 languages for each project at the same time (I let you do the math!) … She gave some GREAT pieces of advice and I wish that every freelance translators who want to work with agencies could listen to this podcast because what she says could not be truer!
If I may add a little something to help project manager retain good translators: show them that you appreciate their work! I know it sounds obvious but project managers tend to take good translators’ work for granted after a while! When I receive a good translation, I always make sure to say something like “Thanks a lot for your great work!” or “Thanks for the timely delivery, I really appreciate!”. This way, I want “my” translators to know that I am grateful for their help and that I do not consider them as “just” language services providers but as colleagues on whom I can count!
Greatings from Munich to you all!
Thanks Amaury, glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely, expressing appreciation can do a lot to strengthen the relationship between project managers and freelance translators. Thanks for listening, Amaury! It’s nice to hear from a fellow project manager!
A very motivational way to start my working day, thank you!
Great interview. I also worked as a PM for 3 years before going freelance (almost 1 year now) and could identify with everything!
Hi
This post is very helpful. Thanks for explaining with the relationships between the project manager and freelance translator.
Just digging some old stuff and came across this one interesting podcast! It gave me a few laughs and some great insights now that I’m working with PMs on a daily basis. Being an in-house linguist that I’m, the love-hate relationship I have with them can be amusing at times…
Thank you, Angela, for providing some insider scoop for us linguists!