Networking🤝

Before reading, you could listen to this episode from ProZ.com podcast hosted by Paul Urwin and his star guest, Belinda Grace Fischer, you just have to press here. 

The general recommendations are to create a good linkedIn profile (invest time on it); share content (who you are and how you can help people); interact with people by commenting and messaging them; inspire, motivate, and share jokes; be informative and educational; share promotional contact; and use emojis. 💯

On the other hand, use bold and highlighted words, and follow fellow translators or interpreters because you could receive clever information about courses, training and pieces of advice that can be really important for your freelance career. 

Besides, you can use Canva to create your LinkedIn profile´s pictures, ads and more. Finally, use your imagination because there are limitless possibilities to promote your professional language services on this platform.💡 

On linkedIn, you will find two excellent social groups for translators: LocLunch and LocLunch Global Group. They include both onsite and online meetings with translators around world. It is recommended to look for groups close to your location who speak your mother tongue or target language. Finally, you can join to these groups by pressing here and here.  

#Team Translator is mainly a Slack group for translators working both in the translation and localization industries where they discuss how to run a business; share job opportunities, continuous professional development (CPDs), and events; let it out some of their frustrations in a kind way; mention tools; and share their professional victories. It is a positive community to learn and grow as language professionals while you meet colleagues around the world.

You also have to visit their home page and read their community guidelines to learn how this excellent social group works. I honestly recommend you dedicate some minutes to reading it. After that, you can complete and submit the get-involved survey for joining the Slack group. Last but not least, take a look at the incredible resources that can be useful for your freelancing career.

You could support this non-profit by pressing on the button down below!👇

Proz.com is one of the biggest website for freelance translators and interpreters around the world and it has an excellent Facebook page, so it is a great opportunity to interact with collegues and experienced professionals that can answer your doubts related to the translation and intepreting industries. 

Meetup is a wonderful website to see the upcoming online events in your country and region. In this particular site, you will not only find meetings focused on the translation and interpreting industry, but also meetings on any kind of topic, like painting, literature, psychology, biology, and bitcoins, among others. This website is excellent if you are a translator or interpreter specializing in a particular field and want to meet clients in your niche. If you want to learn more, press on the picture down below.👇

Eventbrite is also another wonderful website to see the upcoming online events in your country and region. In this particular site, you will not only find meetings focused on the translation and interpreting industry, but also meetings on any kind of topic as well as the Meetup website. If you are interested, press on the picture down below!👇

Open Language Initiative (OLI) is a new brand non-profit organization that promotes multilingualism around the world and supports the people in need that demand professional language services, such as teaching, translation, and interpreting. 

It is a non-profit that needs language expert volunteers like you. Even though the main objective is to help others, you can also have networking benefits, such as participating in the Happy Hour meetings and joining the Discord group. These are great opportunities to meet volunteers and the OLI team members. So, if you want to become a volunteer member of this organization, you could join by pressing here.

Proz Pro Bono is a non-profit organization that works with many volunteers around the world. You will also find many interpreters and translators who work together to help other organizations focused on protecting the environment, helping immigrants and refugees, among others. 

It is a non-profit that needs language expert volunteers like you. Even though the main objective is to help others, you can also have networking benefits, such as participating in occasional meetings and joining the Discord and WhatsApp groups. These are great opportunities to meet volunteers and the PPB team members. So, if you want to become a volunteer member of this organization, you could join by pressing here.

Translation Industry Events are physical events organized by professional translators and interpreters associations, or large translation and localization companies, where people can meet each other, do networking, and learn more about the current situation of the translation industry.

It is also important to mention that the calendar shared is provided by the TeamTranslator website, where you can find this and many other useful resources for your freelance business. Finally, click on the picture down below to get to know what the next translation event is closer to you and get ready for the adventure.

Traductores español neutro is a WhatsApp group of people who are or want to become English-Spanish translators and interpreters. This group is composed mainly of Latin American freelance translators, but anyone can join us for clarifying doubts about the Spanish language and the profession. 

The requirements are to be interested in the profession, be respectful with the members of the group, want to receive our support, and be willing to help others. So, if you have found this group interesting for you, join us by pressing on the picture down below.👇

Whenever you are attending a physical or virtual networking, you will find a business card really useful to share all your personal and professional information. Therefore, I would like to mention DigitalBusinessCard.com, a free phone application where you can create and share your online business card by a QR code or link.