When you decide to become a translator, the most important thing is to get opportunities and work experience to prepare a wonderful work portfolio that makes people get more interested in working with you. So, I recommend you to translate, proofread, edit documents, write content, copy write or subtitle videos for your family, friends, content creators, and non-profit organizations that you know for free at the beginning of your profession. At the end, you will feel more prepare to apply for agencies and freelance job websites where you can get paid.
Non-Profit Organizations
Translation Commons is a non-profit organization that works with many volunteers around the world, ensures that every language can thrive in the digital world, and shares its knowledge with other communities. They have created resources (keyboards, guidelines, and beyond), toolkits, events, training, technology guidance, and community partnership to achieve their goals. They are also working in their Zero to Digital Project where they create the scripts and characters of endangered languages, their typing and tools, their language data (glossaries, translation memories, and so on), online presence, communities and culture.
Because this project is enormous, they require a lot of volunteers, mainly linguists, to help them in their mission. For example, they need translators, reviewers, terminologists, language experts, localization engineers, and localization project managers. They are also partnered with Proz Pro Bono (another non-profit that works with linguists), so you can reach out to them to start volunteering with Translation Commons. Lastly, if you are interested in learning more, you can visit their website by pressing here.
It is also important to mention that this both non-profits provide mentorships, recognition, and sense of belonging where you can feel that you are a part of a great community and bigger project. So, do not hesitate to volunteer with you! Good luck!
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, and so on. Besides, you could read blog posts from their members and the director related to the freelance translators journey. If you are interested in reading one of these blog posts, you could press here to read them.
I started to volunteer for this organization at the beginning of 2024, and my experience has been amazing because I have worked on many translation and writing projects from English into Spanish. Therefore, if you would like to start your freelance translation journey and get much work experience, you could join this organization by pressing here. Once you are in, you have the opportunity to complete and submit a survey to be included in the official Proz Pro Bono website's volunteers section. What is more, you will have many benefits, such as participating in the Happy Hour, joining the WhatsApp and Discord groups, and getting free professional training.
UN volunteers is an organization that promotes translation, interpreting, marketing and other services to people in need, and complete its sustainable development goals. Also, you will find many projects online and offline where it is required translators, subtitlers, video makers, community managers, graphic disigners and more. Besides, you can subscribe and see the project offers here.
Respond: Crisis Translation is an organization that mobilizes around the clock to provide professional trauma-informed interpretation and translation services to migrants, refugees, and all for whom language is a barrier to accessing safety and dignity.
Translators without Borders is a global community of over 100,000 members helping people get vital information and be heard, whatever language they speak.
Translation Agencies
New World Trans: You can listen to the following podcast episode to know more about the owner, you have just to press here. You can explore the website by pressing here.
Accentus Language Services: You can listen to the following podcast episode to know more about the owner, you have just to press here. You can also visit the website by pressing here.
Global Citizens Translation: You can listen to the following podcast episode to know more about the owner, you have just to press here. You can visit the website by pressing here.
Taia Translation Services: You can listen to the following podcast episode to know more about the owner, Marko Hozjan, you have just to press here. You can also explore the website by pressing here.
Rapport Translations: You can listen to the following podcast episode to know more about the owner, Wendy Pease, you have just to press here. You can also visit the website by pressing here.
Moving Words Translations and The Action Sports Translator: You can listen to the following podcast episode to know more about the owner, Martina Russo, you have just to press here. Also, you can visit the 2 websites by pressing here and here.
[Creative Words]: It is a content localization and management company based in Genoa. Its services include translation and localization, transcreation, machine translation and post-editing, third-party proofreading, and multimedia services. If you want to explore the website, press here.
Freelance Job Websites
Proz.com is the largest professional translators and interpreters community website to get different job opportunities in the translation industry. You could also create your account and apply for any job in the job posting. Besides, there are different paid memberships that help you to get training, networking events, professional group access, suggestions from fellow translators and interpreters, and better ranking in the translators' directory. Finally, you could press here to visit the website.
There are also opportunities for freelance interpreters, but you have to read and complete the requirements to be part of their team. If you want to know more, you could press in the box above.
If you are interested in joining Proz.com, how getting started and making it the best way possible, you could press on the box above to read other colleagues suggestions and mine.
If you are an interpreter, Remoto can be a really interesting job site. In this new Proz.com platform for interpreters, you can provide paying and volunteering interpreting services to people around the world. I would recommend you to give it a chance!
LinkedIn is the widest social media for freelancers and professionals around the world. Also, you can contact to experts from the translation and interpreting industry, agencies, and media companies to get hired. Besides, you can find collegues to collaborate in some projects, and you can also promote your products and professional services in this platform. There is also a section to promote your professional translation services. You can press here to look at the website.
Fiverr is an amazing freelance job website where you can create gigs to offer your services and products. Also, there is a paid membership where you can have some coaching sessions and level up your profile on Fiverr. You can press here to look at the website.
On the other hand, you could join the free course from FrelanceHustle Academy to become a great seller on Fiverr by pressing on the box above.
Upwork is an incredible freelancing website where you can search on the job offers and apply for some jobs or projects. Also, there is a paid membership where you can get 80 connects per month. So, If you apply to an offer and have the highest amount of connects, you will be on top of the rest of the applicants. You can press here to look at the website.
Freelancer is another freelancing website to offer your services and products. It is also important to search "freelancer" on Google and YouTube to know more about this website. You can press here to look at the website.
Glassdoor is a freelance job website where you can find both long- and short-term job opportunities. Besides, there are many onsite opportunities for those who live in the U.S. and also online job offers for freelancers abroad. On the other hand, you could find company reviews from former employees to check if they are worth it. Finally, you could press here to visit the website.
Varsity Tutors is the perfect freelance job website for tutors who teach languages, math, sciences, and more. They are focused on the American market, so you will get more chances to join and get clients if you live in the U.S. You could also press here to look at the website.
Preply is an amazing freelance job website for language tutors. If you have a high proficiency level in any foreign language, this is a good place to teach your mother tongue or second language. You could also press here to go to the website.
Indeed is a great job site to find many of jobs close to you. There are part-time, freelance, independent, and full-time jobs. You can complete your profile and upload your updated CV to get more chances to be hired. If you want to learn more about this site, you could press on the picture above. ☝️
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