What to include in CV when you have on and off translation experience
Thread poster: Alexandra Stirling
Alexandra Stirling
Alexandra Stirling  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 02:27
Spanish to English
+ ...
Mar 17, 2021

Hello!

I'm trying to get re-established again after a false start a few years back after obtaining my DipTrans certificate. I say false start because I thought I could get established as a professional translator with a baby to care for but it didn't work out due to different reasons and I only did a few translations for a couple of agencies that contacted me through Proz.com before deciding that it wasn't the right time and going into teaching English as a foreign language instead
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Hello!

I'm trying to get re-established again after a false start a few years back after obtaining my DipTrans certificate. I say false start because I thought I could get established as a professional translator with a baby to care for but it didn't work out due to different reasons and I only did a few translations for a couple of agencies that contacted me through Proz.com before deciding that it wasn't the right time and going into teaching English as a foreign language instead (more predictable salary and working hours!).

Since then and over the years (about 8) I have done the odd translation here and there, including volunteering, but now I want to try again and establish myself a professional translator to try to make a living from it.

I'm having trouble deciding what to include in my CV and how to structure it, as I don't want it to look wishy washy (i.e. not serious about translating) but I don't want to look like a beginner either.

Should I include my previous employment history since I started translating? When I worked in the marketing department of a construction sector company in Spain, I did a lot of translating. Then I co-owned a tapas bar (so I have food and drink and restaurant industry knowledge), then I was a TEFL teacher (so I have good knowledge of English grammar) and now I am a part-time "independent consultant" for a company collecting, annotating, evaluating, labeling, rating, testing and translating speech, image, text and video data to turn it into effective machine learning training data for a variety of use cases, as well as evaluating social media and search engine results.

How should I list my professional translating experience? Should I just list client's and agencies names and dates? Should I include any specific translations even though they were done over 5 years ago? As for specializations, I don't have any as such, although I did a lot of translating (over 10 years ago) in the fields related to marketing, business and construction. But now I am unsure about how relevant this is now (since it is such a long time ago). The only translation work I have done in the past 4 years includes a couple of birth certificates for an agency and about 7700 words translating and proofreading for the company that I currently work for.

Apologies for asking so many questions but I am quite lost about how to write my CV so any tips would be much appreciated! Thanks!
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3089491 (X)
3089491 (X)  Identity Verified
Luxembourg
Local time: 02:27
Take your time Mar 17, 2021

Corinne McKay, former ATA President (and, by the way, contributor to the ProZ.com Training section), has a book on freelancing as a translator.

A book on time management (I recommend Harvard) might serve you well as well.



[Edited at 2021-03-18 13:30 GMT]


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:27
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
A common career path Mar 17, 2021

My career path was very similar to yours, and I think we're far from being alone.

I wrote a Wiki for ProZ.com on the subject of the CV. Check that out first as it should give you lots of ideas. Don't be constrained by what you remember of the CV job-seekers use -- you're a freelancer looking for clients.

Many of us with similar history have our CVs uploaded to the site, so check them out too.


P.L.F. Persio
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Michele Fauble
bris97
matt robinson
Daniel Olsson
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 02:27
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Sheila's ProZwiki article Mar 18, 2021

Sheila Wilson wrote:
I wrote a Wiki [page] for ProZ.com['s wiki] on the subject of the CV.


Link:
https://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Creating_an_effective_CV_/_resume


P.L.F. Persio
Daniel Olsson
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 02:27
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
List your skills, not your achievements Mar 18, 2021

Alexandra Stirling wrote:
I'm having trouble deciding what to include in my CV and how to structure it...


One reason why a traditional CV contains information about your education and places where you've worked before, is so that readers can draw conclusions about your skills. So, why not cut out the middle man? List your skills directly. Group your "training and experience" into a single section lower down. Use the "brochure" approach.


P.L.F. Persio
Agneta Pallinder
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Christine Andersen
Edward Potter
 
Alexandra Stirling
Alexandra Stirling  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 02:27
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! What about length of experience? Mar 18, 2021

Thanks for your replies, I'm looking at Sheila's Wiki right now.

I forgot to ask about how to tackle my length of experience. As I mentioned, I first started translating regularly in 2006 in a construction company but as I've been on a off since then I can't really express my experience in years as I've never been translating full-time for more than 2 weeks!! Any ideas on how I could express my length of experience?

Thanks again!!


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:27
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Leave out dates Mar 18, 2021

Alexandra Stirling wrote:
I forgot to ask about how to tackle my length of experience. As I mentioned, I first started translating regularly in 2006 in a construction company but as I've been on a off since then I can't really express my experience in years as I've never been translating full-time for more than 2 weeks!! Any ideas on how I could express my length of experience?

You don't have to mention any dates if you don't want to. Just mention what you've done and what skills you have, but don't associate either with dates. There are few rules -- just present your skills and experience, with training if applicable, in the best possible light to potential clients. Really, the only rule is to take out all superfluous words, because every potential client is a busy person with little time to spend on reading your CV.


Edward Potter
 


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What to include in CV when you have on and off translation experience







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