Describe yourself professionally in a few lines.

I am a freelance translator, working mainly in French-English and specialising in legal translation. I’m a professional member of the ATII, an ATII certified legal translator and a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists in the UK. I also lecture part-time at Dublin City University.

When and why did you decide on a career in translating/interpreting?

Language has always enthralled and fascinated me. In secondary school, I came across a leaflet about translation and interpreting as a career. I was already studying French and German and English was one of my best subjects. That sowed a seed.
I lived abroad after my Leaving Cert, first in Germany and then France, where I stayed for eight years, studying and working. I came home in the mid-90s, took the Diploma in Translation exam run by the Institute of Linguists and started working as a freelance translator. I then later undertook a Masters in Translation Studies at DCU and a Diploma in Legal French with the Law Society of Ireland and the Alliance Française.

Name the most important thing you did that helped you launch your career.

The most important thing for me was living in the country, becoming truly immersed in the culture and the language. This is I believe the only way to achieve the proficiency needed for both interpreting and translation.
The next more important thing after that was getting a theoretical grounding and practical experience in translation through training.
My background in TEFL teaching also gave me a solid foundation in English grammar that was very helpful in improving my writing skills.

How important are training and qualifications for a career in translating/interpreting?

Training and qualifications are extremely important. They are the only way to uphold standards of quality and provide reassurance to potential clients about a translator’s or interpreter’s ability.
CPD helps me keep up to date with developments in the industry while also providing an opportunity to network with colleagues.

How do you find clients?

Initially, armed with my Dip Trans, I sent out my CV to a long list of agencies and set up an online profile. My first job was a huge rush job that countless translators had turned down. I took it on, worked all night and got the job in on time. The client came back next time and work gradually started to trickle in.
It took a while longer before I got steady work but the advent of the internet and online translator portals helped me secure new clients abroad.
Translation technology was also in its infancy and being an early adopter won me projects.
Nowadays, most of my work comes through word of mouth and from other professionals who know me and are familiar with my work.
Taking part in tenders has also been helpful in the past. I won a tender a number of years ago to update and translate the French commercial code and this led to a great deal of legal translation work coming my way. More recently, I won a tender with the European Court of Justice.

Do you think it is necessary to specialise?

In a word, yes. At the start of my career, I fought hard to remain a generalist. Part of what I love about this job is the variety. So I could move from electricity generation to tourism documentation to terms and conditions of sale, all within the same week, or even, on the busiest of days, within the same day.
And I would still recommend this route to those starting out. The downside is the amount of background research required each time, but good translation is only ever built on solid research skills and more inexperienced translators need all the practice they can get, so I think this is a good way to explore and develop future specialisations.
However, over the course of my career, a certain ‘bent’ for certain types of translation emerged. I found I enjoyed the kind of research required for legal translation. Interestingly, law was another potential career path I was interested in at school.

What is your favourite type of text/assignment?

My favourite type of text at the moment is long-form legal academic articles. I love their complexity, the way I have to work on tracking the argument through the text, the work involved in identifying the core message and conveying that in language accessible to the reader. It just so happens that this is my most frequent assignment in recent years. I also love literary translation and tourism translation although these come across my desk less often.

What is the best/worst thing about being a translator?

The worst thing is the isolation, the financial insecurity and the business skills you have to master when you work freelance.
The best thing is the work itself, which is always interesting, the independence, the fact that you can choose your own hours and work in a way that suits you.

Is it possible to have a good standard of living?

Yes, at least it was. I’m not sure about now, when there seems to be a race to the bottom, AI is taking over and experience and qualifications do not seem to be valued as much as before. Many freelance translators are seeing sharp declines in income and workload and the future is very uncertain.

What advice would you give someone thinking of embarking on a career as a translator?

Master the technology and explore new potential career paths. I think terminology and translation memory management are two areas that will become increasingly important in the next few years, for example.
But don’t let technology blind you to the basics: keep your language skills up to date, engage in training and CPD, network, act professionally and practice, practice, practice.