A Key to Freelance Success: Apply, Apply, Apply

It might seem obvious, but one key to developing a successful freelance career is applying for jobs. Constantly. Filling out applications, writing cover letters, and submitting bids for projects can be time-intensive and incredibly boring, but it really is the only way to get your career started.

When I first started freelancing, I spent hours each day looking through job postings and applying for anything and everything that seemed like it might fit my skills. While my goal was to work full-time as a translator, I also occasionally applied for copywriting and editing jobs as a way to supplement my income. I ended up getting a couple of long-term flexible copywriting jobs that weren't particularly interesting, but they were incredibly important because I always knew that if I didn't have any translation work, I could rely on them for income.

Over the past year and a half, I've done translation jobs of every type and size, from 200-word marketing translations to an ebook on web programming. Some clients have only hired me once, others have contacted me a second or third time, and a handful have become regular clients who send me work frequently. As a freelancer, the goal is obviously to have a group of regular clients who keep you busy full-time, but I think that's something that takes several years to attain.

While there are some weeks that work from regular and repeat clients manages to keep me busy, it's still incredibly important that I keep applying for jobs. However, now that I have more experience and know that I have some clients I can rely on to send work, I can be a bit more discerning. A year ago I was a bit more flexible in terms of rates, but now I have a better understanding of the value of my work, so I'm more confident in sticking to my standard rates, even if it sometimes means not getting a job because the budget is too low.

In any case, my advice to new freelancers out there is to apply for every job that a) fits your skills b) meets your payment expectations and c) you feel confident you can complete to a high standard. It may be monotonous constantly filling out job applications, writing professional cover letters, and emailing résumés to prospective clients, but it's the only way to grow your client base. It's easy to become complacent once you've found a few regular clients, but it's important to remember that you can't count on them to always send you work, since it's only natural in freelancing that clients will come and go over time.

3 More Tips for Translating Your CV or Résumé into English

On Wednesday, I covered three important tips for translating your CV or résumé into English so that it's appropriate for use in an English-speaking culture. Today I've got three more tips to help you make sure your new English CV is perfect.

#4: Make it easy to read: avoid flowery fonts and eye-popping designs.

It's really tempting to use fancy fonts and elaborate designs in order to make your CV stand out, but you should generally avoid this trap. Unless you're applying for jobs in a design-related field, it is the information included in your CV that should be making you stand out as an applicant, not design quirks that draw your eye to the page. Keep it simple, professional, and most importantly, easy to read! If you absolutely must highlight a particular detail, consider using bold font.

#5: Consider having more than one CV.

If you're going to be applying for a wide range of jobs in diverse fields, consider having a few different CVs that each showcase the skills, experience and education relevant to one particular area. For example, if you're a translator and a copywriter, you could have two CVs: one that highlights your past copywriting jobs, and another that focuses more on translation experience and foreign language skills.

#6: Hire a professional translator, or at the very least, ask a native English speaker to look it over.

This is the first impression a potential employer will have of you, so you need to make it count. Make sure your English CV shows that you're serious - it should be mistake-free, easy to read, and succinctly describe your skills, experience and education in a professional way.

There are tons of translators out there (including me!) that will be happy to translate your CV into English for a reasonable fee. However, if you need to save every single cent, at the very least try to find a native English speaker who can check the document for any glaring problems. If you aren't willing to take the time to make sure your CV is culturally appropriate and error-free, you might as well throw it into the recycle bin yourself.

3 Tips for Translating Your CV or Résumé into English

In today's global society, it's becoming increasingly popular to apply for jobs in other countries. Given the widespread use of English in the business world, it makes sense that many companies request that applicants provide a CV (or résumé, as it's known in the US) in English. However, many people don't stop to consider the cultural aspects involved in translating a CV.

As a translator, I frequently get requests to translate CVs from Spanish into English, generally so that the client can apply for jobs in English-speaking countries. While this may seem like a straightforward job, it can actually be quite complicated due to cultural differences in CV standards. If you're not from an English-speaking culture and are unsure of what to include in your English CV, the following tips, based on my experience translating CVs from Spanish to English, should help you get started.

#1: Don't attach a photo.

In Spain, as well as several other countries, it is customary to include a photo with your CV. If you're applying for a job in an English-speaking country, DO NOT do this. For some reason, this custom tends to lead to heated debates between people from cultures that address this detail differently. In any case, you should respect the customs of the target culture, in this case English-speaking countries. The main reason photos aren't included is that CVs are viewed as a way to assess applicants purely based on their skills, experience, and education. By removing photos from the equation, we can avoid being influenced by a person's appearance.

#2: Don't include your date of birth and gender.

Following the same line of thinking, don't include your date of birth or gender. This helps to prevent age and gender discrimination in the hiring process. Sure, if you make it to the interview stage, your potential new employer will have a pretty good guess at both, but we still don't include this information on a CV.

#3: Keep it short and sweet: 1-2 pages maximum!

One of the most frequent issues I've encountered while translating CVs is that clients tend to send me CVs that are way too long. If at all possible, try to keep your CV to one page in length, or two at an absolute maximum. There's no reason to include every job you've ever had, the name of your high school, or skills like "Microsoft Word" or "social media", which are now expected of most applicants anyway.