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Can we have a poll to find out how translators are doing financially?
De persoon die dit onderwerp heeft geplaatst: Guofei_LIN
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise
België
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2020
Frans naar Nederlands
+ ...
$500k Feb 1, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:
There were a couple of colleagues who reported $500k annual peak for some years.


Is that even possible as a translator who works alone and doesn't outsoure other work (meaning pretending he or she is an agency)? Your output or your rates would have to be astronomically high to reach that figure. But perhaps I'm overlooking something.


Daryo
Gabriel Muniz
 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnië en Herzegovina
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2009
Engels naar Kroatisch
+ ...
Possible vs. impossible Feb 1, 2023

Lieven Malaise wrote:

Lingua 5B wrote:
There were a couple of colleagues who reported $500k annual peak for some years.


Is that even possible as a translator who works alone and doesn't outsoure other work (meaning pretending he or she is an agency)? Your output or your rates would have to be astronomically high to reach that figure. But perhaps I'm overlooking something.


Yes, in a commercial high-traffic language pair with technical specialisation and quick skills, it used to be possible because it used to be paid well. Today, with post-editing trend coupled with dropping rates, I very much doubt it‘s possible. In the previous scenario it was 0.16-0.25, in the latter it‘s 0.04-0.05.


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
Verenigd Koninkrijk
Lid 2011
Zweeds naar Engels
+ ...
No way Feb 1, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:
Yes, in a commercial high-traffic language pair with technical specialisation and quick skills, it used to be possible because it used to be paid well. Today, with post-editing trend coupled with dropping rates, I very much doubt it‘s possible. In the previous scenario it was 0.16-0.25, in the latter it‘s 0.04-0.05.

500,000 / 50 / 0.25 = 40,000 words a week. Yeah, right.


Lieven Malaise
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise
België
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2020
Frans naar Nederlands
+ ...
Not convinced. Feb 1, 2023

Lingua 5B wrote:
Yes, in a commercial high-traffic language pair with technical specialisation and quick skills, it used to be possible because it used to be paid well. Today, with post-editing trend coupled with dropping rates, I very much doubt it‘s possible. In the previous scenario it was 0.16-0.25, in the latter it‘s 0.04-0.05.


A word rate of 0.25 gives a yearly income of 234k based on 40 hours per week (450 words per hour), without a single day off and without even the slightest slow period. Theoretically feasible, but not very realistic, and still not even close to 500k.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnië en Herzegovina
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2009
Engels naar Kroatisch
+ ...
Yes, but we don‘t know all details Feb 1, 2023

Lieven Malaise wrote:

Lingua 5B wrote:
Yes, in a commercial high-traffic language pair with technical specialisation and quick skills, it used to be possible because it used to be paid well. Today, with post-editing trend coupled with dropping rates, I very much doubt it‘s possible. In the previous scenario it was 0.16-0.25, in the latter it‘s 0.04-0.05.


A word rate of 0.25 gives a yearly income of 234k based on 40 hours per week (450 words per hour), without a single day off and without even the slightest slow period. Theoretically feasible, but not very realistic, and still not even close to 500k.


Perhaps there was also interpreting, copywriting or some other services, or outsourcing. You calculated it/assumed it in a very simplified manner. The straightforward per word rates are not the only thing in the entire world.


 
Guofei_LIN
Guofei_LIN  Identity Verified
Australië
Local time: 11:57
Chinees
ONDERWERPSTARTER
Accountants and attorneys working for mafia and drug king pins earn higher than average income Feb 1, 2023

So why not translators? Just find that customer!

Matthieu Ledoré
 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2006
Spaans naar Nederlands
+ ...
What exactly are you saying? Feb 1, 2023

Guofei_LIN wrote:

So why not translators? Just find that customer!


You want to work for 'illegal' clients, and promote 'crime'????

[Edited at 2023-02-01 10:50 GMT]


Lingua 5B
expressisverbis
 
Guofei_LIN
Guofei_LIN  Identity Verified
Australië
Local time: 11:57
Chinees
ONDERWERPSTARTER
No Feb 1, 2023

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Guofei_LIN wrote:

So why not translators? Just find that customer!


You want to work for 'illegal' clients, and promote 'crime'????

[Edited at 2023-02-01 10:50 GMT]


No, those jobs are very hazardous, that's why the pay is well (according to Hollywood movies). At some stage your client might decide to 'terminate' this business relationship and you are done.


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2006
Spaans naar Nederlands
+ ...
@Guofei Feb 1, 2023

Guofei_LIN wrote:

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Guofei_LIN wrote:

So why not translators? Just find that customer!


You want to work for 'illegal' clients, and promote 'crime'????

[Edited at 2023-02-01 10:50 GMT]


No, those jobs are very hazardous, that's why the pay is well (according to Hollywood movies). At some stage your client might decide to 'terminate' this business relationship and you are done.


So, what are you saying?


expressisverbis
 
Guofei_LIN
Guofei_LIN  Identity Verified
Australië
Local time: 11:57
Chinees
ONDERWERPSTARTER
There could be indeed translation jobs that pay $500k, this could be an example Feb 1, 2023

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Guofei_LIN wrote:

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Guofei_LIN wrote:

So why not translators? Just find that customer!


You want to work for 'illegal' clients, and promote 'crime'????

[Edited at 2023-02-01 10:50 GMT]


No, those jobs are very hazardous, that's why the pay is well (according to Hollywood movies). At some stage your client might decide to 'terminate' this business relationship and you are done.


So, what are you saying?


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnië en Herzegovina
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2009
Engels naar Kroatisch
+ ...
What are you trying to prove? Feb 1, 2023

In each profession, people may earn different salaries depending on their individual circumstances. This type of public discussions are very misleading for newbies who are prone to wishful thinking and/or desperate for work. In the entire discussion, they will only see the $500k figure, even though we supplied many other pieces of information. It‘s called selective perception.

Daryo
Michael Newton
 
Mark Somers
Mark Somers
België
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2017
Nederlands naar Engels
+ ...
Lies no lies Feb 1, 2023

Why would anyone lie? This is the third time in the last few days I've seen a comment like that. I find it irritating tbh.

I have not suggested people lie, quite the contrary.


MollyRose
 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:57
Lid 2006
Spaans naar Nederlands
+ ...
$500K? Feb 1, 2023

Guofei_LIN wrote:

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Guofei_LIN wrote:

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Guofei_LIN wrote:

So why not translators? Just find that customer!


You want to work for 'illegal' clients, and promote 'crime'????

[Edited at 2023-02-01 10:50 GMT]


No, those jobs are very hazardous, that's why the pay is well (according to Hollywood movies). At some stage your client might decide to 'terminate' this business relationship and you are done.


So, what are you saying?


Only in fairy tales. Keep on dreaming.


 
Daryo
Daryo
Verenigd Koninkrijk
Local time: 02:57
Servisch naar Engels
+ ...
Lots of VERY brave assumptions Feb 1, 2023

Guofei_LIN wrote:

Jared Tabor wrote:

I'm not sure how that would work in a quick poll


Something like this:

I'm established as a translator and my income from translation is xx% of the average income in my country (average income figure as per https://www.worlddata.info/average-income.php) :

1. 50%-60% higher than the national average income;
2. 30%-40% higher than the national average income;
3. 10%-20% higher than the national average income;
4. Same as the national average income;
5. 10%-20% lower than the national average income;


Yeah sure - that sounds like a good idea. Until you get into "details".

Trying to figure out what's "the average income" that way would assume that respondents ALL have a well above average understanding of statistics.

Poll results would probably have a "margin of error" of 10 - 20 or maybe even 30% due to varying personal interpretations of what is to be included in "income", not to forget that to have meaningful statistics you MUST have a meaningful "baseline".

Meaning: leaving aside any nitpicking about what exactly is counted as income, what's the point of comparing with the overall national average income?

Personally, what I would find to be a meaningful comparison would be to use as baseline the national average income of all professionals of comparable levels of qualification. THAT would be a far more significant statistic.


polishedwords
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
Verenigd Koninkrijk
Lid 2011
Zweeds naar Engels
+ ...
Statistical insignificance Feb 2, 2023

Daryo wrote:
Trying to figure out what's "the average income" that way would assume that respondents ALL have a well above average understanding of statistics.
.

Follow your own advice and you’ll see that there is a link in the question to a figure for each country… :-;


 
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Can we have a poll to find out how translators are doing financially?






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