How could I make over $100,000 a year working in translation?
You will need a combination of the following: be efficient and productive, charge enough, provide extra services, and/or move into management. To be more productive, you need to make sure that your tools are sharpened and well honed, so to speak.
In other words, do a lot of translating, get good at your typing and computer skills, possibly use CAT tools, have a clear list of regular clients who you work for on a long-term basis, so that you don’t need to spend as much extra time finding clients, etc. To charge enough, you need to work for clients who value your time, as opposed to certain agencies who are always going to go for the fastest, cheapest set of hands available at any given moment. As for providing extra services, that works on two different levels. The rarer the extra services or specializations you offer, the more you can charge for it. Is DTP rare and valuable, for example? Move in that direction if it interests you.Are you able to give talks and write articles? That can up your income, as well as your visibility and prestige—which generally will add to your bottom line over time as well. Moving into management speaks for itself.
-By Adriana Tassini
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