How do yo make sure you get paid?

by Iyad Qaddoumi
(Amman, Jordan)

In fact there is no secret at all, as a freelance interpreter it is well known that after the job is done there is no proof that you did your part and you earned the money. Meaning that if the interpretation company that hired your services has a bad intention you will need more than good luck to prove it in court.

Some times contracts work like magic but you can't always work after concluding a contract, maybe it will work for a translation job but not for interpretation.

To make a long story short, the secret is in dealing with good reputation companies or clients that you might reach by taking the risk of dealing with them yourself, or by your peers' recommendation.

The bottom line is that whenever you step over a bad company make sure to warn your colleagues. By doing this a company or a client might do it once or several times but not for long because they will be out of business.
Other than that, you might get involved with lawyers, courts, and headeaches.
Finally, I need to tell you that for every not paid job you are losing another job that you might have done during the same period. So it is a double loss.