Finding online freelance
jobs and translation projects

As a translator, you should always be on the lookout for more jobs in translation.

One area that you could quite possibly tap into is the Internet and freelance job translation sites (as well as translation service companies looking for freelance translators). There are various websites devoted to matching up freelance translators with clients that are in need of translations.

I personally have never been a big believer in relying solely on online translation job boards to find work because I don't think the success rate is as high as it is with face-to-face communication. Also, it seems that a lot of times, you can waste time by spening all your effort updating job boards online and never get much work. That being said, there are those who do very well finding translation work from online job boards and I would recommend doing it once you've done the whole networking thing to find local jobs in translation.

With many of the websites available online for finding freelance work, you first create a profile of yourself outlining any skills or specializations you might have (as well as the language pair(s) you work with). You can then usually bid on jobs posted by clients. As what happens with many auction-type sites, a lot of different freelancers will bid on a single job so there's a chance you'll likely not get chosen to do the work, unless you really fit what the client is looking for.

Don't be disheartened if you lose a bid on a job; keep watching the job boards and keep bidding. Eventually you should be able to get a job to work on (some sites can even email you newly posted jobs). Make sure that when the job does come your way that you treat it like you would any other: professionaly. Nothing can kill your freelance translation career faster than doing a poor job.

Once you get a few jobs under your belt, the work should begin to snowball a little. People will see that you have more experience and will want to give you more work merely because you've done more work and past clients are happy about it.

If you'd like to find some of the companies which offer freelance job boards, you can search online using your favorite search engine. Just put the phrase "freelance translation" in the search box and there you go.