Freelance Translation: Freelance or Serfdom?

It is not the first time that Konstantin Zaitsev has already shared his experience and secret tips for learning foreign languages with the readers of Lifehacker. Now is the time to share my thoughts on remote translation work. First, the idealization of freelancing in Russia has faded away. Secondly, more than 10 years of Konstantin's experience in this area allowed him to draw certain conclusions.

Last time Konstantin told us how to hack English without textbooks: a short but difficult option. This time - about the main features of remote translation.

Half-head

The translator is on the staff of the company, but works (most of the time) at home. This is the main option and a springboard for most specialists who value official experience, but either travel far to work, or insufficient workload, or the conditions / team are not very happy. Unfortunately, this option is mainly practiced by small businesses, where they do not like to bother with documenting special labor relations - do not even stutter about this in some research institute or bank. If for any reason you cannot sit out the prescribed hours in the office, contact your boss, and if he is adequate, you should not be denied.

I am also working in the half-state now. I was allowed to do it in exchange for an increase in output (it happens almost by itself due to time optimization), a visit to the office for half a week (to keep up to date and not to soften) and maximum remote control and reporting (ready by phone and mail). Let the time on the road now need to be spent doing something, but the saved travel passes and the improvement in well-being (already on the first day of the regime change) pay off. It turns out a compromise between the convenience of work and a stable income.

Half-shell

An average version of translation freelance with white employment. In this case, the translator no longer travels anywhere (except perhaps to sign a work contract and acceptance certificates), but fulfills obligations to 1-3 employers. Semi-independence and flexibility allow you to choose a job to your liking and plan employment: if the employer gives a little workload, you can add it from another. In case of semi-breakdown, the translator and the employer are still sealed by contractual relations that protect one from non-payment, and the other from non-performance of work.

Naturally, it is easier for an employer to make a remote employee from a former full-time or acquaintance than to look for on freelance exchanges. So the company also risks due to unscrupulous performers, therefore, for remote contracts, the translator must show himself well for the high-quality implementation of long-term projects so that he can be trusted even at a distance. In case of semi-homework, payment is made to the translator's personal card or electronic wallet (WebMoney, PayPal, Yandex. Money).

I have not worked out with semi-uncomfortableness (mainly for the reason stated at the end of the article), but I hope to test myself here as well. Moreover, they say, they earn quite decently there.

Nadomka

Full freelance, the highest translation aerobatics … Black employment with the ability to work even with the ISS and reporting only for the result.

Making any money without getting off the couch is tempting, isn't it? It would seem that you only need a stable Internet and SMS notifications about incoming letters. However, imaginary freedom requires Spartan self-organization and restriction of personal life (if not rejection of it). A home-based translator feeds on orders (usually one-time), which still need to be snapped up in fierce competition with colleagues on the sites of freelance exchanges. You pay for the opportunity to work while traveling by Internet addiction - life moves to stock exchanges and to the post office. It is impossible to plan your time: the customer does not care whether it is working hours or weekend, the order will overtake you even at night, and if you refuse, then you will no longer be loaded.

It seems that it is the translator who chooses the customer (or better the direct employer), but if you look at the number of reviews under any project, the opposite is true. In addition to an e-wallet, a freelancer needs a portfolio that has been accumulating over the years. So you should try your hand at home after several successful years of at least half home. By the way, another proof of freelance slavery is that these exchanges are used for long-term contracts with 1–2 employers (see half-assed). Therefore, according to my feelings, there are no more than 10% of fully home-based and self-sufficient (not dependent housewives) translators. This is an elite cohort of (often sociophobic) super-pros. For most translators, the homeworker remains a part-time hobby.

My homework experience is related to fulfilling orders for 4-5 agencies (one very well-known), and it did not work out very well. And my translation freestyle began with translations in newspaper advertisements. Then they went to work part-time with colleagues in the second official job: one runs English-language sites about Japanese literature, travel and IT, the other - a popular site for teaching English. The topic was a joy, and a stable load with a corresponding income helped out during periods of unemployment.

Years later, I decided to try my luck in freelancing after losing a stable but hard-working job: I saw it as a breath of fresh air and an opportunity for financial independence. One agency paid at a very good rate, but loaded it once a month. The second paid less, but loaded once a week. The third paid average, loaded once a week and was very demanding in terms of translation of legal documents. The fourth one loaded above the roof, but at average rates. And finally, my largest agency stopped contacting me for services after a break due to office work, and sharply filled up with orders when they had a blockage, and I already found the main job. In general, no freedom, no independence … By the way, as a rule, the smaller the agency, the higher the sign rate and less red tape.

I did not register on freelance exchanges after a week of fruitless negotiations with a potential customer, whom I found for a test on a site with open contacts. Already almost agreeing to contract me, my uncle suddenly stopped texting …

And now about the biggest pitfall that I came across five years ago.

SP

One of the employing agencies insisted on my obtaining the status of an individual entrepreneur and after refusing to cooperate. Others began to pay fees over 20,000 rubles and by non-cash any amount only to individual entrepreneurship translators. That is, I can no longer receive my earnings on the card in a week. The fact is that the state has undertaken to "whitewash" the translation business, and employers support this campaign to transfer translators to semi-legal status. Paying income tax of 6% instead of 13% is tempting, isn't it? But with all the contributions and deductions, it turns out that the freelancer pays the state the SAME MONEY as during the official registration. At the same time, the employer does not pay any taxes, pushing the accounting department onto the executor himself.

Colleagues, do you want to run to the tax office, wasting time for which you can translate ?! And I mean the same: for an accountant - for an accountant, for a translator - for a translator. Thus, "white" workers are forced to take additional workload, and "black" - to come out of the shadows and pay taxes on not always sufficient income.

Personally, I resist individual entrepreneurship, as the yoke of state capitalism, and continue to work in the old fashioned way.

Output

Freelance translation can be very different, and pure homework is hardly better than office slavery. To avoid it, develop progressively from a regular homework to the line beyond which freedom turns into false freedom.

Konstantin Zaitsev, English translator