Article 14 signs you’re made to be a freelance translator

No freelance translator is quite the same as another. We’re a unique, quirky bunch, and we like to plough our own furrows.

But there are plenty of things all of us share. Things which drew us to languages and made us want to take the leap put ourselves out there in the freelance world.

Here’s a list of signs that your career as a freelance translator was absolutely meant to be. Or, if you’re just flirting with the idea of starting out as a freelance translator, signs that you’re destined to join our ranks. And we’d love to have you!

Keep scrolling and see how many of the signs below resonate with you.

1. You’ve turned typo and mistranslation-spotting into an art form

When you’re at a restaurant on holiday somewhere nice, everyone else is thinking about what they’d like to eat, but you’re too busy inspecting (and probably judging) the menu translation.

You’ve got a sharp eye for all things language-related, and often find yourself wondering how you’d translate a clever bit of wordplay you spot on the internet, or when you’re out and about.

2. You thrive on variety

You’re not the type who wants every day to look the same, as you’d soon get bored. You like to mix things up, with different projects to focus your energies on.

That’s great, because as a freelance translator, chances are no two days will ever look quite the same.

You’ll get projects of all shapes and sizes, even if they’re all related to the same area of expertise. If variety is the spice of life for you, you can really diversify your freelance translation business to reflect your different skills, and use different parts of your brain.

3.You like your own company

You’re probably a sociable person - most linguists are!

But at the same time, you don’t mind spending a lot of your time on your own at home, working away. In fact, you probably find it quite restful.

And you also don’t mind the fact that you’re your own sales and marketing department, accounts department, customer service department… the list goes on. Because you like working independently and calling the shots.

Of course, if you’re not a big fan of spending your days on your own, you could always opt for a coworking space.

And if you don’t really like being the only one making decisions in your business, you can always team up with a colleague, perhaps forming a translation collective.

But if you really can’t handle your own company and making your own decisions, then you might want to explore other career paths.

4.You like making new connections

At the same time, you’re not a total recluse. You’re also happy to put yourself out there, whether that’s online or in-person, to make genuine connections with other freelancers and potential clients.

You aren’t interested in networking solely because it could bring work in, but want to make real connections with other human beings, offering advice and supporting them where you can.

You see other freelancers as colleagues, not competition.

5. You like to decide your own working hours

Perhaps you’re at your best first thing in the morning. Or last thing in the afternoon. Or perhaps you’ve got a lot of other responsibilities to fit work around.

Whatever the reason, you love being able to decide when you’re going to work, and for how long. You’re in charge here.

6. You want to be able to work from anywhere

As a fan of languages, it’s pretty safe to assume that you’re also a fan of travel. Right?

The excellent news is that, as a freelance translator, you can work from wherever you please. Even if you only travel as far as the living room, you get to decide where the magic happens.

And if you have the freedom in other areas of your life, then you could see the world, one translation project at a time.

7. You’re a good self-motivator

You’ve got plenty of get up and go, and don’t need a boss breathing down your neck to get you working.

To be honest, we’ve always found being able to pay all our bills at the end of the month to be quite enough motivation to get us working away. But naturally being good at motivating yourself can’t hurt either!

8. The idea of having a boss fills you with dread

When people complain to you about their difficult boss, you shudder at the very thought of having one.

And the idea of having to carefully allocate your holiday days and ask permission to take them just does not compute.

9. You’re great at prioritising rest

This is something that can be learned. And you will learn, after burning out a few times.

But you’re born to be a freelance translator if it doesn’t take reaching burn out for you to know that rest is important.

If it’s obvious to you that in order to do your best work you need to be well rested, fed and exercised, and prioritise your mental and physical health above your work, then you’ll do well as a freelancer.

10. The idea of spending your days working with words fills you with joy

You live and breathe words. You’re fascinated by their power and love playing around with them.

The idea of actually getting to spend your days writing (it’s not as simple as that, we know, but bear with us) sounds like heaven.

11. You’re curious and enjoy researching things

You’ve always been a great one for asking questions. You always want to know why.

As a freelance translator, you’re going to spend an awful lot of time researching specific terms, and information about all kinds of random things that will pop up in your translations. Your Google search history will sometimes be pretty wild!

You were born to be a freelance translator because this is your idea of fun, not a trial.

12. You don’t give up easily

When the going gets tough, you get going.

Freelance translation isn’t easy. You’ll have slow months, difficult clients, bad feedback… it’s all par for the course.

But you’re born to be a freelance translator because you’re determined. Once you’ve set your heart on something, you don’t give up without a fight. If it’s your dream, you’re going to make it happen, and you’ll stick it out through the tough times, not just whilst it’s all plain sailing.

13. You’re a perfectionist - to just the right extent

You’re always going to deliver work of the highest quality, to the best of your ability.

But at the same time, you know when to let go. You know done is better than perfect.

If you’re the kind of person that proofreads something you’ve written fifty million times and still can’t bring yourself to send it off, then freelance translation probably isn’t for you.

Because your profitability depends on you being able to translate efficiently. If you’re going to spend hours moving commas back and forth when you’re being paid a per-word rate, you’re probably not going to earn what you need to.

Unless you’re charging premium rates, in which case more power to you!

14. Numbers aren’t necessarily your strong point

Now this, of course, isn’t true of all freelance translators out there. There are plenty who are total aces with numbers and have created spreadsheets that can do all kinds of fancy things.

But if we’re honest, most of us are far better with words than we are with numbers. And that’s okay!

That’s exactly why we created LSP.expert in the first place, so that our fellow freelancers could focus on the translation aspect of their business, knowing the admin side of things is firmly under control.

If you haven’t discovered our platform yet, then now’s the time. Try our 30-day free trial on for size!