Take your language skills to a new level, together with us!
Is pedantry your vocation and calling? Are you relatively new to the translation game? Perhaps you are a recently qualified Russian–English translator, and are looking to build your client base. Maybe you are still studying, but have decided to take your first steps in your translation career, and are looking for a freelance opportunity with a company that will provide training, while still allowing you the flexibility to continue studying. Either way, we are looking for enthusiastic wordsmiths to become our freelance stars of tomorrow.
First of all, a few words about us: we are a leading LSP based in St Petersburg, working with a range of exciting clients, all of whom appreciate the importance of top-notch translations (by which we mean texts with all traces of
Russianisms eliminated, names and terms thoroughly researched, and typos killed). Every document translated by us goes through three separate freelancers – a translator, an editor (to check the translation against the original for accuracy and style), and a proofreader (polish the text to a shine, pick up on any mistakes inadvertently left in by the translator/editor, sort out suspect word order, etc.). Our translators are all excellent, of course; but it is only those translators who are able to focus on a specific field and become excellent in that field, who are invited to become editors. And it is only the very finest editors who are then coached on to become a proofreader.
Now, before going into any more details, we should stress that what we do is not easy. In fact, translating accurately while avoiding the ‘woodenness’ often associated with texts of this kind can be very hard work indeed, and you’ll need to decide whether it's for you. As well as demonstrating promise as a translator, you will need to display commitment to the profession, be able to accept feedback and apply it to future work, and of course, write in impeccable English across a range of registers.
So, what are we offering? We will teach and train you to be an über-linguist. We will pay you at the same time.
And you will be able to open up a new line of business for yourselves. Interested in an internship at our office? Ask us about that too.
How will this work? We’ll give you a general translation and editing test to do for us. If you pass these, we will start you off doing some small jobs for us, all the while providing feedback to help you continually improve. All being well, the volume of work you receive from us will grow (as will the variety of jobs) as you climb the ranks to become an editor, and, in time, a proofreader – where you will be taking ultimate responsibility for the final product, help train other freelancers, build terminology databases, and generally be one of our all-round superstars. If that sounds like a challenge, well, it certainly is, but rest assured that you will be communicating with our assiduous band of in-house linguists to help you get all the support you need, so you’ll never be working alone.
Only a small proportion of the most promising applicants will pass the test, and if you don’t fall into that category, that's nothing to be worried about – we know that some people need a little longer to develop their skills first. We can provide detailed feedback if you wish (regardless of the result), and we’ll be willing to stay in contact. We have a system for re-testing people after 6 months or more, if they feel they've learned and improved as a professional.
If this sounds like the sort of thing that floats your boat, and you’re willing to complete a test, then get in touch, giving us three reasons why you think you’d be up to the task.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Contact: tal@eclectictranslations.co.uk
www.eclectictranslations.co.uk