France remains to be one of the most influential countries in the world in general and in the European Union in particular. The French language is widely used beyond the borders of this country, and this fact creates multiple opportunities for people who look for french translator jobs regardless of the other component of the language pair, whether it is English, German, Spanish, or any other widely used language. Why not use this opportunity?
Apart from the fact that French belongs to the top-5 most spoken languages since there are almost 277 million of total speakers, it is considered to be very important for the business sphere and is widespread on three continents, not including other territories. Almost 40 countries and dependent territories in Europe, North America, Africa, and Oceania use French as official, second, or minority language.
France, Canada, Switzerland, and Monaco are the countries where French is a main or one of the main languages. Many African countries such as Central African Republic, Congo, Cameroon, Madagascar, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and others represent a significant French-speaking population as well. Various communities became part of global Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie including ones from the Oceania, Caribbean region, Italy, even several states in the USA have joined.
All this means that a French language translator has a variety of options to choose from due to the global nature of the French language’s spread. Considering the projected growth of the French-speaking population, which is expected to double and grow even more by 2050, more and more people would need to hire experts who can complete translation to or from French.
Availability of organizations that unite different professionals based on the main language is a good indicator of whether this particular dimension of the translator’s profession is popular enough. Based on the number of existing organizations in the French translation industry, it is safe to say that French translators are in demand. Here is the list of some of associations and organizations existing in France and Canada that provide French translation jobs:
More than 800 professionals are united by this non-profit organization which not only helps these people discuss translation-related questions but also finds clients who look for experts to hire on the AAE-ESIT website.
Both clients who expect to find a professional audiovisual French translation expert and professionals who work with translating subtitles and assisting with dubbing and voice-overs can find many useful materials on this association’s website and most importantly – they can find each other.
Both sign-language translators and interpreters could find professional growth assistance and employment through this association that exists for more than 40 years already.
Those interpreters and translators residing specifically in the Aquitaine region can find freelance employment with the help of this organization as assisting in connecting both clients and service providers is its main aim.
Another organization that helps unite people working in the narrowed area within the translation industry, specifically, those working at the Paris Court of Appeal, and defend their collective interests and manage regulatory requirements.
The main goal of this association is to promote translators and interpreters’ professions and provide career development support for young people who want to pursue career development in this sphere.
Focusing on promoting literary translation, ATLAS provides a variety of materials, workshops, and learning opportunities for specialists in this area.
One of the most well-known associations in the sphere of literary translations helps connecting publishers and other clients with required specialists as well as build a mutually beneficial relationship between translators themselves.
Being one of the oldest organizations, SFT exists since 1947 and unites more than 1,300 members is the perfect candidate to join for both translators and interpreters so that prospective clients could find their contacts and order required language service.
Approximately thirty translation companies are members of this union by now which means all their employees adhere to high-quality standards of work accepted within the organization and they have a steady flow of orders from important clients. This is the only union that represents translation companies in France.
This association helps to connect its members, who are professional court translators and interpreters, with the clients who are interested in these specific services.
Translation experts cooperating with the courts of appeal should consider joining this organization since it offers not only member forum but also multiple training and employment opportunities.
Being established under the jurisdiction of Belgium law, this organization unites literary translators from different countries, not only France and Belgium, so that this specific dimension of the translation industry could be fully protected.
The linguistic community in Canada can benefit from participating in this organization’s educational initiatives aimed at developing the highest professional standards.
Legal translators in Canada developed a network that helps them benefit from cumulative knowledge in the sphere and participating in various trainings and workshops intended to improve one’s qualification.
Almost all associations require membership fees that allow them to function properly and continue providing educational and uniting services to translators and interpreters within the specific field or globally. There are no better places to find qualified help from colleagues and improve one’s skills.
Working as a full-time translator in France has many benefits, as well as downsides that would be different for every applicant. When one decides to apply for an in-house translator, he or she should check specific country’s local job websites. Let’s continue with France since this is the primary country where one can apply the knowledge of French and other languages to his or her advantage.
Some of the primary solutions to be checked are as follows:
Main job websites allow applicants to both available vacancies or post their own resume or fill in the profile so that recruiters will be able to find prospective employees on their own.
Those who try searching using the keyword “translator” should consider switching to the local country’s language since it will produce more results. Even though some HR managers do include both French and English names for the required vacancy, some other recruiters stick to French variant only, that is why the request on Indeed.fr to find “traducteur” job in Paris resulted in 78 suggestions while the subsequent request with the word “translator” only resulted in 11 open postings, which is nowhere close to what is expected. The same rule applies to all other countries, whether it is Switzerland or Canada.
The basic principles of finding remote or freelance work as the French translator are the same as for the full-time job’s search. However, one should decide on major direction first and there are two major options. One could either be hired by the translation agency or similar company to work on a freelance basis or develop one’s own career as an independent freelancer.
Each option has its own benefits and drawbacks. Working for the translation agency may not be very different from a full-time job since all that is changed is one’s working place and it doesn’t really matter whether it is in the office or at home. This option is recommended for beginners who do not have any significant experience yet since the agency will provide the constant flow of clients and work to do. So that new specialists may focus on honing their translation skills without wasting time on a fruitless search for new clients.
Those who do not like the lack of freedom in the choice of projects to work on and want to develop the reputation of the confident and independent freelance translator should consider focusing on strategies dedicated to finding clients as this process will take a lot of their time and require many efforts. Developing a personal website and impressive portfolio, as well as clients’ testimonials, would be extremely beneficial in addition to the application of some marketing knowledge to promote oneself and propose professional skills to those who need them. Checking freelancers’ platforms such as Upwork.com, Freelancer.com, or even the same Linkedin.com could be a good starting point as well.
Working as the French to English translator, whether in-house or freelance, could be a very good opportunity due to the global nature of involved languages and their increasing popularity. The possibilities and ways to find constantly changing open vacancies are diverse and differ from country to country, though checking local popular job offering websites appears to be a winning strategy in any case.
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