How to Get More Thai Translation Jobs and Serve Your Clients Better?
Has anyone come to you and told you that being a Thai translator is an easy job? Many people think this career path is not challenging. All you need is the ability to speak Thai and another language, some dictionaries and a computer to be able to provide Thai translation services. The truth is Thai translators face numerous challenges every day. Two of them are how to get more Thai translation tasks and how to boost clients’ satisfaction with your translations?
If you are struggling with finding the answers to the two questions above, you have found the right article. In today’s post, we will go through some useful tips to help you get more frequent Thai translation jobs and serve your clients better.
#1. Build a Strong Thai Translation Portfolio
The first step in any Thai translator’s career should be to build a strong portfolio. The reason is simple. When you apply for a Thai translation job, your client will not take your word for it and hire you immediately. They need proof that you are capable of translating the required language pair(s) and content. That’s when your portfolio is needed. Building an impressive Thai translation portfolio, of course, is not an easy task. So here are some useful tips for you to create an outstanding one and increase your chance of getting hired:
Customize Your Thai Translation Portfolio
Don’t use only one portfolio for all clients. See your clients as your target audiences in different markets. That means you will need to customize your Thai translation portfolio to fit the audience’s preferences and market characteristics. If you provide Thai translation services for multiple types of content and areas of expertise, it is always recommended that you create separate translation portfolios for each industry. For example, if you translate content for marketing and software industries, two portfolios – one for your marketing clients and the other for your clients in the software industry should be created.
Be Clear and Concentrated
Your clients receive numerous portfolios for every Thai translation project. They usually only spend a couple of seconds scanning your portfolio. If they find something relevant to what they are looking for, they will read it more carefully. Thus, your portfolio should be brief and focused on your best work to catch your clients’ attention.
Don’t Overlook Copyright Issues
You should double-check to make sure that the translation sample you include in your portfolio does not violate the NDA you sign with your client. To put it another way, the sample included in your portfolio mustn’t contain any sensitive or confidential company data.
#2. Be Open Mind and Listen
When meeting with your clients, you should not brag about yourself or how well you work. You should focus more on listening to what they have to say about the upcoming Thai translation projects and what they expect to achieve through the projects. Knowing the projects and your client’s requirements or expectations are the keys to providing the best Thai translation.
Some people are so proud of their translations that feedback or a request to change the translation is considered an offence to them. Don’t make this mistake. You are serving clients and their feedback matters. You shouldn’t take it personally because it is actually beneficial to receive opinions from others. Take the feedback, memorize it, use it to improve your Thai translations, and get more satisfied clients.
#3. Don’t Hesitate to Ask for Help
Even the most experienced translators find it hard sometimes to handle a challenging part of the content or lose motivation due to long-term stress. That’s when you can ask for help from other translators. There are a variety of Thai translation communities on social media or forums such as ProZ, TranslatorsCafé, Things Translators Never Say, etc. that you can join.
You can find different translation resources that are helpful to your Thai translation projects (such as a glossary, termbase, etc.) on these platforms. You can also post a question and let other fellow translators give you some new ideas. Even when you want to complain about a ridiculous request from your client, these communities are safe places for you to share it. In short, connecting and sharing with people in your field is a great way to improve your knowledge and skills, as well as reduce stress.
#4. Never Stop Learning
Every single day, a new Thai word or new meaning of an existing word emerges. The translation and localization industry also change daily. New trends in the fields you specialize in are created on a regular basis. All these mean that if you stop learning and updating your knowledge, you will fall behind. It’s necessary for a Thai translator to constantly sharpen their knowledge and skills. You can do it by reading books, updating news, attending seminars, conferences, webinars and workshops or taking courses.
#5. Impress Your Clients
Besides impressing your clients by providing excellent Thai translations in which vocabulary, sentence structure, etc. are perfectly used, you can bring them some extra value to strengthen your relationships. Simple actions like sending holiday cards and greetings to your clients give them a better impression of you. Respecting your clients and maintaining a friendly relationship is key to long-term cooperation.
In addition, many Thai translation jobs you receive may come from the power of word-of-mouth. Your satisfied clients introduce you to their family, friends, or colleagues. Therefore, taking care of your clients even when the Thai translation project has ended is highly recommended.
#6. Don’t Forget to Take Care of Your Health
The nature of the translator job requires you to glue your eyes to the monitors for hours every day. So you should also take care of your eyes by using the 20/20 rule. To be more specific, if you’ve been working for 20 minutes without a break, take a 20-second break by looking away from your computer screen. This will allow your eyes to rest and reduce strain.
Also, exercise on a daily basis because you spend a lot of time sitting in front of your computer. Keep a record of your physical activities and look after your body and health.
Only with a healthy body and motivated mind can you bring your clients the best quality Thai translations.
Let’s Summarize
Being a Thai translator is a rewarding job for Thai language and culture lovers. Yet, like any other job, there are many challenges you face when working in this industry. We hope the tips we mentioned above will be of great use to you in getting more jobs and satisfied clients.
If you are interested in working with a professional and experienced team of Thai translators, join GTE Localize’s linguist team. We serve clients from all over the world with high-quality and cost-saving Thai translation services.
