Every cloud has a silver lining: how to turn difficult times at work into an opportunity for the future
There’s a lot of talk on social media about success in translation, but very little about what we have to put up with just to pay the bills, especially when we’re starting out.
A few months ago, I started working for an online English language school. The first month was awful (I told you all about it in a previous post), but I kept working because I wanted my own income and to start building up my savings. However, whilst the theory promised stability, the reality turned out to be a financial rollercoaster: there were months when my earnings didn’t even reach 200€, and last month they were close to 1,000€, at the expense of my health.
In May, I finally said "enough is enough" and decided to set some boundaries. I was completely burnt out and fed up with my pseudo-freelance situation, so I walked away.
But this experience has taught me a valuable lesson: I can now spot bad clients and exploitative situations from miles away. And best of all is the twist this story has taken.
It turns out that the other day I found out about THE audiovisual translation event of the year: HispaTAV, which takes place at the end of August in Buenos Aires. There I’ll be able to meet in person some of the leading figures in the audiovisual translation field, such as Damián Santilli, Pablo Muñoz and Rafael Sánchez from Traduversia, among many others.
The salary I worked so hard to earn at the academy (and which I could have put in the bank) has officially become my plane ticket. I’ve decided to reinvest that money in my future. I’m really looking forward to networking, talking to colleagues in the industry and, while I’m at it, setting foot on the American continent for the first time!
Luckily, I’m not heading to Argentina blind. A couple of months ago, I attended ENETI, and it was an incredible experience. I got to see my master’s tutors again and met loads of really lovely people. However, I’m well aware that HispaTAV is in a league of its own.
Whilst ENETI has an atmosphere more geared towards students and recent graduates, HispaTAV is a professional conference. The majority of attendees there are established translators in the sector, professionals with years of experience under their belts, and the industry’s major firms.
It’s a bit daunting, I won’t deny it, but I’m ready to put into practice the networking lessons I learnt a couple of months ago. ENETI was the perfect training ground for overcoming my shyness, and now I’m heading to Buenos Aires having done my homework, ready to listen to those who know best and carve out a place for myself in the professional conversation (and hand out a few business cards).
I know there are almost three months left before the conference, but of course I’ll be sharing my whole experience on this blog. You can already look forward to photos, anecdotes and summaries of the talks.
Are you going to the conference, or is there a speaker you’d love me to try and interview, or whose talk you’d like me to summarise? Let me know in the comments!