Translator s Guide to Contacting Translation Agencies by Email. Best Practices, Things to Avoid, Advanced Techniques & Example Translator Resumes

Translator s Guide to Contacting Translation Agencies by Email Best Practices, Things to Avoid, Advanced Techniques & Example Translator Resumes VERSION 1 January 2015

CONTENTS Introduction... 3 Section One: Best Practices... 5 Section Two: Things to Avoid... 7 Section Three: Advanced Techniques... 10 Section Four: Example Resumes... 12 Closing Message... 27 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 2

Introduction Although Affinity Translation s agency is a relatively small one, each day we receive numerous emails from translators interested in working with us. On an average day we receive in the range of 15-20 emails of this nature from translators worldwide. It s reasonable to speculate that larger translation agencies receive proportionately even greater numbers of similar emails. When we began our translation business in 2007 we saved every emailed resume we received. Over time we ve become more selective. Email is a wonderful tool and without it our business model would be much different, probably much less efficient. After all email is not only a means of communication, it s one of the ways we deliver translations (our products ). It makes perfect sense for translators to use email to contact agencies in the course of seeking project work. Advantages of using email to contact translation agencies include: Email can be sent any time of day, no matter the time zone of origination. This is especially important considering the global nature of the translation business and worldwide geographic distribution of translators. A permanent, written record is available for archiving and long term reference by the agency 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 3

Email is less disruptive (and therefore more favorably received by agencies) compared to other electronic communication means such as telephone calls and faxing. Despite email s advantages, we regularly see ineffective use of email from translators. These types of emails have less chance of succeeding in establishing a relationship between translators and agencies. This document has been prepared as a guide to help translators use email more effectively in the course of contacting translation agencies by email to seek project work. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 4

SECTION ONE: Best Practices 1. Include a brief introductory message within the body of the email. List essential main bullet points that can be quickly reviewed. 2. In addition to attaching your resume in a standard file format (e.g., MS Word or PDF), paste a text version into the email to give readers the option to read everything without opening an attachment. 3. Name any email attachments accurately and descriptively (e.g., translator_name_resume, translator_name_cover_letter, etc.). 4. Keep file sizes of attached documents as small as possible. Larger email sizes are be more likely to be deleted, other things being equal. 5. Meticulously check spellings and grammar. If you re writing your email in English, and English is not your native language, consider having a native English speaking person proofread it. 6. Write an attention getting email subject line. The email subject line will more than anything else influence whether the email is opened. 7. Consider adding a professional photo. Adding a photo is not only a personal touch, it can favorably differentiate your email since very few translators do this. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 5

8. Incorporate social media and/or a link to your blog or website. Social media accounts are free and websites are inexpensive. Translators who are serious about their profession will have an online presence and feature it. 9. Make content not only visually scannable (e.g., bullet points) but also searchable (use relevant keywords). Make sure email software such as Outlook will identify your email when searching on the most important keywords (e.g., Spanish medical translator). 10. Consider the timing of sending the email. Many European based translators send emails to US agencies during their work day. This means that US based agencies receive a large batch of emails at the start of the business day. We recommend timing email transmissions so they re received during the recipient s local normal business hours, at a time later than first thing in the morning. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 6

SECTION TWO: Things to Avoid Here are a few things translators should avoid when contacting translation agencies by email with the intention of establishing a long term association. 1. Mass Email Outreach with No Customization or Personalization If translators think that mass bombardment of translation agencies with an impersonal, canned email will be effective, go ahead and try it, but don t be surprised if the results are disappointing. This approach might be more likely to work if you re one of the few translators in the world in your language combination and there just happens to be a high demand for that service. For most translators that s not the case. 2. Bad Email Subject Lines For a while we regularly received emails from a translator with the heading Translation Quality Is Not Too High For Me. We believe that the person was trying to make the point that delivering high quality translations was well within their ability. However, this non native speaking translator s headline left a less favorable meaning open to interpretation. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 7

3. Not Including or Making Key Information Prominent Some of the key information points include: a) Your language combination: This should be obvious but occasionally we have to dig deep into an email just to find this basic information. b) Your rates: Yes this is important. Translation agencies need to know if there s an economic fit for doing business. Since many translators do include this information, agencies are less likely to take the time to contact translators that do not include this information. Simply stating rates are negotiable is neither as strong nor effective as including actual rates. Rate information is often more appropriate to include in a cover message than in a resume. c) Your experience and subject domain areas of specialization: This is important and at least at our agency, we do look for this information and pay attention to it. 4. One-and Done Emailing Just because a translator has emailed an agency once don t think you should never contact them again. It s possible your email was mishandled or not properly saved the first time. There s also value of repeated contacts (within a reasonable period) just to maintain awareness. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 8

5. Failing to Differentiate Yourself from Other Translators In a competitive market (and translation is one) differentiation is often a key to success. Agencies must differentiate themselves to compete. Translators must do it also. Marketing differentiation is a big topic but translators would be well served to do some online research and read an authoritative article on this subject. Finding the right differentiation strategy may take some time and experimentation, but the alternative is to settle for being a commodity. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 9

SECTION THREE: Advanced Techniques While the following emailing techniques might not be well suited or practical in every case, we ve found these to approaches to be effective. Consider testing them out by applying them selectively. 1) Name Dropping Referral In our experience this may be one of the best approaches. To use this approach first obtain a referral from another translator already working for the agency. The referring translator should also be able to provide a specific contact name at the agency. Include the referring translator s name prominently in an email headline and/or body of a cover message. Strategic name dropping can be very effective. When a translator already regularly working for an agency recommends a fellow translator, credibility is conveyed by association. Network with translator colleagues and friends to identify opportunities to apply this technique. 2) Vanity Approach Translation companies love to see publicity about their organization appear online. This can be considered something of a vanity approach. Begin by doing research about a translation agency of interest. Then create an online profile or review about a translation agency. Publish it 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 10

on your website, blog, or social media account. Use this creatively in your contact with the agency. For example you might send a link of the review to the agency along with your introductory message and resume. Try variations on this approach. 3) Periodic Email Updates To cultivate and maintain awareness over a period of time consider publishing an email newsletter, or some other form of regular communication. Emailing professionally designed translation project profiles to agency contacts can help gain attention and differentiate a translator s unique qualifications. Translation companies often feature their work in this way, although individual translators rarely do. Emailing project profiles to highlight completed projects will help establish a translator s brand and set individual translators apart from the crowd. Whatever the form of the email make sure it s professionally designed and formatted. Consider using one of the popular template based emailing services such as Constant Contact or others, to achieve a professional look to the email. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 11

SECTION FOUR: Selected Translator Resumes/CVs The following are actual translator resumes received by our company. Contact information is removed. The resumes/cvs selected were chosen as examples of a variety of formats, languages, and experience levels of the translators. These formats are not necessarily endorsed. Instead they re provided as examples only. 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 12

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Do you have tips for emailing translation agencies not included here? Please send us your ideas and we may include them (with credit of course) in our next update of this publication. Email ideas to info@affinitytranslation.com. Please note: This publication may not be made available online except as posted on our website at www.affinitytranslation.com. Otherwise this publication is free to use and disseminate without restriction. Affinity Translation 2015 Affinity Translation Denver, Colorado www.affinitytranslation.com Pg. 27