Poll: Have you already reached the high point of your career?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
May 1, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you already reached the high point of your career?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 13:47
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other May 1, 2019

At my age and after 35 years of profession I’m probably past my highest point, but I’m still going strong and I love the work…

Xanthippe
Lenore Rosenberg
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 14:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
I don't measure things that way May 1, 2019

However, as I am already at what many people consider retirement age, perhaps my answer should be "I should jolly well hope so"...

However, I'm just glad to be able to continue working on something, mainly stress-free, that I enjoy and which allows me freedom to engage in other simple pursuits.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Jennifer Forbes
Philip Lees
Eckhard Boehle
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:47
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Probably a short while ago May 1, 2019

While I believe the quality of my work is better than ever, I don't want to work as many hours a day as I used to. I can no longer cheat myself on sleep; I need at least 8 hours and usually even more. This comes at a time some of my clients are shortening their deadlines. One of my main clients is now insisting on 2,500 words a day, including weekends, and I have told the PM that I can't accept that. However, another important client is still OK with 2,000 a day not including weekends.
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While I believe the quality of my work is better than ever, I don't want to work as many hours a day as I used to. I can no longer cheat myself on sleep; I need at least 8 hours and usually even more. This comes at a time some of my clients are shortening their deadlines. One of my main clients is now insisting on 2,500 words a day, including weekends, and I have told the PM that I can't accept that. However, another important client is still OK with 2,000 a day not including weekends.

CAT tools and MT output slow me down. My work is faster, more accurate, and more meaningful when I read a read a sentence and then type it with my eyes closed.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Bruno Veilleux
Anne Schulz
Ventnai
 
Xanthippe
Xanthippe
France
Local time: 14:47
Member (2008)
Italian to French
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
so do I :-) May 1, 2019

Teresa Borges wrote:

At my age and after 35 years of profession I’m probably past my highest point, but I’m still going strong and I love the work…


 
Christiana Grunwald
Christiana Grunwald  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:47
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Yes, I think so May 1, 2019

Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:

One of my main clients is now insisting on 2,500 words a day, including weekends ...



I have been working as a translator for 12 years now and this is what I have experienced recently as well, some of my clients added more pressure while there is a declining quality in translated texts (I do lots of proofreading as well) and they are trying to lower the rates. I love my work but if the conditions get worse I will quit my job. My health is more important to me.


Adam Warren
Elizabeth Tamblin
Ventnai
 
Lenore Rosenberg
Lenore Rosenberg  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 14:47
Member (2006)
Italian to English
+ ...
Constants May 1, 2019

Life, and therfore work, is a constant ebb and flow. After many years in this profession, I've seen both. And now I'm looking to shift direction and choose to translate things that might be more meaningful for society, though that might mean less 'success' in the way those things are generally measured

Elizabeth Tamblin
 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:47
German to English
+ ...
not sure what that means May 1, 2019

i do my job well. I am probably continuing to learn as I go along, since that is the nature of this work. I don't know (literally) what "high point in a career" means.

Kaisa I
Elizabeth Tamblin
 
Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:47
French to English
I don't know May 1, 2019

Who knows? The important thing is to enjoy living in the moment - easier said than done, I know.

Ricki Farn
Wilsonn Perez Reyes
Eckhard Boehle
 
Bruno Veilleux
Bruno Veilleux  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:47
English to French
So I'm not the only one May 1, 2019

Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:

CAT tools and MT output slow me down. My work is faster, more accurate, and more meaningful when I read a read a sentence and then type it with my eyes closed.

Amen to that. MT saves me typing, which my fingers are grateful for, but I spend so much time rereading it to spot the little things that are easy to overlook (like the sneakier anglicisms) and make sure I don't lazily allow poor style, that it hardly improves my speed compared to reading the source and writing my own translation down in one go.

There are times where I feel I should charge *more* for MTPE rather than less.


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:47
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I don't know what to answer here... May 2, 2019

I've likely reached my high point in terms of productivity, accuracy and enthusiasm. Since I'm 52 now, I'll probably start the path downhill now (I hope not, but let's be realistic).
Now, financially speaking, I hope I haven't reached that point, because I never made enough money in a regular manner to keep a smile on my face, really, and I hope that day will come. My youngest child is 19 now, so I hope they'll soon be independent, and perhaps I can go for that goal now.


Elizabeth Tamblin
 


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Poll: Have you already reached the high point of your career?






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