(2016-05-23, 7:49 pm)Nukemarine Wrote: Huh, $3000 for the ultimate package. Good thing he put that at the bottom or I would not have read that far.  While I'll have a soft spot in my heart for AJATT, that does not include my head when it comes to deals like that.

Since I've been out of the loop for a number of months if not years, what was the aftermath of his "Silverspoon" package? I mean from people that actually paid into it.

(2016-05-24, 12:24 am)jimeux Wrote: It’s probably just satire or something. I doubt it’s serious. Freelance translator is a hardly a job to aspire to. Many companies don't care if you’re barely at N3 level and write English as badly as Khatz himself appears to, which means your best qualification is your willingness to work for ¥1/character. 

You’re also guaranteed approximately nothing. It’s up to you to keep finding clients, and the “freedom” you gain comes with an unpredictable income, no insurance, no paid holidays and no visa sponsorship. Fun is relative, but I personally find translation absolutely mind-numbing. It’s work and it’s incredibly monotonous work.

If you do find translation enjoyable, then I'd recommend freelance translation only long enough to build a portfolio that would get you a real job. You'll probably still need some real skills (IT, finance, etc.) to improve your chances of this though.

(2016-05-25, 6:38 am)Seikou Wrote: Thanks for your input, jimeux.

I actually have an academic background in coding, but recently became more interested in translation/interpretation. Now, I can't say for certain but freelancing would only be a stepping stone towards a full-blown position. 

May I ask how you went about finding clients and what you're doing now that you stopped translating(?)?

(2016-05-26, 1:46 am)jimeux Wrote:

(2016-05-25, 6:38 am)Seikou Wrote: Thanks for your input, jimeux.

I actually have an academic background in coding, but recently became more interested in translation/interpretation. Now, I can't say for certain but freelancing would only be a stepping stone towards a full-blown position. 

May I ask how you went about finding clients and what you're doing now that you stopped translating(?)?

Sorry if I sounded a little negative. Personally, I was only doing it to pay the bills until I found a programming job. If you were genuinely into it and worked hard at it, I'm sure your experience would differ greatly to mine. I just felt that a lot of what was written on that AJATT page was unrealistic.

Being a native English speaker, passing N1 and having a great portfolio mean nothing to a lot of companies. That's why they offer ¥1/character and hire non-native or inexperienced translators. You'll be lucky to find anything worth your time just by browsing online, so you really need to work hard to build your own network.

What Shinichirou suggested is what you want to be doing. Networking got me all of my most lucrative projects. Get an online portfolio set up and print some nice business cards. Meet as many people as you can and make a good impression. Get your friends to recommend you, and even try contacting companies directly. Remember that translation agencies are likely to charge companies ¥10/character or more, so somebody reliable without a middleman can be very appealing.

I'd recommend starting translating right now. Just translate something as much as your schedule allows, and see how you find it day after day. I started studying Japanese just for the language itself, but translation really took the fun out of it for me, and it did nothing for my speaking skills. If it's Japanese that you love, then you might get more out of a job that will allow you to build transferrable skills while using the language to actually communicate. 

I'm not sure what your feeling about the software industry is now, but if you're worried about Japanese companies, try taking a look at https://jobs.forkwell.com/. A lot of newer companies try to emulate the working environment of major US companies, and have pretty competitive salaries and benefits.

(2016-05-26, 6:22 am)Seikou Wrote: Thanks for the detailed response! Are you working for a startup-sized place now? How do you feel about the general work environment/culture and would you suggest to avoid the big capital (Tokyo) if you have any intel on that? I have heard that Tokyo isn't exactly representative of the "Japanese experience" due being extremely large so people just kind of come and go and it becomes harder form meaningful relationships.

(2016-05-24, 12:24 am)jimeux Wrote: and write English as badly as Khatz himself appears to

(2016-05-23, 10:21 pm)SomeCallMeChris Wrote: Khatz disappeared for a long while but seems to be working on AJATT again now after a couple years of absence.

(2016-05-29, 12:52 am)ryuudou Wrote: Khatz's writing was always one of his strong points. At the very least his English (and his vocabulary) is significantly better than yours.

(2016-05-25, 6:38 am)Seikou Wrote: Thanks for your input, jimeux.

I actually have an academic background in coding, but recently became more interested in translation/interpretation. Now, I can't say for certain but freelancing would only be a stepping stone towards a full-blown position. 

May I ask how you went about finding clients and what you're doing now that you stopped translating(?)?

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(2016-05-24, 12:24 am)jimeux Wrote: It’s probably just satire or something. I doubt it’s serious. Freelance translator is a hardly a job to aspire to. Many companies don't care if you’re barely at N3 level and write English as badly as Khatz himself appears to, which means your best qualification is your willingness to work for ¥1/character. 

You’re also guaranteed approximately nothing. It’s up to you to keep finding clients, and the “freedom” you gain comes with an unpredictable income, no insurance, no paid holidays and no visa sponsorship. Fun is relative, but I personally find translation absolutely mind-numbing. It’s work and it’s incredibly monotonous work.

If you do find translation enjoyable, then I'd recommend freelance translation only long enough to build a portfolio that would get you a real job. You'll probably still need some real skills (IT, finance, etc.) to improve your chances of this though.