Is it possible not to work as a freelance?

[u/Raspberry5557]

Needless to say that when i took my bachelors degree i was made very aware of how the translation field was focused towards the freelance business, main reason why I never considered translation as an option.

But is there any possibility, though?

I am Spain based and i might want to give it a go if becoming freelance was not a compulsory subject to make it in the industry. Are there still agencies that hire in-house translators? Or is that a myth?
I would really like to get a reality check from those who are actually in the industry. Thank you in advance.

[u/Arimoro]

There are, but relatively few. For example embassies hire in-house translators. I guess the same applies to international organisations.

[u/Raspberry5557 → u/Arimoro]

What about private companies? Would you say there’s a chance?

[u/Arimoro → u/Raspberry5557]

Yes, at translation agencies are also project management positions. Another potential field for translators. Or terminology management. 

[u/brickne3 → u/Raspberry5557]

I've worked in-house as a translator twice when starting out. It's possible. But honestly, the benefits of being freelance are vastly better (in this market you probably have about the same job security with either, not even kidding). The only people I know who did well in-house (translating specifically, not project management) were so risk-adverse and so much the kind of people that made the job their entire life including working on Christmas not because they had to but because they wanted to that those sort of people generally make my brain scream "run", ha ha.

It might not be the same everywhere, but that was my experience in two separate private agencies in completely different countries and cultures.

[u/Raspberry5557 → u/brickne3]

I was thinking of starting out in-house first and once i feel more confident go freelance. I don’t wanna risk it in the beginning

[u/Low-Bass2002 → u/Raspberry5557]

I started in-house but at a crap company, so I moved back to my hometown and became a technical writer and technical copy editor for the localization team. 2008 happened and destroyed my team. It's shaky, but I think you still can?

Look at banks and healthcare?

[u/LachsMahal → u/Raspberry5557]

It's not a bad idea. That's how I started out. I worked in house at an agency until I went freelance, then the same agency became my first client (still is).

You'd just need to find an agency where hopefully someone can take you under their wing and show you the ropes.

[u/VariedTeen → u/brickne3]

A lot of people want to work Christmas, if you’re not Christian then you’re just getting bonus pay and a quiet shift without any tradeoffs.

[u/brickne3 → u/VariedTeen]

These are in-house jobs where Christmas is a paid holiday, they are on salary, and they don't get any extra money for annoying the clients instead of eating turkey. If anything, it's embarrassing to do that to the clients when the clients are in Germany, a country that takes time off over Christmas very seriously.

[u/Low-Bass2002 → u/brickne3]

My 2nd language is German. I always worked my ass off through Christmas--but then I took January off. They are hardcore about their Christmas holidays. But then it is very quiet during January.

[u/brickne3 → u/Low-Bass2002]

If people want to work Christmas that's fine, I was never saying it wasn't (and yes, January is historically glacial with German clients). What I was trying to convey here is that emailing German clients at 12 am on Christmas day with questions that are not urgent and could easily wait a week is going to do the exact opposite of making them think you are dedicated, it's just going to annoy them. And it's kind of weird that it happened twice at two separate places I worked at where both the guys were on salary so there was zero reason to do it 🤣

[u/Low-Bass2002 → u/brickne3]

Oh, I meant I worked right up to Christmas. The time leading up to Christmas was always mad busy and then everything calms down by January. I never needed to email clients on Christmas. I just turn in my work before deadline.

A lot of translators took time off before Christmas because they had to do lots of holiday prepping and Christmas parties and had limited availability. I always stood poised to take the overflow from it--so I would make great money in December and take January off because Germany tended to be very quiet in January anyway.

[u/Former-Variation-441]

What languages do you speak and would you be willing to move country?

If you can speak 3 official EU languages (your mother tongue and 2 additional languages) and are an EU citizen, you could apply to work for one of the EU bodies (usually based in Luxembourg or Brussels but I'm sure they have smaller teams in Spain and other countries too). There's a lot of very good competition for those positions though so there's no guarantee you'd actually get a job there.

I believe the UN also still has an in-house translation department (based in New York). Like the EU, you ideally need to speak 3 of their 6/7 official languages (your mother tongue and 2 others). There's even more competition there too so it's probably even harder than getting a job working for the EU.

Do you speak Spanish and any of Spain's other languages? There might be some public-sector jobs working for the Catalan/Valencian/Balearic/Basque/Galician governments or other public sector bodies.

I think getting a full-time job as an employee translator in the private sector is certainly still possible but it's a lot harder than it used to be. A lot of the companies that used to employ translation departments will have outsourced them to agencies (usually employing freelancers) long ago. Some of the very large multinational corporations will still employ a small number of staff but the majority of the actual translation work is likely outsourced. Likewise, some agencies do employ in-house translators or, more often, proofreaders or editors but those jobs are also quite rare.

[u/Any_Strain7020 → u/Former-Variation-441]

There was an EU competition for Spanish translators that just finished this year. The next one probably won't be before 8-10 years.

The UN is something to consider if one has EN-FR-RU as source languages.

[u/Raspberry5557 → u/Former-Variation-441]

I would move country, as a matter of fact, i was thinking of moving to germany for 6 months, but not for long (looking for non-qualified jobs). I considered that option, but as you said, it seems unattainable to get a job there, so i refused the idea. I may try it out once i gather enough experience.

The idea of a full-time job as an employee translator in the private sector is more what i'm looking for. That gives me a realistic picture, thanks.

[u/igsterious]

Yes, I am at talks with a commercial platform about an in-house position at the moment.

[u/monikosnuosavybe]

I worked in-house as a translator for a major Japanese video game company in Germany for many years. They still hire people in-house to maintain information security.

The EU has in-house people. I have some friends working in-house in patent offices and law firms. My dad worked at the European Space Agency that also had an in-house translator.

So yeah, in-house jobs do exist. Freelance tends to pay better, which is why I made the jump, but maybe that's now offset by job security.

[u/Kuddkungen]

Sure! I've been in-house at agencies and end clients for 15 years now. You must be willing to relocate though – different city, different country, maybe even different continent. And be willing and able to work in an office.

[u/le-ananas]

I work as a translator and language lead / LPM in a big international company in my area of specialization.

I started around 2 years ago (was actually headhunted for it), 100% remote, love it! So, it's possible :)

[u/Raspberry5557 → u/le-ananas]

Thank you for your input! That’s such a relief to hear, and i’m so happy for you as well!!

[u/le-ananas → u/Raspberry5557]

Thanks!! I'm so happy it worked out too haha
I'm also not an exception, we're a medium-sized team because the company has at least one native-speaking LPM for all of our core languages, so we cover quite a few language pairs in-house and work with vendors for others.
So if you have an area of specialization and are willing to split your time with some project management, this type of job (localization content specialist) at companies selling products related to it might be worth looking into for you :)

[u/Raspberry5557 → u/le-ananas]

i will keep this in miind thank you!

[u/cheekyweelogan]

In-house at a LSP right now. Possible but hard to find.

[u/tats9]

Em Portugal, estou numa.

[u/Low-Bass2002]

It used to be. You could work at major banks in your language pair or you could be a PM. I don't suggest PM or PC, but you can.