Legal Career
Magic circle then In-house in a development agency , Solicitor(banking) and, subsequently, solicitor (in-house), London
New Career(s)
| Translation and Interpreting |
Career Change Story
Having been at home looking after my young children for 4 years I studied part-time for a post-graduate diploma in translation and linguistics. We then moved abroad and I set up a small freelance translation business. Five years later we moved back to the UK and I still do some freelance translation. My main client is one of the European institutions. I also work part-time in a university library.
Career Change Reflections
My present working arrangements suit me very well and I find them infinitely preferable to either working in private legal practice or in-house. However, I would say that it is quite difficult to make a good living out of translation alone (although people do). Good quality work is quite hard to come by. I think you have to make quite a lot of sacrifices at the beginning in terms of hours, rates and quality of work in order to build up a sustainable business. Marketing and networking also help. As I am not very strong in any of these areas, and for lifestyle reasons, I have taken the decision to combine the translation with a part-time job and content myself with a rather slow and irregular flow of translation work. Also, I am not the only breadwinner in the house, which is an important factor.
