Looking for some Job Advice for my wife please

[ayedubya]

Hi...

My wife(40) is a US citizen and has been in UK for 4 years nearly. 2 of them have been messed up with lockdown.

In the USA she was an Aesthetician, (I had never heard of this job, essentially skin treatments, facials/peels etc?) and she made great money working 3 days a week in a spa in an affluent town. Here (now in Scotland) to do the same thing, I think she has to train in a basic course to give her the rights to do similar treatments but the pay is rank rotten. Essentially basic wage and tipping culture is not like it is over across the Atlantic.

As a stop gap she took a job as a cleaner for a friends facilities mgmt business... she hates it but she makes circa £16/hour and does it 2 days and gives us a little extra to get by.

The job is getting her down and affecting her self esteem and she is looking to change to do something else.

my question is what could she do that would make her happier... she has the following skills:

Trained aesthetician
Fluent in reading and writing in Italian and Spanish.
Has previously has done teaching English as a foreign language when she worked abroad previously and online.

I have suggested trying to get clients tutoring in these languages but she gets a bit anxious easily and feels she isn't 'entrepreneurial'

I also thought about getting a job in translating, and what course/qualification she might need to do this?

She is looking for 2-3 days of work.

I feel she should maybe do a course in something that will help her to get a different job, one that is more transferrable as we might move at some point.

I would be interested if anyone has any suggestions as to something she might be able to do.

If you read this far, thank you.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

ayedubya said:

Fluent in reading and writing in Italian and Spanish.

Does she not realise that in the UK, this makes her some kind of border line genius. There must be loads of things she can do with those skills. Where in Scotland.....tour guide in Edinburgh? working at an airport?

[ayedubya]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Does she not realise that in the UK, this makes her some kind of border line genius. There must be loads of things she can do with those skills. Where in Scotland.....tour guide in Edinburgh? working at an airport?

in Glasgow. I was thinking about some kind of cert/training that would qualify her to translate legal/medical documents which might give her a bit of flexibility/freedom.

Its finding something part time I think is the kicker a bit.

Appreciate the suggestion! Thanks

[Rushjob]

Starter for 10....... HERE

[QuartzDad]

One of my clients in a previous life uses thousands of freelance translators, you 'bid' for specific work packages, do as much as you want etc. etc.

I'm sure they have competitors too.

https://www.rws.com/about/careers/freelance/

[ayedubya]

QuartzDad said:

One of my clients in a previous life uses thousands of freelance translators, you 'bid' for specific work packages, do as much as you want etc. etc.

I'm sure they have competitors too.

https://www.rws.com/about/careers/freelance/

Thanks I am wondering if they are worth cold contacting offering to send over a CV. I was also thinking if universities could benefit from someone like her who is trilingual to help with international students.

[randomeddy]

I think it just the coolest thing being able to speak different languages. Shame I am too lazy to do it.

[Pinkie15]

QuartzDad said:

One of my clients in a previous life uses thousands of freelance translators, you 'bid' for specific work packages, do as much as you want etc. etc.

I'm sure they have competitors too.

https://www.rws.com/about/careers/freelance/

We have to use them where I work, they're fking hopeless.

No idea what they're like to work for though.

[SGirl]

Pinkie15 said:

We have to use them where I work, they're fking hopeless.

No idea what they're like to work for though.

Not bad, if you're a freelance translator, depending on which division you work for. I worked for them in-house years ago, so I can't really comment because my experience is outdated.

Just reading and writing a language doesn't make you a translator, though, and it's reckoned it takes 2 years of full-time effort to put together enough of a portfolio of clients to make money as a professional freelance translator.

I wouldn't pick freelance translation as a first choice for someone with no translation experience, there's absolutely loads of competition in those language combinations and many companies won't look at anyone without either a Master's in translation or a proven track record spanning several years. And the ones that will are more likely to be ones that don't pay on time (or at all!) and pay peanut rates.

Bilingual secretary? Does she have secretarial skills? Or maybe an in-house translation position if she can find one? On the job training, as it were. Those jobs are few and far between these days, but they're still out there.

Edited by SGirl on Tuesday 5th July 17:55

[take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey]

Local private school teaching language. You don't need formal teaching qualification for private schools.

[oldbanger]

Would something like this be of interest?
https://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/organisations/one...

[ayedubya]

SGirl said:

Not bad, if you're a freelance translator, depending on which division you work for. I worked for them in-house years ago, so I can't really comment because my experience is outdated.

Just reading and writing a language doesn't make you a translator, though, and it's reckoned it takes 2 years of full-time effort to put together enough of a portfolio of clients to make money as a professional freelance translator.

I wouldn't pick freelance translation as a first choice for someone with no translation experience, there's absolutely loads of competition in those language combinations and many companies won't look at anyone without either a Master's in translation or a proven track record spanning several years. And the ones that will are more likely to be ones that don't pay on time (or at all!) and pay peanut rates.

Bilingual secretary? Does she have secretarial skills? Or maybe an in-house translation position if she can find one? On the job training, as it were. Those jobs are few and far between these days, but they're still out there.

Edited by SGirl on Tuesday 5th July 17:55

Thanks this is helpful, and yeah I realise these languages in translation have huge competition. A friend suggested putting herself on linkedin and reaching out to companies for bits and pieces of work at a cheap rate and if she is any good there might be follow on gigs.

[SGirl]

ayedubya said:

Thanks this is helpful, and yeah I realise these languages in translation have huge competition. A friend suggested putting herself on linkedin and reaching out to companies for bits and pieces of work at a cheap rate and if she is any good there might be follow on gigs.

To be honest, I wouldn't do that. It's hard enough to get companies to pay decent amounts as it is, without pitching low right from the outset. She'll set a precedent and end up working for peanuts for years if she's not careful. (Translation companies are always reluctant to let you put rates up!) Besides which, translators who pitch themselves too low tend not to be trusted with any decent work - she'll attract the really rubbish companies that good translators wouldn't touch because they don't pay on time, or at all. Or worse, she'll end up doing lots of "free test pieces" and never get paid! (Companies love their free test pieces, even I get asked to do them and I've been doing this job for years! The good companies will put you forward for work if the test pieces are good, but the bad ones will sell the translations on and you'll never see any more work from them.)

It would be a better idea to target a couple of companies directly, explain her situation and ask whether they have any openings for newbie freelancers.

Best in mind also that translators in those language combinations these days won't get any work unless they own and/or know how to use CAT software like Trados Studio, MemoQ or Memsource.

Her best bet might be to register on ProZ and pitch for work on there - but just watch out, if something sounds too good to be true then it will be! A friend of mine was scammed out of 20,000 words of Russian that she spent ages working on - though I did tell her the ad was a bit sus and she shouldn't touch it!

[ayedubya]

SGirl said:

To be honest, I wouldn't do that. It's hard enough to get companies to pay decent amounts as it is, without pitching low right from the outset. She'll set a precedent and end up working for peanuts for years if she's not careful. (Translation companies are always reluctant to let you put rates up!) Besides which, translators who pitch themselves too low tend not to be trusted with any decent work - she'll attract the really rubbish companies that good translators wouldn't touch because they don't pay on time, or at all. Or worse, she'll end up doing lots of "free test pieces" and never get paid! (Companies love their free test pieces, even I get asked to do them and I've been doing this job for years! The good companies will put you forward for work if the test pieces are good, but the bad ones will sell the translations on and you'll never see any more work from them.)

It would be a better idea to target a couple of companies directly, explain her situation and ask whether they have any openings for newbie freelancers.

Best in mind also that translators in those language combinations these days won't get any work unless they own and/or know how to use CAT software like Trados Studio, MemoQ or Memsource.

Her best bet might be to register on ProZ and pitch for work on there - but just watch out, if something sounds too good to be true then it will be! A friend of mine was scammed out of 20,000 words of Russian that she spent ages working on - though I did tell her the ad was a bit sus and she shouldn't touch it!

Thank you so much for this. I will suggest to her to try Proz.

Thanks again