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Thomas's avatar
Thomas A Community Member

Two Specialties in One Profile

Hello fellow Freelancers!

I would like to ask your opinion about something. 
I am a Translator on Upwork since about a year and a half. It's been going pretty well, especially since the last months. 
Recently, I decided to also start working as a Voice-Over Artist, and so my job title went from "French-English Translator" to "French-English Translator & Voice Artist".
Here is my question: do you think that this decision could impact my translation business in a negative way, by taking some "credibility" away from it and send potential clients to people that are only doing translation? 

Thanks in advance for your replies, and have a great day!
Thomas

7 REPLIES 7
william's avatar
william b Community Member

TA,

 

I personally don't think it wil negatively impact your translation opportunities as long as you emphasize your primary/priority strength and selling point.

Right now your profile does read, however, like you're going with a bit of a watered down 50/50 mix which may not emphasize either.

 

Please wait for a few more community opinions and then make your move (or not).

 

Best of luck to you,

wb

Ayman's avatar
Ayman M Community Member

Voice-over is a translation-related skill, and I don't think it will have a negative impact on your opportunities.

Also, Upwork is offering the "Specialized Profiles" feature, so that you can display and showcase your skills and works.

 

Best of luck 🙂

Sergio's avatar
Sergio S Community Member

I have mixed emotions about this subject. In my opinion the specialized profiles are actually turning into what I call diversified profiles which was not the original Upwork intention I believe. They created that for IT guys where the freelancers could say "I am a programmer and I specialize in C#." It could also be used to say "I am a writer and I specialize in mystery/horror." Now freelancers are using it to say "I am a programmer but also a bedtime stories writer." Even though I really believe one could be fine doing both unrelated things perfectly well I don't think clients look at it the same way.

 

It has been said countless times in this community that clients look for specialists. if you need someone to make you a song would you give the job to a musician who has been doing that for the last 10 years or to someone who has been using those 10 years between playing the piano and programming apps? I personally would give it to whichever proves proficiency. However, most clients look for specialists and sometimes they do filter people.

 

I don't think "voice talent" could be a specialization of "translation." In fact, Upwork have them in different categories for a reason. "Medical translator" could be a specialty, for example, because you would be using technical jargon related to medical fields, and it would still be a translation.

 

You still could have two specialties (or diversified profiles as I call them) and be successful with both. You have already worked as a voice talent so it would be a shame if you don't use that. But as Petra said, keep them separated, with different titles and overview texts, moving the portfolio items accordingly, etc.

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member


Sergio S wrote:

 

It has been said countless times in this community that clients look for specialists. if you need someone to make you a song would you give the job to a musician who has been doing that for the last 10 years or to someone who has been using those 10 years between playing the piano and programming apps?


You can, if you live long enough, be a specialist in more than one thing.

People change career and expand their horizon.

 

I have two very different sets of skills and it does not seem to put clients off. If days had more hours I'd experiment with another.

 

How long someone has been doing "only" one thing does not mean they are good at it.

 

I think newbies should totally stick to one thing.A lot of those "rules" are for those who are new or struggling (or both.)

 

Once you get established you can generally do whatever you like 😄 

Sergio's avatar
Sergio S Community Member


Petra R wrote:


You can, if you live long enough, be a specialist in more than one thing. People change career and expand their horizon.

 

I have two very different sets of skills and it does not seem to put clients off. If days had more hours I'd experiment with another.

Sure, I am not saying otherwise. In fact, I have done lots of many different totally unrelated things in my life too. However, I do feel that in general clients have this perception that you can only cover one thing only. When I mentioned the 10 years it was just an example of the general though I did find talking with people, not my personal opinion, because I would give the job to whoever is capable, no matter how many years that freelancer has been doing it or he/she does only that or has some other unrelated skills. I do believe that expanding horizons is valuable and it shows that someone is not stuck with one thing only, instead he/she is always willing to keep learning and facing different challenges.

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member


Thomas A wrote:


I am a Translator on Upwork since about a year and a half. It's been going pretty well, especially since the last months. 
Recently, I decided to also start working as a Voice-Over Artist, and so my job title went from "French-English Translator" to "French-English Translator & Voice Artist".
Here is my question: do you think that this decision could impact my translation business in a negative way, by taking some "credibility" away from it and send potential clients to people that are only doing translation?


I would create two specialized profiles, each with their own portfolio and text. One for translation, one for voiceover work.

 

Then use the translation profile to appy for translation work and the voice over profile to apply for voiceover work.

On your Translation profile, change the title from French-English to English-French.

Professionals translate from their second into their native language, not the other way round except in rare circumstances.

 


Ayman M wrote:

Voice-over is a translation-related skill,


Not really. It might be complimentary (translation then doing voiceover) but it is not related.

Thomas's avatar
Thomas A Community Member

First of all thanks a lot for your opinions guys, this is really helpful. 

I created two specified profiles, one for translation (where I have earned about $10K) and one for voice-over (where I earned about $150 so far). They both have their own title and content, portfolio, etc.
But now I am wondering how the "General Profile" should look like. For now, it is pretty much a mixture of both, at least on the title part (with a lot more content information about the "translation" side of my work). 
Would you advise me to leave it like this for now? 

Thanks again for your replies, it's highly appreciated. 
Have a great day everyone!
Thomas

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