The expression “actively looking for work” is not only deeply rooted in professional language but is also an unquestionable motto. Work rarely shows up at our door, so we need to get out there, communicate and make our niche in the market. In the field of providing language services, there seems to be a negative predisposition since many think that companies are not interested in hiring translators due to a lack of demand or because there will always be another candidate who is better prepared. This mindset is especially common in recent graduates who are entering the workforce for the first time and want to start gaining experience. They often feel unsatisfied and frustrated because many companies do not answer them. Why might this be? These emails that we send are an immediate, overall introduction that we make about ourselves as a “product”, so it is worthwhile to take a few factors into account when we write them so we can make a good impression and be attractive to HR agents. They fall into two large groups:
SPECIFICITY
As a general recommendation, do not write a generic email and send it to more than one company at once. This can be interpreted as a lack of interest that companies detect right away. To take a job application seriously, we have to show that we know each company individually, that we have an idea of what their needs are, the services they provide and what parameters they follow. For example, what kinds of translation do they specialize in? Have they published any announcements that they are currently hiring? Do they recognize any sort of certification standard that fits our profile?
Once we have answers to these questions, we can start writing. First of all, there is the subject line, which is the first thing that the hiring managers will read. This is why generic or unclear subjects (i.e., “job”, “French translator”, “Resume for HR”) will most likely wind up in the spam folder. Instead, try writing something with more meaning (i.e., “Freelance translator expert in video game localization EN-FR”) that makes them want to read the body of the message. We also must be very careful with this part of the message. Avoid impersonal greetings (i.e., “To whom it may concern” or “Dear sir or madam”). Translation companies are extremely active online and with a bit of research we can find out the name of the person responsible for hiring and, if we are unable to find it, we can always ask them to tell us later who it is for future correspondence. Next, we need to spend a few lines explaining why we are sending our message: who we are, what we currently do for work, if we are interested in gaining beginner experience, what are language pairs are, what translation programs we know how to use, etc. At this point, our introduction should be sufficient, and the reader will have a more specific idea about who we are, so we can attach our resume and a greeting. It is acceptable for this final greeting to be more generic and formal since this will give us an air of professionalism. Make sure you use a spell checker, since we cannot write incorrectly for a job that is fundamentally based on correcting the wording and style of texts.
DIFFERENTIATION
Like in all sectors, there is heavy competition in the language service provider sector, so part of our strategy must focus on standing out and differentiating ourselves from other candidates. Unfortunately, this category is more focused on what we should not do instead of what we should do. To start, the email address we write from must look professional or be neutral. For example, we recommend using your full name (i. e., rodrigo_garciabermudez@gmail.com) instead of using an informal invented one from the past (i.e., pikachulokillo93@gmail.com). We should also make sure to not discredit ourselves. Although it is more effective to be humble and avoid being pretentious, we need to make sure we do not come across as insecure and desperate (i.e., “I haven’t worked in a while”, “I don’t have much experience in this field”, “I haven’t mastered this program”, “I apologize for the inconvenience”). Every person has value and underestimating yourself can have a negative overall effect. Another important note is the inclusion of a picture, which in some cultures is essential. To be clear, being physically attractive to get the job is not the goal, but rather that a picture that shows us as put-together and projects a confident and professional image will inspire a much more positive response. Finally, we can add our social media handles so they can get to know us on a more personal level and tip the scales in our favor.
Looking for work is becoming increasingly more complicated. Therefore, we need to be aware of the state of the sector, study our target and highlight the value that we would add for a certain position.
