And considering I got the exam (the chamber of commerce official translator exam, that is), it really is time that I do something with it. Other than talk about the fact that I'm going to start doing translation on the side, that is.
I've been holding back for a number of really quite ridiculous reasons. Wanting to first check with the revenue office what I need to do (when I know that it could take years for me to increase earnings to the point where I need to worry about VAT and the other stuff is pretty straightforward), thinking I should really get a website set up, thinking I should come up with a catchy name for that website, one that would encompass translations and proofreading but would allow room to expand if I wanted to branch out (doing Tupperware parties again, knitting, cleaning, who knows what). And on and on, plenty of procrastination without really doing much. I haven't even followed up with the guy I did a proofreading job for a couple of months back and he's supposed to be giving me at least three more papers to do. And actually wanted to get invoiced at the end of each paper and not just put it off until the whole project was finished.
So today I sent an email to someone I know who runs a translation agency and let him know that I'm available for work. We should probably see each other at the weekend and he responded almost immediately to say we could chat then. I don't know if I'll get any work out of it but I'll at least get some advice. And even if the rates are rubbish (I've never heard good things about agency work pay), it'd be a start, more than nothing and every ounce of experience and building a reputation for myself would be well worth it. A baby step, but it's a start.
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