Poll: Why are you not a member of a professional association? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Why are you not a member of a professional association?".
This poll was originally submitted by Clare Rainey. View the poll results »
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:47
Spanish to English
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A combination of two options.
1.- I don't think it would benefit me much.
2.- Membership of professional associations usually seems costly to me. The more prestigious, the more expensive.
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I can’t answer your question as over the years I joined several associations, national and international. I see it as a marketing tool to promote my services and, in general, fees are not prohibitive at all. I haven't kept track of specific numbers, but in some cases they have more than paid for themselves in new clients.
| | | | | Membership pays for itself in many ways | May 5, 2022 |
From day one as a translator, I have depended on the help and support of colleagues, first in-house, and then because I was obliged to join the trade union, which is also a professional association in Denmark. It was a great help when I changed over from working in-house and set up as a freelancer.
Besides the social benefits, which not all professional associations provide, there were opportunities for training and professional development, either at low cost or free, and it meant ... See more From day one as a translator, I have depended on the help and support of colleagues, first in-house, and then because I was obliged to join the trade union, which is also a professional association in Denmark. It was a great help when I changed over from working in-house and set up as a freelancer.
Besides the social benefits, which not all professional associations provide, there were opportunities for training and professional development, either at low cost or free, and it meant I had a network of colleagues.
The same applies to the British CIoL, which I later joined, and good clients have found me through their ´Find a Linguist´ register. The subscriptions have paid for themselves many times over, quite apart from benefits that cannot be weighed, measured and counted! ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:47
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Question "Why are you not a member of a professional association?"
Answer: Not applicable. I am a member of a professional association. Why did you assume that I am not?
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 16:47
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
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I've never felt the need and after 17 years of freelance translation I suppose I'll never feel it.
| | | | | Waste of time | May 5, 2022 |
I joined two when I first started, but found they had little to offer.
More than anything, a newcomer needs to find clients, which they actively made harder by discriminating against those without 3-5 years of experience.
As for "professional"... they always seemed to me to be cliquey cartels of chums, and I know from KudoZ that a former president of probably the very biggest of these organisations is one of the most clueless translators imaginable.
Howeve... See more I joined two when I first started, but found they had little to offer.
More than anything, a newcomer needs to find clients, which they actively made harder by discriminating against those without 3-5 years of experience.
As for "professional"... they always seemed to me to be cliquey cartels of chums, and I know from KudoZ that a former president of probably the very biggest of these organisations is one of the most clueless translators imaginable.
However, I know the associations in some countries do provide very useful services. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sadek_A 
Local time: 18:47
English to Arabic
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| PROFESSIONAL is a stretch! | May 5, 2022 |
They need to be protecting the PROFESSION first in order to be described as PROFESSIONAL.
Still, if you have a particular one in mind that is having a hard time and might change activity into selling veggies instead, let us know and we will certainly....not help.
[Edited at 2022-05-05 13:28 GMT]
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Mónica Algazi
Uruguay
Local time: 11:47
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
| Actually, I am | May 5, 2022 |
I am a member of both my local professional association, the Colegio de Traductores Públicos del Uruguay, and the American Translators Association. In the long run, it pays off.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 16:47
French to English
I'm a member of the French translators' association. In a profession that's open to anyone who can express themselves in more than one language, it's something that sorts the wheat from the chaff. You have to jump through various hoops to be able to join. Plus there are networking and training opportunities.
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I used to, when I worked as staff for an organization, but once my freelance dance card filled up, I couldn't afford to take the time to attend the meetings.
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 15:47
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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| I don't believe it will benefit me | May 7, 2022 |
I prefer to invest my money/savings in other ways that can benefit more my work such as training, education, my website's maintenance, books, new and technical dictionaries, translation tools and other useful software for translation.
If I have the chance financially and need, I go for that instead.
As Lieven Malaise said, I see no need, and money is not enough for everything at the same time.
[Edited at 2022-05-07 12:19 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-05-07 12:25 GMT]
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 10:47
German to English
I joined the ATA in the mid-1990s, and got a couple of decent job offers. Their journal was of limited interest, and combined with the fact that the organization board of directors also included corporate members, I lost interest and didn't renew my membership after a few years. In 2017 I rejoined the organization since the annual meeting was held in Boston that year and presented a tax-deductible opportunity to visit my daughter who was living in the area. The journal had improved a little, but... See more I joined the ATA in the mid-1990s, and got a couple of decent job offers. Their journal was of limited interest, and combined with the fact that the organization board of directors also included corporate members, I lost interest and didn't renew my membership after a few years. In 2017 I rejoined the organization since the annual meeting was held in Boston that year and presented a tax-deductible opportunity to visit my daughter who was living in the area. The journal had improved a little, but the jobs generally paid rates well below what they had been 15 years before, so I didn't bother to renew.
I also belonged to a local translators' association and gave presentations on various translation-related topics. This endeavor was not unlike re-inventing the wheel and I eventually dropped out. ▲ Collapse
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