An opportunity for Student and Junior Associate members to put their questions to experienced professionals.
Embarking on a freelance career can feel both exciting and daunting. If you are just setting out as a freelance translator or interpreter (or are planning to take the leap soon) you probably have lots of questions about how to build your business and avoid common pitfalls along the way.
Following on from the success of our first Ask me anything session last November, we are rerunning the event with a different panel, so even if you attended last time it will be worth attending again as you'll hear different experiences and perspectives.
The one-hour Q&A session, open exclusively to ITI Student and Junior Associate members, will give you the opportunity to quiz our expert panel of established ITI members. They all have experience of launching and establishing successful freelance careers and they'll be able to answer all your burning questions - from practical advice on getting started, to expert tips on thriving in the profession.
The informal, interactive session is designed to offer you valuable insights into navigating the highs and lows that come with being a freelance translator or interpreter. Our industry experts are keen to support the next generation of professionals and they are looking forward to sharing their extensive knowledge on the realities of building a successful and resilient freelance business.
So, don’t be shy. Have your questions ready and make the most of this opportunity to learn from your ITI colleagues who have all been in your shoes.
Anna has worked for over fifteen years as the lead translator/interpreter in a specialist law firm providing legal and specialised translation services to international oil and gas majors. Over the last 5 years she worked extensively on a number of high court and commercial arbitration hearings. Her forte is simultaneous interpreting during full-day meetings and her principal area of expertise is in contractual and dispute resolution negotiations between host governments and international oil companies. Anna has a profound knowledge of all legal and technical terms of art used in the Oil and Gas industry, including in PSAs, JOAs, Farm-ins, GSAs and other Marketing and Transportation Agreements, Settlement Agreements, Tender Procedures, Audit Reports, Pipeline Agreements, and in Laws and Regulations including Subsoil Laws, Environmental Laws and Tax Laws. Anna has extensive experience both in “top table” interpreting between Ministers, Heads of States, Prime Ministers and Chief Executives as well as in lengthy negotiations at a commercial, legal, financial, operational and technical level, commercial arbitration and the High Court of England and Wales.
Anna's in-depth understanding of the oil and gas industry and its legal and technical language means that she can ensure that a translation is coherent and fully reflects the original text. Anna has worked on projects involving BG Group, Shell, ENI, LUKoil, Gazprom, Maersk Oil, KazMunaiGas E&P, KazTransGas, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Anna is UK-based but travels extensively, as required by clients.
Ben Jones started translating and interpreting in the 1980s: the glorious pre-Internet, pre-Unicode days of faxes and floppy disks. Despite being an avowed generalist, he swiftly found a niche as a techie, able to do handle translations from and into Japanese text in any format, including typesetting, and worked for a few decades mainly as a translator of patents, manuals, accounting/legal documents, and the like. Interpreting would occasionally make an appearance, but living a couple of hours outside London was a handicap.
This all changed with Covid: everyone got accustomed to online meetings, and now Ben works most nights (during the Japanese daytime) interpreting discussions between lawyers in Japan, the US, and many other countries, together with a team of trusted colleagues. TM, MT and rate erosion through globalization mean that tedious technical translations have lost much of their allure, but creative cultural compositions continue to be a welcome challenge once in a while.
Ben became a Fellow of the ITI in 2009, and has served on ITI Board as well as in the Membership Committee, and of course the Japanese Network.
Nicki graduated with an Honours Degree in Modern Languages from Coventry Polytechnic (now University) and then spent over 20 years working in international sales and marketing before becoming a freelance translator in 2013. She is a Qualified Member of ITI (FR>EN, DE>EN) and Chair of the ITI Board.
Nicki provides translation, proofreading and commercial language services from French, Spanish, German and Italian into English.
With her extensive commercial experience and knowledge, she is a firm believer in enhancing the professional aspects and perceived commercial value of the translation industry.