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Freelance translator skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Victoria Juharyan
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical freelance translator skills. We ranked the top skills for freelance translators based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.8% of freelance translator resumes contained target language as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a freelance translator needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 freelance translator skills for your resume and career

1. Target Language

The target language is the language in which a text, document, or speech is translated into the final language. It is a foreign language that a non-native speaker intends to study or learn, as well as the individual elements of the language they want to learn. The target language is the opposite of the source text, which is the initial text to be translated.

Here's how freelance translators use target language:
  • Translated between English, Arabic and Spanish on a deadline while preserving original meaning and respecting the target language.
  • Convert concepts in the source language to same concepts in the target language.

2. Web Content

Here's how freelance translators use web content:
  • Translated legal documents, web content, and anti-bullying informative booklets.
  • Translate web content and invoices from Italian into English.

3. Vice Versa

A vice versa is a Latin expression that means - the other way round. That is, what we just said also applies in reverse (opposite) order.

Here's how freelance translators use vice versa:
  • Translate web pages, e-mail, agreements, business proposals and presentations into Japanese from English or vice versa.
  • Translate and proofread websites, legal terms & conditions, and documents from English to Spanish; vice versa.

4. User Manuals

Here's how freelance translators use user manuals:
  • Translated user manuals for lighting equipment as well as business documents from English to Japanese
  • Translated user manuals and in-game dialogues from English to French.

5. Financial Reports

Here's how freelance translators use financial reports:
  • Self-employed translating professional documents, medical transcripts and legal documents, financial reports.

6. Subtitles

Here's how freelance translators use subtitles:
  • Demonstrated attention to details when transcribing Chinese subtitles
  • Translated and embedded subtitles for instructional videos.

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7. Translation Services

Translation Services turn spoken words or texts into another dialect. During the interpretation cycle, somebody with expertise in two dialects takes the words and context and places it into another dialect for others to understand.

Here's how freelance translators use translation services:
  • Provide excellent and comprehensive translation services for academic and literary documents written in French.
  • Provide translation services for official website to enhance client base domestically and internationally.

8. Literature

Here's how freelance translators use literature:
  • Translate articles/letters/proposals/dissertation in different genres including, but not limited, IT, computer science and Literature.
  • Specialized in different fields of translation (Legal/ General/ Marketing/ Literature Translation) - Video Subtitling

9. Press Releases

Here's how freelance translators use press releases:
  • Write press releases for companies specialized in organizing seminars and conferences about financial and accounting topics.
  • Translated and/or edited papers and press releases related to International Humanitarian law and human rights issues in Colombia and Latin America.

10. Brochures

A template, leaflet, or pamphlet which carries particulars about a certain company or an organization is called a brochure. Brochures are informative documents that are mostly used for advertisement purposes. These informative papers are organized in the form of booklets that act as promotional documents.

Here's how freelance translators use brochures:
  • Translate all business-related documentation - correspondence, contracts, brochures, emails - from Spanish to English, English to Spanish.
  • Experience translating brochures, documents, websites, PowerPoint presentations, forms, and advertisements from English to Spanish.

11. English-Spanish

Here's how freelance translators use english-spanish:
  • Provided translation of legal texts, English-Spanish and Spanish-English.
  • Translated and transcribed documents for commercial and personal use, including broadcast media Strengthened English-Spanish, Spanish-English translation and transcription skills

12. Birth Certificates

Here's how freelance translators use birth certificates:
  • Translate Legal documents from Spanish to English * Matrimony Certificate, Death Certificates, Birth Certificates, Divorces, Criminal, etc
  • Translated and edited birth certificates, marriage licenses, diploma transcripts, and other personal documents

13. Thai

Here's how freelance translators use thai:
  • Translated Thai to English for children's books published for sale in Thailand.
  • Translate and proofread written materials from Thai - English - Thai in a profession Research technical phraseology to ensure correct translation.

14. Economics

Here's how freelance translators use economics:
  • Translated documents relating to the fields of: economics, law, political science, medicine and general topics.
  • Translated more than 10,000 pages from Turkish to English mostly books and articles related to economics and finance.

15. Mandarin

Here's how freelance translators use mandarin:
  • Provide Mandarin Chinese and English language services - primarily translation - for individuals, schools, scholars, and corporations.
  • Provide personalized language (Mandarin) tutoring to students aged 5 - 60.
top-skills

What skills help Freelance Translators find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What freelance translator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Victoria Juharyan

University of California - Davis

The UN has some fantastic internships and volunteer opportunities for students of Russian in their Global Communications and many other departments. I strongly recommend recent graduates beginning their career in the field to apply to those and to also explore and participate in their Young Professionals Programme and the competitive examinations (CELPs), which create rosters to fill language positions at multiple locations.

List of freelance translator skills to add to your resume

Freelance translator skills

The most important skills for a freelance translator resume and required skills for a freelance translator to have include:

  • Target Language
  • Web Content
  • Vice Versa
  • User Manuals
  • Financial Reports
  • Subtitles
  • Translation Services
  • Literature
  • Press Releases
  • Brochures
  • English-Spanish
  • Birth Certificates
  • Thai
  • Economics
  • Mandarin
  • Academic Articles
  • Tourism
  • Language
  • Technical Manuals
  • Real Estate
  • EN
  • Academic Papers
  • Legal Contracts
  • Interpretation Services
  • Government Agencies
  • Translation Projects
  • Product Description
  • Business Contracts
  • Trados
  • Farsi
  • Translation Agencies
  • Fiction
  • Documentaries
  • LLC
  • Ministry
  • Tokyo
  • Source Language
  • Short Stories
  • Creole
  • UK
  • Technical Terms
  • TV Show

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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