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Poll: Have you ever changed your specialization based on market trends?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Feb 23, 2025

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever changed your specialization based on market trends?".

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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
N/A Feb 23, 2025

I never really set out to have a specialisation per se.
If I have acquired any special knowledge in a particular field, it has simply been through experience or trial and error. My initial approach was to "have a bash at anything"…

Luca Adie
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:40
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
N/A Feb 23, 2025

I started out translating some 40 years ago as a generalist but pretty quickly realized that there are certain types of text I’m not qualified to handle or that I simply don’t enjoy. There are a few unfamiliar areas I will never venture in as I know my limits. Today my main area of work is EU affairs, because I worked as staff translator at an European Institution for 20 years translating opinions on economic and social affairs, but over the years I have gained experience in several other fi... See more
I started out translating some 40 years ago as a generalist but pretty quickly realized that there are certain types of text I’m not qualified to handle or that I simply don’t enjoy. There are a few unfamiliar areas I will never venture in as I know my limits. Today my main area of work is EU affairs, because I worked as staff translator at an European Institution for 20 years translating opinions on economic and social affairs, but over the years I have gained experience in several other fields: law, medicine (mostly gynaecology, obstetrics, medical devices, and clinical trials), taxation, education and vocational training, marketing, international development, political journalism, small domestic appliances… I still consider myself a generalist and enjoy projects where I can use my skills. Diversity is the spice of life! ▲ Collapse


Ana Vozone
Christine Andersen
Maria Laura Curzi
neilmac
 
Ana Vozone
Ana Vozone  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:40
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
N/A Feb 23, 2025

I have not changed my fields of expertise, I have simply added more. In other words, I have simply ventured into those that I think I can "master" with quality.

Enrique Bjarne Strand Ferrer
Christine Andersen
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
svetlana cosquйric
M. Anna Kańduła
Lija Lija
Maria Laura Curzi
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 16:40
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
N/A Feb 23, 2025

For 25 years now (including my 5-year inhouse position) I have been accepting everything I'm offered, provided the source text is more or less decently written. So specializations are and have never been an issue for me. I basically ignore their existence. I sometimes get asked if I think I will be capable of doing it. The first time I answer no to that question still has to come.
 
IrinaN (X)
IrinaN (X)
United States
Local time: 09:40
English to Russian
+ ...
N/A Feb 23, 2025

I gained my money-making specializations based on market trends or, rather, then-existing markets that made translation not just a sustainable but borderline luxurious income source.

Maria Laura Curzi
 


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Poll: Have you ever changed your specialization based on market trends?






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