Poll: Do you (also) work as a project manager? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Management is defined as getting things done through other people. In this case, I don't work as a project manager.
However I often go beyond translation, e.g. DTP, video subtitling, DVD authoring. This requires a lot of self-managemernt, as I walk in and out of the project wearing a different hat every time. And these hats require adequate self-management.
There are some opportunities for parallel or combined work, if tasks are managed.
For instance, I can... See more Management is defined as getting things done through other people. In this case, I don't work as a project manager.
However I often go beyond translation, e.g. DTP, video subtitling, DVD authoring. This requires a lot of self-managemernt, as I walk in and out of the project wearing a different hat every time. And these hats require adequate self-management.
There are some opportunities for parallel or combined work, if tasks are managed.
For instance, I can proofread my translation while doing DTP. It won't be a new set of eyes, but the look of the text will be quite different. Furthermore, ol'PageMaker's spellchecker is still much better than Word's.
I can also leave the computer converting video files or renderizing ("burning") subs on one segment of the video while I use its surplus power to translate another.
So I'm not managing (scholars prefer to name it "supervising") any people, but several tasks. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 14:29
English to French
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I never do if I can avoid it, but I sometimes do for very few local direct clients who need their text into one or several language(s) I do not do... Part of the service.
| | | | | Does head of an in-house translation service count? | Dec 3, 2009 |
I headed a translation service in an international organization for a number of years.
I was a complete failure because I was always trying to get good pay for the free lances instead of saving money for the organization.
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Reed James
Chile
Local time: 08:29
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
| Perish the thought | Dec 3, 2009 |
Translating is a 25 hour a day, 8 day a week job. Why would I want to add something to my already busy workload? We are talking about apples and oranges here. Translating is an entirely different skill from managing projects. Granted, we have to do our own mini, or perhaps micro-managing of our own projects. Nevertheless, that is out of necessity, and it does not involve many people.
Project managers have to deal with many people and get them all to do their jobs. For me, this would... See more Translating is a 25 hour a day, 8 day a week job. Why would I want to add something to my already busy workload? We are talking about apples and oranges here. Translating is an entirely different skill from managing projects. Granted, we have to do our own mini, or perhaps micro-managing of our own projects. Nevertheless, that is out of necessity, and it does not involve many people.
Project managers have to deal with many people and get them all to do their jobs. For me, this would be a much weightier task than translating, which I find to be more predictable and controllable. So I will stick with just translating.
Reed ▲ Collapse
| | | | Amy Duncan (X) 
Brazil
Local time: 09:29
Portuguese to English
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To be a PM, I imagine in most cases you'd have to go out to an office somewhere and work regular hours and overtime....'nuf said.
| | | | Jenn Mercer
United States
Local time: 08:29
Member (2009)
French to English
| No interest here | Dec 3, 2009 |
A colleague at the recent ATA conference asked me if I had any interest in being a PM at any point. I really have no interest in doing this, but I have heard other translators describe it as a natural career progression. I think this may come down to personality types, similar to the divide between translators and interpreters.
Muriel, I think you sold yourself short. You could be my PM any day! .
| | | | Clare Barnes
Sweden
Local time: 14:29
Swedish to English
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I work as a freelance PM for a favourite client for 40 hours a month. I wouldn't want to do it full-time, but at the moment I enjoy the variety and the fact it's a little more sociable. I work with a limited number of customers and have plenty of time left over for my own translating - plus it's incredibly helpful to get an "inside" look at how things are done.
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