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Translator: Salary and conditions

• There is a wide range of starting salaries but most full-time posts within the UK pay between £18,000 and £21,000. Freelance rates start from £70 - £80 per 1,000 words; rates for translation of highly specialised texts or from or into unusual languages are higher (salary data collected Oct 09).
• Experienced generalist translators can earn around £30,000 p.a. and this increases for those with a specialism (salary data collected Oct 09).
• Senior translators earn up to £60,000. The European Commission   and the United Nations (UN)   are the best paying employers of senior translators (salary data collected Oct 09, The The National Centre for Languages (CILT)  ). 
• Translators often agree fees per project, usually based on the word count, the average daily output being 2,000 - 3,000 words. 
• Working hours for in-house translators are usually nine to five. 
• In-house roles are usually office based, with translators working mostly alone, although sometimes as part of a small team in translation agencies or companies in large cities. Contact with clients is limited and is mostly by email, phone or post. 
• The majority of translators are self-employed. Freelance translators work from home and enjoy flexible hours, although their work flow may be unpredictable. It can be helpful to build up experience and client contacts by working as an in-house translator before going freelance.
• More regular interaction with clients is usually helpful in the case of freelance and literary translators, particularly if they are running their own business and seeking commissions for work. 
• The work involves intense concentration and sometimes pressure to submit translations to deadline. 
• Travel within the working day and overnight absence from home are rarely required. 
• Although overseas work or travel is rarely necessary for the work of translation, it is common for translators to have lived for some time in the country or countries whose languages they translate and to keep their command of languages alive by visiting the relevant countries.

AGCAS

Written by Cheryl Box, University of Portsmouth

Last updated:

October 2009

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