ITI PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT GROUP (PSG) About the PSG The PSG is a 14-week online business course designed for ITI members (MITIs and Associates) who wish to launch a freelance career in translation. Run annually by a team of experienced translators, the course attracts about 20 translators each year from all over the UK and beyond. It is suitable for translators who: • have qualifications and experience in a field other than translation on which to draw • have done some paid translation work, but not enough to earn a living • are about to launch a freelance translation career • have worked as a staff translator and would like to make the switch to a freelance career. Benefits of the PSG The course is online, allowing translators to participate from any location, and in this private, friendly and supportive environment newcomers acquire the valuable skills and knowledge needed for a career in freelance translation. Mentees are encouraged to debate ideas and pool solutions with course members. This helps to build a lasting community of friends and colleagues and gives translators the confidence to venture into the wider ITI community and take full advantage of the opportunities offered by ITI, such as training events, language and subject networks and regional groups. How does it work? There are eight exercises to complete under the guidance of tutors. The exercises run one after the other and overlap in some cases. Each has a specific deadline, set by the tutor for that exercise, and mentees are expected to complete all of them. Tutors provide constructive feedback each step of the way. The topics are: - presenting yourself through a CV - quoting and invoicing for a translation job - making sure your invoices are paid - finding the specialist subject that is right for you - communicating with clients by telephone - working with translation memory - choosing business tools: hardware, software, office equipment - drawing up a marketing plan The online environment The course is taught through a website accessed with an ID and a password, so only mentees and tutors can take part. Here, details of the exercises are given, mentees ask questions and discuss how to approach the exercises, assignments are uploaded and the tutors give feedback. The website thus becomes the online environment in which the mentees get to know each other and share their questions and experiences. Have a look at the home page of the website at www.itipsg.org.uk. Who is eligible? Applicants are accepted if they can demonstrate that they are ready to launch a freelance career. Consequently, enrolment on the course is restricted to those who have joined ITI as an Associate or MITI, and who can devote at least 12 hours a week throughout the 14 weeks of the course. How much does it cost? The enrolment fee for 2009 was £270 (including VAT). For this you receive the attention of eight tutors, each entrusted with a different exercise to help you plan and develop your business, over a period of around three months. Additional contributions are made by participants from previous years about how they applied what they learned on the course. Completion of the course entitles you to record 15 days (90 hours) of Continuing Professional Development in your CPD booklet; in practice this is far less time than participants actually spend. How do I enrol? The PSG runs from March to June each year. The closing date for applications is 1 February. For an application form please contact membership@iti.org.uk. Successful applicants will be sent an invoice for the enrolment fee prior to course commencement. ITI ORIENTATION COURSE An online course for newcomers to translation Who is it for? Do any of these statements apply to you? • you have a degree in languages • you have qualifications and experience in a field other than translation on which you can draw in establishing yourself as a translator • you have done a postgraduate course of translation studies or a diploma in translation • you have joined ITI but you are not sure what to do next to become a professional translator. Its aims The ITI Orientation Course launched in March 2008. It is aimed at people who have already joined ITI but have not yet made the leap to working as a professional translator. It takes place online, so it does not matter where you live. It consists of a set of exercises in which, under the guidance of senior and experienced translators, mentees work on their CVs, word processing and general computer skills and consider an area of translation in which they would like to specialise. Feedback from the tutors is intensive and given through the online group. In addition, participants submit a piece of translation work and a piece of written work for assessment by a senior translator working in the same languages. The online group provides a private, friendly and supportive environment in which newcomers gain the confidence to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by ITI, such as training events, language and subject networks and regional groups. All these exercises help to identify mentees’ strengths and weaknesses as they embark on a career as a professional translator. More information The ITI Orientation Course has been run from October to early December in 2008 and in 2009. The course fee for 2009 was £145.00 (including VAT). This course is intensive and demands at least 12 hours’ per week: only student members who have already completed their full-time education, Associates and qualified members of ITI are eligible to apply. The course is taught by five experienced and senior tutors and, over the same two-month period, each participant has two pieces of translation work assessed by a mentor working into the same mother tongue. Completion of the course entitles you to record 5 days of Continuing Professional Development in your CPD booklet. Details of course fees, dates for 2010 and when and how to apply will be made available via this website. Testimonials “The ITI Orientation Course is designed for anyone who is trying to decide whether translation is the right choice for them as a possible career. … As a late career changer, I gained more all-round experience in my new career.” Jean Darvill, Freelance Translator, German and French into English. “I have a much better idea of how to approach translation companies: my redesigned and well-presented CV helps me focus on what matters to them.” Frédérique Gwyther, Freelance Translator and Subtitler, English to French “I am very pleased I have done the Orientation Course. It forms an essential part of learning how to become a professional and successful translator.” Dana Koval, Freelance Translator and Interpreter, English into Ukrainian and Russian.