Are you a freelance translator looking for your first translation clients? ProZ is a good place to start.

There are pros and cons to listing yourself on ProZ (you can learn more in our course) but overall we highly recommend it as a place to start your translation career.

Setting up your profile is an intuitive process, but there are many ways you can stand out from the competition.

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What is ProZ?

ProZ.com is a membership-based website targeting freelance translators. As of October 2020, ProZ.com reports more than 1,118,000 registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Basically it’s LinkedIn for translators and LSPs.

If you’re taking your first steps as a freelance translator, creating a ProZ account is a great way to start finding work.

Here are some ways you can ensure that your ProZ account stands out from the rest!

Want to learn more about how to leverage the ProZ directory to grow your translation career? Check out our Meridian Course, How to Boost Your ProZ Profile.

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Fill Out Your Profile!

1. Be concise! You might be tempted to list as many abilities and specialties as you can to get as many jobs as possible, but try not to list more than four.

Clients will find it more believable than someone who claims he or she can translate ten different languages in two dozen specialties.

2. When filling out the About Me field, make sure to highlight the most important facts you want a recruiter to know about you.

Don’t fill the space with a wall of text that no one will want to read.

3. Ask for feedback from your clients! Feedback is also known as WWA in ProZ, and displaying feedback from your clients is a great way to demonstrate your abilities to future prospects.

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Stand Out from the Competition

4. To truly give your ProZ profile a boost, take the extra steps to gain KudoZ and Browniz points.

KudoZ points are rewarded to users who help other translators with questions on the platform. Browniz points are earned by contributing something to the community or the site. We go more in-depth into how to game this system in our course.

5. Upgrade to a paid membership. This membership grants you access to becoming a certified Pro, which identifies qualified translators in various language pairs.

You will receive a “Pro” badge on your profile, which makes you stand out to potential clients. It also provides you with the option of networking and collaborating in an environment consisting entirely of screened professionals.

We hope these tips have helped give your ProZ the boost it needs to stand out and get more clients.

If you really want to improve your ProZ profile to jumpstart your freelancing career, sign up for our short course on how to to improve your ProZ profile.

Looking for more tips to improve yourself as a freelance translator? Check out our course list.

Has ProZ helped your translation career? What strategies worked best for you? Please let us know in the comments!