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Budgeting Time and Costs for Professional Conference Interpreters

Who wants to be a Millionaire?

Guest post by Julia Böhm

Originally published: 12 September 2007. Updated: September 2023 (Original German version below)

Most of us have chosen our profession because of a passion for languages and communication. However, whenever I ask freelancer colleagues whether they also wanted to make a living on conference interpreting, most of them say they wanted to earn at least as much as if they were employed.

So: How can we be profitable and make a living as conference interpreters?

The perspective presented in this article is inspired by Mr. Andreas Schiemenz, an economist by training, who – for translators –developed an entrepreneurial, comprehensive approach which takes account of fixed costs, variable costs, productive time input and unproductive (“overhead”, non-billable) time input.

The figures and calculations in the following article are to be understood as models. Depending on the way you work, you might find some of the figures inappropriate or unrealistic. The reader is invited to use the calculations as examples and fill them in with their own numbers.

One aspect that has not been covered sufficiently in earlier publications is coverage for risk (sickness, disability and – yes – old age).

Since there is no obligation whatsoever in Germany for freelancers or self-employed people to pay into a public pension scheme, and there is hardly any independent advice or consulting on the issue for those who need to make up their own “pension schemes”, and since you do not feel like thinking about what happens when you are 64, it tends to be forgotten altogether or at least neglected. Since it makes up a big chunk of your expenses and since things get worse the later you start thinking about  it, old age provision must be accounted for realistically in any business calculation.

Another neglected topic has been marketing and selling our services (and ourselves) to clients. It is a business necessity and – in the end – something that is immediately related to what we end up having in our own pockets to spend, in other words, our very standard of living.

Assumptions – the cost and time budget

In the cost and time budget we distinguish

• costs and input (time) related immediately to specific jobs (job-specific costs and job-specific input (time) 

• costs and input that are not related to specific jobs (overhead or fixed costs and overhead input (time) that is non-billable).

We further assume that all job-specific costs – like travel expenses (mileage allowance for using our own car, taxi, train, air) and other travel expenses (for food, hotel etc.) which arise in connection with a specific job are reimbursed by the client (through a flat amount – per diem – or actual costs documented by receipts) so that this parameter equals 0.

Therefore, with our fee revenue we need to finance three items:

• job-specific or “productive” time input (time spent for work related directly to a specific job, i.e. preparation time, travel time, time spent at the job …)

• overhead time input (time spent on building and maintaining our professional resources, and on managing our business)

• fixed or “overhead” costs (i.e. operating costs which arise whether we have jobs or not)

Let us first turn to the two time input items of our budget.

Job-specific or “productive” time input

Apart from the time that we spend interpreting on site, this category includes the time required for the bidding and negotiating phase, obtaining information and preparation material from clients, managing/passing on this information (if applicable), RSI test calls, coordinating the team (if applicable), and the preparation and post-job processing of the material (prepare speeches and presentations, detailed subject research, production of glossaries or terminology etc.) plus a post-job business calculation.

We assume that 8 hours (or one work day) per paid conference day is required for job-specific time input. It might be less for a job where the subject is less difficult or familiar and where we only interpret between two languages (a bi-active booth is frequent on the German and some other private markets). However, if we have to prepare the subject in more than 2 languages and where the subject is unknown or difficult, where we need to coordinate a larger team or deal with a “difficult” client, we definitely need more time.

Overhead (non-billable) time input

This is the time we spend as entrepreneurs and managers of our own business as professional conference interpreters. Apart from all the tangible assets that we use as professional interpreters (PC, RSI equipment, office furniture etc.), we draw on highly intangible, immaterial assets to be successful and competitive with our product: our abilities and talent, our knowledge and expertise which have to be maintained, enhanced and kept up-to-date on a permanent basis.

As knowledge workers, our product consists in the ability to have the right knowledge available and ready to use at the right time and in the right place. That is why intensive knowledge management is extremely important:

• Keep general knowledge up to date in all our working languages and corresponding cultures

• Read the current press in all our working languages

• Read other literature/publications in all our working languages

• Update technical knowledge in areas of specialisation on a regular basis by reading technical magazines, industry publications – in all our working languages

• general terminology management

Furthermore, it is necessary to continuously improve our job-specific, professional knowledge and skills, to know the interpreters’ market and be known in it:

  • Continuous professional learning: obtain professional information, read and learn.
  • CPD
  • Network with colleagues, network with other professional fields, for example by being a member of an association, being active in an association or doing pro-bono work. 

As Solopreneurs, we are usually our own accountants, secretaries and business managers:

  • Accounting, invoicing, tax returns

Apart from that we are our own marketing managers, advertising specialists and client relationship managers:

  • Social media, website, advertising, brochures, mailings, content 
  • Client relations management, or CRM: call existing clients, visit and keep in touch with clients 
  • Cold calls: define target client groups, develop a strategy, make calls or contact via social media, follow up

Overhead time input also includes time spent on unsuccessful bids or offers, often a black hole where a lot of work disappears without any remuneration: 

  • Draw up an offer/quotation
  • Place and/or cancel options with colleagues
  • Negotiate on the phone or on site with the client.

All these activities are necessary and important for our solopreneur business, but they are non-billable, nobody pay us for them, except we ourselves. This time input needs to be considered and refinanced with our paid conference days. So, in fact we spend a lot of “unpaid” time on preparing and managing jobs, managing our business and keeping our resources up-to-date.  For the purposes of our budget, we therefore need to ask the question of how many paid conference days we can actually do per year. 

How much of our time / how many days do we have available to make money?

The fee revenue we can attain per year is limited by the number of days on which we can actually generate such revenue. Limiting factors are, among other things, our own mental and physical capacities (we need time to recover) and, sometimes, our families. You might deny that by saying that this applies for anybody who goes out to work, and that weekends and holidays are there to recover. However, there is an increasing trend in our market where we could (if we only could!) work many days without interruption during the busy season, while outside that season the market is in the doldrums. Therefore, mental and physical capacity and recovery phases are in fact an issue. We need to account for them just like for demand fluctuations and seasonality. However, the most significant limiting factor is the non-billable time input as described above!

The crucial question therefore runs: “how many paid conference days per year are feasible, how many of them make sense professionally – how many paid conference days should actually give us enough money to decently live on?”

There are various ways of substantiating that, on average, conference interpreters work 75-85 paid conference days a year. General freelancer or solopreneur literature proposes that the non-billable, overhead time input of a solopreneur amounts to about 30%

Here are the maths:

365 days – 104 weekend days – 29 holidays/bank holidays = 232 workdays

232 workdays available – 30% ”non-billable“ days (70 days) = 162 „productive days“

According to our assumption that per conference day we spend one day for job-specific work (mainly preparation), this results in a possible 81 paid conference days.

Earlier AIIC statistics also corroborate that, on average, freelance interpreters work 85-90 days; note that this figure includes freelancers working, among others, for the EU, so that this figure could be rather high. The VKD (Conference Interpreters Chapter of BDÜ, Germany) quotes similar figures.  

Thus, if we were to account for the same number of days for job-specific work as for conference days (80/80), there are 72 days left for non-billable, professional/entrepreneurial time input. So, it seems as if a split into three (1/3 at conferences, 1/3 job-specific work (mainly preparation) plus 1/3 general, non-billable activities (knowledge management, administration, marketing, general learning) is both realistic and allows us to be professional in our job as interpreters and entrepreneurs.

Now that we know the number of paid conference days, we can take our daily fee and calculate our net fee revenue (daily fee x number of paid days).

However, for our budget we are missing one factor:  the general, non-job-specific, fixed cost.

Cost to be financed by our fees – overhead/fixed costs

As professional interpreters there are two types of “general costs“ we must account for: fixed (operating) costs and provisions for risk (old age, sickness, disability).

Model calculation of fixed costs

Cost itemsEUR
Office: rent, electricity, cleaning, furniture3.000,00
Advertising: letterhead, business cards, website, christmas cards / gifts, Flyer, SEO2.500,00
Business insurance: professional liability500,00
IT: licenses, hardware, tax/ business software, cloud, support, laptop, RSI equipment2.000,00
Literature: (digital) dictionaries, specialised literature1.500,00
Coms: mobile, internet, phone, office material3.000,00
CPD1.500,00
Tax, legal advisor, data protection1.500,00
Memberships in associations1.000,00
  
Total costs16.500,00

This is merely a model calculation, and it is mainly based on experience in Germany. What is more, conference interpreters tend to focus on different things, and spending also tends to depend on areas of specialisation.

From gross to net

In order to calculate net income, the following calculation starts from 3 possible/realistic annual fee revenue levels that result from the number of conference days per year multiplied by the daily rate (for your own calculation, always take amounts net of VAT)

From gross to netInt AInt BInt C
Net fee revenue (days x daily rate)50.000,0057.000,0070.000,00
Costs (fixed)16.500,0016.500,0016.500,00
Profit33.500,0040.500,0053.500,00
Pension contributions “Rürup” (year 22: 94 % of contributions tax-deductible )7.520,007.520,007.520,00
Deductible portion of health and daily benefits insurance2.800,002.800,002.800,00
Taxable income23.180,0030.180,0043.180,00
Tax3.335,005.291,009.930,00
Net19.845,0024.889,0033.250,00
Non-tax-deductible portion of health insurance2.600,002.600,002.600,00
Non-tax-deductible portion of pension contrib.480,00480,00480,00
Other old-age savings, after tax2.000,002.000,002.000,00
Annual net income available for spending14.765,0019.809,0028.170,00
    
Monthly net income available for spending1.230,421.650,752.347,50

Please note: according to the statistics provider Statista, the average monthly net household income in Germany in 2021 amounted to EUR 3,800. The average net wage in Germany in 2022 was EUR 2,250.

Provisions for risk seem to diminish our available household spending considerably. Int A is not very likely to actually invest EUR 10,000 for their pension.

Also, the calculation above does not account for any reserves for periods of low demand (entrepreneurial risk, loss of a major client, pandemic…). Freelancer/solopreneur literature recommends we should have put money aside for rainy days in the amount of an annual income.

The German tax and social security system also shows a significant difference in how it treats solopreneurs vs. employees: employers pay up to 50% of social security contributions – incl. healthcare – for their employees pre-tax. This means that employees have to spend much less on pension and risk contributions out of their net income than solopreneurs/freelancers.

Conclusions

So how can we achieve our aim of generating an income, i.e. a standard of living, which corresponds to our level of education and job experience now and when we are old while keeping occupational stress at tolerable levels, i.e. without compromising our health and our resources? 

Cut costs?

Cost reduction is truly a buzzword nowadays. However, we should put this option in perspective. It might be possible to save costs (fixed costs) in the amount of EUR 1,000 (before tax). However, we can achieve the same effect by increasing our daily rate by only EUR 15 (Example: for 80 paid conference days a year we can increase our annual fee revenue by € 1,200 by increasing the daily rate by € 15). Does it not seem much easier to raise your daily rate by 2% instead of trying to reduce costs – probably spent on meaningful things – by 6%?

Try to work more days?

In order to increase our fee revenue, we could simply try to work more conference days than the assumed 75-85 days. We should, however, not forget that more conference days will necessarily be at the expense of either the job-specific time input (preparation), the overhead/non-billable time input (required for managing our business, CPD, marketing, admin – all necessary and meaningful for a businessl!) or at the expense of recovery periods.

Working more conference days therefore seems to be realistic only if we can save on preparation time without compromising the quality of our work, which is possible if we have regular jobs from the same client on the same subject, if some of our jobs are short (like the odd 1-hour press conference), or if we manage to acquire jobs lasting several days where the content or agenda is the same every day. These kinds of jobs are getting rarer. What is more, in times of RSI there is increasing pressure to bring down our minimum billing unit from 1 day to a half day or even hourly billing.

Translate?

Quite frequently we are told: “but you can also translate”. However, from our time budget, the time that we spend on non-billable activities is not simply available for translation. Because if we also do translations, the time that we need to spend on learning, knowledge management, marketing, administration etc. does not diminish. On the contrary, despite all synergies that may exist between interpreting  and translating, additional (non-billable) time input is necessary for marketing and positioning ourselves in the translation market and for handling corresponding tools.

The same is true for other diversification options such as subtitling, content writing, professional speaking, teaching.

However, colleagues working with languages that are in less demand quite frequently do both. Time-budget-wise this means that, if the market does not provide sufficient conference days, the time that they thus do not spend at conferences or for preparation is available for translating. If, according to our assumptions, one conference day requires one day of job-specific input, we can say that the equivalent of one daily conference rate has to be generated by two productive translation days, i.e. half a daily interpreting rate per translation day. Quite a realistic figure, and in fact I have met a number of professional translators who work fast enough to generate much higher daily turnovers. Translating might be more profitable than interpreting after all.

Get paid for extra services?

Extra services that we render in the course of interpreting projects (i.e. consulting, RSI test calls, team management, travel time …) require a lot of time and, on the other hand, create tangible benefits for our clients (the services reduce the client’s effort, save the client time, deliver high quality output thanks to consulting, give the client absolute certainty that the interpreters will arrive at the conference on time if they arrive the day before).

The added value of such services is plausible to clients, and we should therefore not hesitate to invoice them in the form of fees for time spent on travelling or consulting. The degree to which we are successful in doing so depends on our negotiating skills.

The “day” as a billing unit was established when interpreting assignments had a different kind of structure. Unlike then, when interpreters very often travelled with delegations for several days or supported sessions that lasted a week or longer, today much of our work is technical and complex and requires reading and preparation input which sometimes takes more time than the actual meeting lasts. There are cases where it could be justified to bill extra for reading and prep time or think about new structures of how to bill for interpreting projects, especially for RSI or hybrid events that involve consulting, test meetings and added support on the part of interpreters.

Raise the daily rate?

The effect of an increase in the daily rate on our net income (standard of living) is quite impressive: the available income in example 2 is 30% higher than the net available income in example 1 while the fee revenue is only 14% higher.

This does not mean that we should increase our rates by 30% over night. It just shows how great the impact of fee-increases is, and it also illustrates what it means to accept a job for a higher (or lower) fee!

The great thing about fixed costs is that they are fixed. In other words: once you have earned enough to cover your costs – i.e. once you have achieved the break-even point – any amount that exceeds it has a disproportionate impact on your available income.

Conclusion:

Negotiation skills and a convincing way to pitch the added value and benefits of our services to clients are indispensable skills for us.

Better perfect your negotiating skills than try to save money penny-wise!

DIGRESSION:

How much should we save for our pension?

Retirement planning is a highly individual matter. Aspects such as age, marital status, children, whether you own a home, must be taken into account. Paying up a mortgage may be part of risk provisioning, assuming that rent-free living in old age reduces the need for purchasing power. However, don’t neglect the necessary maintenance expenses for your home, also in old age.

According to the preceding considerations, however, the amount of EUR 10,000 plus health insurance for a younger solopreneur might not be completely wrong. It should always be taken into account here that there is no natural increase in income with increasing seniority, as is the case with salaried employees or civil servants.

Example interest calculation:

With uninterrupted contributions of EUR 10,000 per year over a period of 35 years until retirement assuming an unchanged interest rate of 2%, one can arrive at a capital stock of EUR 500,000.

If the accumulated EUR 500,000 continues to earn interest at 2%, this can result in a monthly pension of EUR 2,000 for about 30 years, depending on the interest rate (https://www.calculator.net/annuity-payout-calculator.html   , https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator), for example.

When planning the desired retirement provision or pension, inflation and loss of purchasing power must be taken into account.

The Author

Julia Böhm, freelance conference interpreter, consultant interpreter since 1996. Translator, subtitler, live captioner.

Author and speaker at events and seminars on entrepreneurial aspects of conference interpreting for AIIC, VKD, BDÜ, ASTTI since 2004.

Kosten und Aufwand der professionellen Berufsausübung: Wer wird Millionär?

Julia BÖHM.

Veröffentlicht: 12. September 2007. Letzte Aktualisierung: September 2023

Die meisten Konferenzdolmetscher wählen den Beruf aufgrund der Leidenschaft für Sprache und Kommunikation. Wenn man Kollegen jedoch fragt, ob sie mit einer freiberuflichen Tätigkeit als Konferenzdolmetscher ebenso viel verdienen möchten, wie angestellte oder verbeamtete Kollegen, erhält man oft die Antwort, dass man sich mindestens so viel oder mehr erwartet hat.

Wie können wir als Konferenzdolmetschende also so profitabel sein, dass wir ein angemessenes Einkommen erwirtschaften?

Die hier vorgestellten Überlegungen sind inspiriert von einem Verhandlungsseminar mit Andreas W. Schiemenz, der vor einigen Jahren ein Zeitaufwands- und Kostenkalkulationsmodell für Übersetzer entwickelt hatte und in einem Verhandlungsseminar für den BDÜ präsentierte.

Die im Folgenden aufgestellten Zahlen und Kalkulationen sind nur als Beispiel zu verstehen. Manche dieser Zahlen mögen dem einen oder anderen unrealistisch erscheinen. Lesende sind eingeladen, die Beispielkalkulationen mit eigenen Zahlen füllen.

Zentrale Punkte in den Überlegungen sind die Berücksichtigung einer angemessenen Alters- und Risikovorsorge in der Honorarkalkulation sowie Möglichkeiten der Rentabilitäts- und Einkommenssteigerung für soloselbständige Konferenzdolmetschende.

Annahmen

Dieser Artikel unterscheidet

  • auftragsabhängige Kosten und auftragsabhängigen Aufwand (Zeit) einerseits
  • auftragsunabhängige Kosten und auftragsunabhängigen Aufwand (Zeit) andererseits.

Dabei wird angenommen, dass alle auftragsabhängigen Kosten – wie Reisekosten (also Kilometergeld, Taxi, Bahnkosten) und Spesen (also Kosten für Essen usw.), die im Rahmen eines Auftrags unmittelbar anfallen, vom Kunden getragen werden (entweder als Per Diem oder gegen Belege).

Mit dem reinen erwirtschafteten Auftragshonorar sind deshalb drei Posten zu finanzieren:

  • auftragsabhängiger oder «produktiver» Zeitaufwand (Zeitaufwand, der direkt im Zusammenhang mit Aufträgen anfällt, u.a. Vorbereitung, evtl. Reisezeit, wenn nicht vergütet, Einsatzzeit)
  • auftragsunabhängiger Zeitaufwand (Zeitaufwand der professionellen Berufsausübung, auch als Unternehmer bzw. Unternehmerin)
  • auftragsunabhängige Kosten (z.B. Betriebskosten, die immer anfallen, ob wir Aufträge haben oder nicht)

Wenden wir uns zunächst den beiden Zeitaufwandsposten zu.

Auftragsabhängiger Aufwand (Zeit)

Unter diese Kategorie fällt nicht nur die Einsatzzeit selbst, sondern auch die Angebotsphase, Verhandlungen mit dem Kunden, Reiseplanung und -buchung, die Beschaffung von Material vom Kunden, eventuell die Weiterleitung an Kollegen, Team-Koordinierungsaufgaben, die inhaltliche Vor- und Nachbereitung (Bearbeitung erhaltener Unterlagen, weitergehende Recherche, Erstellung von Glossaren usw.) sowie die Nachbereitung und Nachkalkulation.

Im Schnitt lässt sich für den auftragsabhängigen Zeitaufwand ein zusätzlicher 8-Stundentag pro bezahlten Auftragstag ansetzen. Bei bekannter Thematik bzw. wenn nur zwischen der A-Sprache und einer weiteren Sprache zu dolmetschen ist, mag es weniger sein, doch Faktoren wie eine zusätzliche Konferenzsprache, eine dichte Tagesordnung mit verkürzten Pausen oder ein besonders schwieriges Thema erhöhen den Aufwand beträchtlich.

Auftragsunabhängiger Aufwand (Zeit)

Hier geht es um den Aufwand, den wir betreiben, um unseren Beruf professionell auszuüben – auch in unserer Rolle als selbständige Unternehmer. Das Betriebskapital zur Erbringung dieser Leistung besteht, neben Sachanlagen (PC, Büroeinrichtung etc.), im Wesentlichen aus einer höchst immateriellen Anlage, nämlich uns selbst mit unserem Wissen und unseren Fähigkeiten. Um mit unserem Produkt wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben, müssen wir uns stets auf dem aktuellen Stand halten bzw. unser Wissen und unsere Fähigkeiten ausbauen:

Für uns als Wissensarbeitende besteht unser Produkt darin, zum richtigen Zeitpunkt am richtigen Ort das richtige Wissen parat zu haben und nutzbar zu machen. Unverzichtbar ist daher ein intensives Wissensmanagement:

  • Pflege der Allgemeinbildung in allen unseren Arbeitssprachen/Kulturen
  • Lesen der aktuellen Presse in allen Arbeitssprachen
  • Lesen sonstiger Publikationen/Literatur – in allen Arbeitssprachen
  • Regelmäßige Aktualisierung unseres Fachgebietswissens:
    • Lesen von Fachmagazinen, Branchenpublikationen – in allen Arbeitssprachen
    • Terminologiemanagement

Es gehört ebenfalls dazu, sich berufsspezifisch fortzubilden, das Branchenwissen zu entwickeln und in der Branche bekannt zu sein:

  • Professionalisierung: berufsspezifische Informationen beschaffen und lesen
  • Fortbildungsteilnahme
  • Networking mit Kollegen oder auch mit anderen Berufsfeldern, z.B. Verbandsmitgliedschaft, Verbandsarbeit, ehrenamtliche Tätigkeit

Als Soloselbständige erledigen wir meist unsere Verwaltung selbst:

  • Buchhaltung, Steuererklärung

Ebenfalls sind wir unsere eigenen Marketing-Manager, Werbefachleute und Customer-Relationship-Manager:

  • Social Media und Website pflegen, Content erstellen und veröffentlichen
    • Kundenpflege: mit bestehenden Kunden telefonieren, Kunden besuchen, Kontakte pflegen
    • Kaltakquise: Zielgruppen ermitteln, Strategie entwickeln, kontaktieren, ggf. auch Akquise über Social Media

Unter den auftragsunabhängigen Aufwand fallen zudem erfolglose Angebotsphasen, die häufig mit erheblichem Zeitaufwand ohne Gegenleistung verbunden sind: Schreiben des Angebots, Optionierung von Kollegen, telefonische Verhandlungen.

All dies sind notwendige und wichtige Tätigkeiten in der Soloselbständigkeit, für die uns niemand (direkt) bezahlt. Der erhebliche Zeitaufwand dafür ist in einer seriösen Kalkulation zu berücksichtigen, denn er muss durch bezahlte Arbeitstage mitfinanziert werden.

Es drängt sich daher die Frage auf, wie viele bezahlte Auftragstage wir demnach eigentlich bewältigen können.

Wie viel Zeit steht uns zum „Geldverdienen” überhaupt zur Verfügung?

Die Höhe des jährlichen Honorarumsatzes ist beschränkt durch die Anzahl der Tage, an denen wir diesen Umsatz überhaupt erwirtschaften können. Als einschränkende Faktoren sind grundsätzlich die eigene persönliche geistige und körperliche Leistungsfähigkeit (Erholungsphasen sind unabdingbar) und eventuell familiäre Verpflichtungen zu berücksichtigen. Man mag einwenden, dass das auf alle Berufstätigen zutrifft und dafür ja Wochenenden, Feierabend und Urlaub da sind. Als Soloselbständige sind wir aber abhängig vom Markt und seiner Saisonalität: in manchen Monaten könnte man „durcharbeiten”, während in anderen Monaten Flaute herrscht. Zu berücksichtigen sind also die endlichen persönlichen Ressourcen, Nachfragefluktuation und Saisonalität -vor allem aber der oben beschriebene erhebliche auftragsunabhängige Zeitaufwand!

Die entscheidenden Fragen lauten also: „Wie viele bezahlte Konferenztage im Jahr scheinen im Schnitt machbar bzw. sinnvoll? Und: Von wie vielen sollte man eigentlich angemessen leben können?

Die These, dass man als Freelancerin unter Berücksichtigung aller Einflussfaktoren im Schnitt 75-85 bezahlte Konferenztage arbeiten kann, lässt sich durch informelle Umfragen unter Kolleg/-innen, frühere AIIC-Statistiken und die einschlägige Existenzgründer- und Freelancer-Literatur untermauern. Im Allgemeinen wird davon ausgegangen, dass bei Soloselbständigen rund 30% der eingesetzten Arbeitszeit für «unproduktive» bzw. auftragsunabhängige Tätigkeiten eingesetzt wird.

Daraus ergibt sich folgende Rechnung:

365 Tage – 104 Tage Wochenende – 29 Tage Urlaub und Feiertage = 232 Arbeitstage

232 verfügbare Arbeitstage – 30% „unproduktive” Tage (70 Tage) = 162 „Produktivtage”

Entsprechend unserer Annahme, dass pro Einsatztag 1 Tag für auftragsabhängigen Aufwand (im Wesentlichen Vorbereitung) anfällt, ergeben sich 81 mögliche bezahlte Einsatztage.

Laut früheren AIIC-Statistiken, die leider derzeit nicht aktualisiert werden, absolvieren freiberufliche AIIC-Mitglieder 85-90 Tage, wobei die Statistik z.B. auch die für die EU tätigen Freelancer enthält, womit diese Zahl eher hoch gegriffen wäre. Die VKD-Statistik nennt ähnliche Zahlen.

Setzt man die gleiche Anzahl Tage für auftragsabhängige Tätigkeiten an, wie man im Einsatz verbringt (z.B. 80/80), verbleiben 72 Tage für auftragsunabhängige Tätigkeiten. Ausgewogen scheint also eine Verteilung der 232 jährlich verfügbaren Arbeitstage zu grob je einem Drittel auf Einsatztage, auftragsabhängige Tätigkeiten (hauptsächlich Vorbereitung) und auftragsunabhängige Tätigkeiten (Wissensmanagement, Fortbildung, Verwaltung, Marketing, Akquise etc.).

Nachdem sich aus den bezahlten Einsatztagen pro Jahr und dem dabei erzielten Netto-Tageshonorar nun der Jahreshonorarumsatz errechnen lässt (weitere Überlegungen hierzu folgen), sind der nächste bedeutsame Posten die auftragsunabhängigen Kosten.

Kosten, die unser Tageshonorar finanzieren muss: auftragsunabhängige Kosten

Als Kosten der professionellen Berufsausübung fallen einerseits fixe Betriebskosten und andererseits Kosten für die Risikoabsicherung des Unternehmers (Altersvorsorge, Krankenversicherung, Berufsunfähigkeit) an.

BETRIEBSKOSTEN-Beispielrechnung (jährlich)

Diese Rechnung dient nur als Beispiel dienen, da die Schwerpunkte oft unterschiedlich gelegt werden.

Vom Brutto zum Netto

Zur Errechnung des Nettoeinkommens werden im Folgenden beispielhaft drei mögliche/realistische jährliche Honorarumsätze angesetzt, die sich aus der Multiplikation aus der Anzahl der Einsatztage und dem erzielten Tageshonorar ergeben (sowohl beim Honorar als auch bei den Kosten sind Beträge ohne Umsatzsteuer heranzuziehen).

Vom Brutto zum NettoDolm ADolm BDolm C
Honorarumsatz (eigen)50.000,0057.000,0070.000,00
Kosten (auftragsunabhängig)16.500,0016.500,0016.500,00
Bruttogewinn33.500,0040.500,0053.500,00
Rürup-Rente (22: 94 % der Beiträge (v. EUR 8.000) vor Steuer absetzbar)7.520,007.520,007.520,00
Priv KV+Pflege, BU – Freibetrag2.800,002.800,002.800,00
zu versteuerndes Einkommen23.180,0030.180,0043.180,00
Steuern, Soli, Kirche (Grundtab. 22)3.335,005.291,009.930,00
Netto19.845,0024.889,0033.250,00
Rest KV und BU aus dem Netto2.600,002.600,002.600,00
Rest Rürup aus dem Netto480,00480,00480,00
Weitere 2000 EUR f. AV aus Netto (entspr. “Riestern”) oder Rücklage2.000,002.000,002.000,00
verfügbares Jahresnetto14.765,0019.809,0028.170,00
    
verfügbares Monatsnetto1.230,421.650,752.347,50

Zur Orientierung: Laut Statista betrug 2021 das durchschnittliche Nettoeinkommen eines privaten Haushalts in Deutschland rund 3.800 EUR. Der durchschnittliche Nettoverdienst im Jahr 2022 lag bei EUR 2.250.

Die Alters-/Risikovorsorge schmälert das verfügbare Einkommen erheblich. Realistisch betrachtet wird Dolm A kaum die Möglichkeit haben, tatsächlich zusätzlich zur Krankenversicherung noch EUR 10.000,- in Vorsorge zu investieren.

Auch bleiben in der obigen Kalkulation Rücklagen für Nachfragetiefs (unternehmerisches Risiko – z.B. Verlust eines Großkunden oder Pandemie etc.) unberücksichtigt. Dabei wäre es sinnvoll, stets flüssige Rücklagen in Hohe eines Jahresgehalts zu haben.

Hier zeigen sich auch deutlich Unterschiede in der steuerlichen und sozialversicherungsbezogenen Behandlung von Soloselbständigen vs. Angestellten. Da bei Angestellten der Arbeitgeber von der Sozialversicherung vor Steuern teilweise 50% übernimmt, muss ein Angestellter erheblich weniger private Vorsorge aus seinem Nettoeinkommen bestreiten. Die Rürup-Rente stellt zwar eine während der aktiven Tätigkeit steuerlich vorteilhafte, sichere Absicherung dar, jedoch unterliegt die Rentenauszahlung dann im Alter der Steuer.

Schlussfolgerungen

Wie erreichen wir also unser Ziel: ein unserer Ausbildung und Erfahrung entsprechendes Einkommen und ein finanziell sorgenfreies Berufsleben und Alter bei tolerierbarer beruflicher Belastung?

Kosten sparen?

Man kann vielleicht jährlich EUR 1.000,- (brutto) an Betriebsausgaben sparen, doch derselbe Effekt ergibt sich durch Erhöhung des durchschnittlichen Tageshonorars um nur EUR 15 ! (Beispiel: Bei 80 bezahlten Tagen im Jahr ergibt sich eine Umsatzsteigerung von EUR 1.200,-  durch eine durchschnittliche Tageshonorarerhöhung um nur EUR 15). Es erscheint doch leichter, das Tageshonorar um rund 2% zu steigern, als 6% an eventuell sinnvollen Ausgaben zu sparen.  

Mehr Tage absolvieren?

Zur Steigerung des Honorarumsatzes könnten wir natürlich grundsätzlich mehr als die angenommenen 75-85 Einsatztage anstreben. Hier sollten wir jedoch berücksichtigen, dass mehr Einsatztage notwendigerweise auf Kosten des auftragsabhängigen Zeitaufwands (Vorbereitung), des auftragsunabhängigen Zeitaufwands (zur Erhaltung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit unseres Produkts, also unseres Wissens und unserer Fähigkeiten sowie für unternehmerische Aufgaben) bzw. der notwendigen Ruhe- und Erholungsphasen gehen. Sehr viel mehr Tage sind daher nur dann realistisch, wenn sinnvoll Vorbereitungszeit eingespart werden kann, also bei Wiederholaufträgen oder Kurzaufträgen, bzw. bei mehrtägigen Einsätzen mit identischem Tagesprogramm oder Inhalt. Solche Einsätze werden jedoch zunehmend rarer. Noch dazu steigt der Druck vom Markt, die Abrechnungseinheit «Tag» auf halbe Tage oder gar Stunden zu verkürzen.

Nebenher übersetzen?

Häufig kommt der Einwand: „Man kann ja auch noch übersetzen”. Hier ist jedoch zu beachten, dass zum Übersetzen die Zeit, die man mit auftragsunabhängigen Arbeiten für das Dolmetschen verbringt, nicht zur Verfügung steht. Durch zusätzliches Übersetzen verringert sich ja nicht der Zeitbedarf für Professionalisierung, Akquise, Fortbildung, Wissensmanagement usw. Im Gegenteil, es ist sogar, trotz aller Synergie, zusätzlicher Aufwand nötig, um sich auch für das professionelle Übersetzen „fit” zu halten bzw. am Übersetzungsmarkt professionell präsent zu bleiben.

Das gilt in ähnlichem Maße für andere Diversifizierungsmöglichkeiten, z.B. Untertitelung, Content Writing, Lehre etc.

Kollegen mit weniger stark nachgefragten Arbeitssprachen sind allerdings aufs Übersetzen angewiesen. Wenn nicht ausreichend Dolmetschtage anfallen, steht die Zeit, die man sonst im Einsatz oder bei der Vorbereitung verbringen würde, fürs Übersetzen zur Verfügung. Wenn ein Vorbereitungstag und ein Einsatztag zur Erwirtschaftung eines Dolmetschtageshonorars angesetzt werden, kann entsprechend gelten, dass pro Übersetzungstag ein halbes Dolmetsch-Tageshonorar erzielt werden müsste, was realistisch erscheint.

Zusatzleistungen in Rechnung stellen?

Zusatzleistungen, die wir für unseren Kunden erbringen (Beratung, Testsitzungen oder Referentenchecks bei RSI, Teamorganisation, Anreisezeit), bedeuten häufig einen erheblichen Zeitaufwand, andererseits aber auch einen fassbaren Nutzen für den Auftraggeber (geringerer Aufwand, Zeitersparnis, Qualität der zusammengestellten Leistung dank Beratung, absolute Sicherstellung der Anwesenheit der Dolmetscher durch Anreise am Vortag). Der Wert dieser Leistungen ist für den Kunden plausibel, sie können daher durchaus als Anreise- bzw. Beratungs- oder Organisationshonorar veranschlagt und in Rechnung gestellt werden. Oft ist auch dies Verhandlungssache.

Der Tag als Abrechnungseinheit stammt aus einer früheren Zeit in unserer Branch, als Dolmetscheinsätze oft aus der Begleitung von Delegationen oder der Unterstützung über Sitzungswochen hinweg bestanden. Heute dreht sich unsere Arbeit oft um technische und komplexe Inhalte und relativ kurze – ein – oder zweitägige – Konferenzen oder Meetings erfordern eine längere Vorbereitungs- und Einarbeitungszeit als die Veranstaltung selbst dauert. Da könnte es gerechtfertigt sein, Vorbereitungszeit separat in Rechnung zu stellen oder gar über ganz neue Abrechnungsstrukturen im Rahmen von Dolmetschprojekten nachzudenken, insbesondere im Kontext von RSI und Hybrid, wo oft zusätzliche Leistungen wie Beratung, Testmeetings, Proben, Referentenchecks usw. zu absolvieren sind.

Tageshonorar steigern?

Der Effekt einer Honorarsteigerung auf das Nettoeinkommen ist ganz beträchtlich. Das Nettoeinkommen aus Beispiel 2 ist um gut 30% höher als das Nettoeinkommen aus Beispiel 1 und das bei nur 14%iger Steigerung des Honorars.

Selbstverständlich soll das nicht bedeuten, dass wir nun das Tageshonorar auf einen Schlag um 30% erhöhen sollen! Das Beispiel verdeutlicht aber, wie erheblich die Auswirkung einer Honorarerhöhung ist, bzw. was es bedeuten kann, einen Auftrag für ein höheres (oder aber niedrigeres) Honorar anzunehmen.

Wenn man einmal die Fixkosten gegenfinanziert und den Break-Even-Point erreicht hat, hat alles, was darüber hinausgeht, einen überproportionalen Einfluss auf das verfügbare Einkommen.

Fazit:

Geschicktes Verhandeln und eine überzeugende Darstellung des Nutzens und Wertes unserer Leistung gegenüber dem Kunden sind Fähigkeiten, die wir exzellent beherrschen müssen.

Lieber gut verhandeln als am falschen Ende sparen!

EXKURS

Wie viel soll man jährlich in die Altersvorsorge investieren?

Die Altersvorsorge der Unternehmerin ist eine hochgradig individuelle Angelegenheit. Zu berücksichtigen sind Aspekte wie Alter, Familienstand, Kinder, aktueller oder zu erwartender Grundbesitz (Haus). Eventuell können auch Zinsen und Tilgungen für privates Wohneigentum als Teil der Risikovorsorge angesehen werden, wenn man annimmt, dass mietfreies Wohnen im Alter den Bedarf an Kaufkraft senkt. Dem gegenüber stehen aber notwendige Erhaltungsaufwendungen für das Haus, auch im Alter.

Entsprechend den vorausgegangenen Überlegungen dürfte aber der Betrag von EUR 10.000,-  zzgl. Krankenversicherung für einen familienlosen Alleinunternehmer jüngeren bis mittleren Alters nicht ganz falsch angesetzt sein. Immer zu beachten ist hier, dass bei uns nicht – wie etwa bei Angestellten oder Beamten – eine natürliche Einkommenssteigerung mit wachsendem Dienstalter gegeben ist.

Beispiel Zinsrechnung:

Bei einer Einzahlungszeit von 35 Jahren bis Rentenbeginn kann man bei einer Rendite von 2% mit EUR 10.000 jährlich einen Kapitalstock von EUR 500.000 ansparen (Achtung: keinerlei Einzahlungspausen in den 35 Jahren!).

Die angesparten EUR 500.000, die weiterhin mit 2% verzinst werden, ergeben z.B. eine auszuzahlende Rente von monatlich EUR 2000 (https://www.zinsen-berechnen.de/entnahmeplan.php , https://www.zinsen-berechnen.de/sparrechner.php )

Bei der Planung der gewünschten Altersvorsorge bzw. Rente sind Inflation und Kaufkraftverlust zu berücksichtigen.

Autorin:

Julia Böhm, freiberufliche Konferenzdolmetscherin seit 1996. Teamorganisation, Beratung, Fachübersetzen, Untertitelung, Live-Captioning.

Autorin und Referentin rund um die unternehmerische Tätigkeit als Konferenzdolmetscherin für VKD, BDÜ, AIIC, ASTTI seit 2004.

by kywseminar

Confinement Chronicles. Chapter 2. Looking back

Looking back at the beginning of 2020

Lockdown happened so quickly – and in the Fall of 2021 we aren’t fully out of the woods yet!

This photo shows the beginning of 2020. KYW had been to 5 countries (plus our staff were in still other countries for other meetings) all before mid-March, and then boom! 💣

Or should I say Zoom! 🤯

As of March 2020, Know Your Worth seminars pivoted online, targeting what we as freelance interpreters could do to keep earning money when both we AND our clients were scared about the future.

  • We have run online seminars since April.
  • Our community started meeting regularly on Zoom, both to keep in touch and to help each other out by exchanging ideas and information. And we’re still going!
  • We even have a Whatsapp group for the hardy few who want to stay in closer touch!

We’ve all become even more supportive of each other through thick and thin, on multiple platforms. In fact, we can say confidently that we’ve become even better friends with each other since the pandemic began.

So we can’t really say that those crazy lockdown times were all bad!

by kywseminar

An Unexpected Christmas Gift in an Unprecedented Year!

This year, the Troublesome Terps invited me to be a guest on their podcast (tagline: The podcast about things that keep interpreters up at night) – and what fun we had!

The four Terps themselves come from all walks of life: three freelancers, one staff interpreter for an international organization, two researchers. All speak English, though not all are native speakers. And their podcast talks about all things interpreting.

This year, their episodes discussed starting out as an interpreter; how to deal with bullying; issues of mental health in interpreting; interpreting in conflict zones; new ways of working as interpreters; websites for interpreters; taking care of our voice, body and mind; tech for interpreters; and meeting the American Translators Association – as well as an episode on the Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters seminar by yours truly.

Just to be chosen to be on the podcast is great! You can see from the non-exhaustive selection I just mentioned that the guests broaden our knowledge and topics of conversation. And the ability to get the Know Your Worth conversation out to a wider audience was fantastic.

But this year, they held their first ever Episode of the Year and Guest of the Year contest, based on votes from their listeners – and the Know Your Worth episode won both categories!

I knew the podcast was still being listened to – my interpreting students periodically ask me to explain an expression in English, or to write out the Big Mac jingle… But the episode obviously brought all the interpreter listeners information they could use, and that could help them – especially during this crazy year.

So I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Troublesome Terps for inviting me, and to the listeners for voting!

If you liked this article, please connect with me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliapoger/ – and we can continue the conversation!

To listen to the KYW episode of the podcast, please go here.

To listen to The Troublesome Terps, please go here.

by kywseminar

Confinement Chronicles. Chapter 1. Keeping busy

Dear all,

Being surrounded by vast volumes of new information when we’re working means that we get used to the feeling, and miss it sorely when it stops. As conference interpreters we are addicted to constant learning, which is why it is hardly surprising that the idea of having a quiet and lazy confinement didn’t stick. We were barely two weeks into our respective lockdowns, when we started discussing which language to add next, and which CPD course to do now that we suddenly have the time. 

We here at Know Your Worth have been keeping busy too, and over the past two weeks we’ve had not one, but three highly successful editions of our KYW Lockdown Seminar, talking not only about some of our more evergreen principles, and how we’ve been using them rightly and wrongly, but also about the current situation we’re finding ourselves in. 

Some of us were prepared for this crisis, others much less so, which means we can, and should, use this time to make sure we are better prepared both for now and for when this enforced isolation is over.

We looked into ways in which we can help our existing clients, and we talked about weathering this storm, and moving forward into whatever the future holds. We also discussed how to best prepare ourselves for that future, no matter how uncertain it may seem at times, and we enjoyed an incredibly interactive and positive exchange with all of our participants. 

I didn’t expect the on-line format would be this informative, insightful and interactive. 

Libor Nenutil

True, every group felt very different. Different languages, different concerns, different dynamics. But one thing remained constant: at the end we had all become close, just as close as if we had met in person, and no wanted to hang up. 

Thanks again for a wonderful seminar. I have been sending e-mails to relevant clients today, and had one good result already.

Catriona Howard

We saw that with our first group, and we had the exact same feeling when the time came to say goodbye to the next two. 

Which is why we would like to thank you all for that, and to officially welcome you into the KYW family. 

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We would also like to use this opportunity to announce a new edition of our Lockdown Seminar. Based on your comments and impressions, we would like to tweak the format a little bit, moving from one hour and a half long sessions to two hour long ones. This will give us the possibility to focus even more on some of the pricing and negotiating related aspects of the course that you seemed to be particularly interested in. 

We are an evolving course. These are challenging times, and the next several months won’t be easy. But we are determined to help you through this. An important part of our philosophy is that we adapt to offer a programme that would best suit your needs, and best answer the questions you might have, given the current situation on the market. 

April 27 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 1. Your Mindset

April 28 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 2. You

April 29 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 3. Your Client

April 30 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 4. Your Money

All times are listed in Brussels time (GMT+1).

We are currently offering the full webinar series at a special #uncrownthevirus rate of EUR 200, and we are looking forward to sharing these coming weeks with you. 

To sign up, please e-mail us at kyw.seminar@gmail.com, and we’ll walk you through the next steps. 

Please note that the number of participants is limited to 10 people, and we restrict enrollment to those who can make all four parts. 

We will be scheduling more webinars, and releasing more content in the coming weeks, because all of us here at KYW are deeply committed to helping you thrive during this slow period, and on into the future.

Stay healthy, stay in touch, and stay tuned for more updates.

by kywseminar

A New Edition in the Hague

As promised, we have some very exciting news to kick off the New Year: a new edition announcement, and a new location to add to our list! We are delighted to announce that registration is now officially open for the Hague Edition of Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters set to take place on 16–17 February 2019.

Know Your Worth is aimed at any interpreter who wishes to improve relations with clients and prospects, gain more respect, negotiate higher fees, and learn more about the European and US markets.

By examining the mindset underlying the marketing and negotiating tasks that interpreters carry out every day, participants will obtain invaluable tools for marketing their services and negotiating contracts that they may put into practice immediately, whichever market they target.

You will be encouraged to take a step back from your own position, and envision the entire client relationship from new perspectives.

We will address several important questions, such as:

– What can you do to increase your chances of getting the job once you have targeted the client?

– What should you avoid saying, or else the client may never hire you – or anyone else?

– What phrase should always end your conversations with any client?

– How do you increase your chances of earning what you are worth?

The trainer will work with you on your examples, as well as case studies from her own experience, showing how these techniques can be replicated across markets.

We will discuss concepts such as branding, selling, client relationships, pricing, negotiating tricks, and “coopetition,” all illustrated with real-life examples.

During the seminar, Julia draws on parallels with other – often surprisingly similar – professions, and what lessons we could learn from them. She focuses on the upstream work that must be done by the interpreter before advertising his/her services, as well as on the preparation involved before beginning the selling or negotiating process.

So, if you are an interpreter who wishes to improve your relations with clients and prospects, gain more respect, and negotiate higher fees, then this two-day intensive training event is exactly what you need.

The registration process is also very straightforward. All you have to do is send an e-mail to the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com, and we’ll walk you through your next steps.

by kywseminar

Season’s Greetings

This has been an exciting year for us at Know Your Worth, with new editions, new locations, and new people joining the network. Over the course of the past twelve months we’ve hosted editions in Europe, Russia, and the Americas, and we already have a busy schedule for the start of 2019, with new editions scheduled for London and Kyiv, and more exciting news coming up shortly!

In September, our trainer Julia Poger was one of the two keynote speakers at the CIOL Interpreting Division AGM in London, and she also presented – and was invited to join the jury – of the Cosines International Contest for Conference Interpreters for the second year running.

As for our alumni, we have been keen to follow their progress, and are grateful to all who have shared their news and stories with us, as well as photos from other CPD events and conferences they have attended together, or times where they got to share a booth.

It gives us great joy to hear from you, so please keep doing so, and we hope the new year will open new doors for you, and bring you new opportunities to successfully market your services, and negotiate you fees and conditions. And we’ll be there to help along the way.

So, from all of us at Know Your Worth we would like to wish you a beautiful holiday season, and all the best for the coming New Year!

by kywseminar

From UK to Ukraine. A brand new Kyiv Edition

It looks like the coming year will be just as busy and just as exciting as this year has been. It gives us great pleasure to announce our second edition of the coming new year, the first Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters seminar to be held in Kyiv on 26-27 January 2019.

Know Your Worth is aimed at any interpreter who wishes to improve relations with clients and prospects, gain more respect, negotiate higher fees, and learn more about the European and US markets.

By examining the mindset underlying the marketing and negotiating tasks that interpreters carry out every day, participants will obtain invaluable tools for marketing their services and negotiating contracts that they may put into practice immediately, whichever market they target.

You will be encouraged to take a step back from your own position, and envision the entire client relationship from new perspectives.

We will address several important questions, such as:

– What can you do to increase your chances of getting the job once you have targeted the client?

– What should you avoid saying, or else the client may never hire you – or anyone else?

– What phrase should always end your conversations with any client?

– How do you increase your chances of earning what you are worth?

The trainer will work with you on your examples, as well as case studies from her own experience, showing how these techniques can be replicated across markets.

We will discuss concepts such as branding, selling, client relationships, pricing, negotiating tricks, and “coopetition,” all illustrated with real-life examples.

During the seminar, Julia draws on parallels with other – often surprisingly similar – professions, and what lessons we could learn from them. She focuses on the upstream work that must be done by the interpreter before advertising his/her services, as well as on the preparation involved before beginning the selling or negotiating process.

So, if you are an interpreter who wishes to improve your relations with clients and prospects, gain more respect, and negotiate higher fees, then this two-day intensive training event is exactly what you need.

The registration process is also very straightforward. All you have to do is send an e-mail to the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com, and we’ll guide you through your next steps.

var 4 cut

by kywseminar

Moscow Edition. Round Three

Following a relaxing summer – yes, we did need to rest after all of our editions in the Americas – we thought it was high time we returned to Russia, and so the third Moscow Edition of Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters took place this past weekend, on 30 September 2018. And since it just happened to coincide with the International Translation Day we thought we’d start by wishing you a happy belated St Jerome’s Day!

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It was the third time that the seminar was held in Moscow, and the second time we teamed up with the Cosines International Contest for Conference Interpreters, as our instructor Julia Poger joined the jury of this all-Russia turned international competition, and gave a talk on Seeing Structure and the role of analysis in conference interpreting as part of their three-day conference.

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We also thought it was time to experiment, to shake things up a little bit, so we decided to revert to our original, one-day format, and the results were as interesting as they were exciting. We still focused in great detail on marketing and negotiating, and we covered such questions as branding, position, and client relations, but this time the speed was slightly different. True, this meant that everything had to go faster, and was considerably more intense than usual – even though some of you might say it’s hard to imagine things getting even more intense – but that also meant a new rhythm, new dynamics, and a much livelier discussion after the event.

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We started by talking about the mindset necessary for successful marketing, and covered some general principles (as well as a number of highly practical aspects) of pricing and negotiating, all necessary steps in building a more sustainable and much more successful interpreting business. We were also able to devote some time to looking into how the interpreting profession is perceived from the outside, all in order to better understand our potential and existing clients.

The seminar covered all the bases for me. From reaffirming some practices I had tried out tentatively or providing applicable insights into “something that had felt reasonable to do somehow maybe,” to being an eye-opener.
Fedor Makhlayuk

Despite this edition being held in a special one-day format, we still wanted to see our participants brainstorm at least a couple of new cases together, as this often leads to them finding new and exciting solutions to different marketing and negotiating problems. It also means that they are more likely to start implementing the new principles and ideas sooner, and in a more direct manner. And once again we were not disappointed. On the contrary.

We were particularly happy with the way this edition’s participants responded to the new information, and how they took to the format, and all the commentary and remarks showed that they had come prepared, and with a solid understanding of their respective markets, but with an open mind and a desire to learn more, and to figure out how to navigate it better and more efficiently.

It was super helpful and I’ve already used some of the techniques today trying to ask a client some questions rather than blindly giving them my rates.
Natasha Kharikova

We always say that it’s best if people come prepared, and with a well thought through agenda, and with this group this was clearly the case. Perhaps that’s why the one-day format didn’t seem as daunting as we had feared at first, and why it seemed that everyone had found answers to at least some of the questions bothering them, and for that we are immensely grateful.

Notwithstanding my already considerable experience on Russian interpreting market, I’ve learned a whole number of new insights from Julia regarding the principles of self-promotion among prospective clients, psychology of negotiations, ways to convince the customers of the value of interpreting services and the need to pay for them adequately.
Alexey Prokhorenko

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It’s become a tradition of ours by now that we devote considerable attention to the general atmosphere we create at the seminar, and we were extremely lucky – and very grateful – to be able to return for the second year running to the truly incredible Impact Hub Moscow. We would like to thank their team for all their help in the run-up to the seminar, as well on the day, and for making sure our participants had a wonderful time and nothing to worry about, except getting to the seminar, and getting the most out of it.

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Last year we thought that we’d found our perfect Moscow location, and that we could not have possibly wished for a better place to hold the seminar. This time simply proved us right:  a beautiful location in the heart of Moscow, wonderful atmosphere, and lovely people to help along the way – in all honesty we could not have wished for a better place.

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If you would like to hold a Know Your Worth seminar in your area, please contact us via this website, or by contacting the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com.

by kywseminar

Here we go again! Moscow Edition. Round Three

It’s been almost a year since the last Moscow Edition of the Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters seminar, and we thought it was about time we considered returning to Moscow. We also decided to move back to the original one-day format this time, as we follow the Cosines International Interpreting Contest.

This means we are now incredibly happy to announce that the next edition of the seminar will be once again held in Moscow, on 30 September 2018.

Know Your Worth is aimed at any interpreter who wishes to improve relations with clients and prospects, gain more respect, and negotiate higher fees. We plan to boost the one-day format into a comprehensive day, with much of the content of the two-day seminar, a crash course of sorts.

You will be encouraged to take a step back from your own position, and envision the entire client relationship from new perspectives.

By examining the mindset underlying the marketing and negotiating tasks that interpreters carry out every day, participants will obtain invaluable tools for marketing their services and negotiating contracts that they may put into practice immediately, whichever market they target.

We will address several important questions, such as:

– What can you do to increase your chances of getting the job once you have targeted the client?

– What should you avoid saying, or else the client may never hire you – or anyone else?

– What phrase should always end your conversations with any client?

– How do you increase your chances of earning what you are worth?

The trainer will work with you on your examples, as well as case studies from her own experience, showing how these techniques are replicable across markets.

We will discuss concepts such as branding, selling, client relationships, pricing, negotiating tricks, and “coopetition,” all illustrated with real-life examples.

Julia draws on parallels with other – often surprisingly similar – professions, and what lessons we could learn from them. She focuses on the upstream work that must be done by the interpreter before advertising his/her services, as well as on the preparation involved before beginning the selling or negotiating process.

So, if you are an interpreter who wishes to improve your relations with clients and prospects, gain more respect, and negotiate higher fees, then this one-day intensive training event is exactly what you need!

Here’s what some of our past participants have to say:

The KYW training is the fastest path to success for you interpreters out there dreaming of landing THE best clients and THE best deals ever! special thanks to Julia Poger!

Cyril Belange, KYW Paris Edition, 2018
Honestely, I did not expect to have a colleague prepared to confidently share so much knowledge on marketing. I thought we would be talking about our market a few suggestions would be made here and there on how to approach it.
KYW participant, Rio de Janeiro Edition, 2018
Infuriatingly eye-opening.
Melissa Mann, KYW São Paulo Edition, 2018

The registration process is also very straightforward. All you have to do is send an
e-mail to the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com, and we’ll tell you what to do next.

We are also very pleased to announce that we are again teaming up with the Cosines-Pi second International Contest for Simultaneous / Consecutive Interpreters!

Cosines will include our instructor, Julia Poger, as one of the official jury members during the contest – and we will follow the contest with a special one-day Moscow edition of the Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters seminar – all so you won’t have to buy two tickets to Moscow!

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If you are going to be in Moscow, please join us for the contest, which will include 3 days of lectures, round tables, and master classes, and then for a one-day edition of Know Your Worth!

For more information about the contest, please visit their official website at cosines-pi.ru.

by kywseminar

Know Your Worth Gets Ready to Hit New York

It seems that the Know Your Worth community is having its busiest season yet, as following the success of our Know Your Worth marathon, and that of the first ever seminar we held in the USA, we are delighted to announce our return to America, and that registration is now open for our first ever New York Edition.

The seminar will take place on 30 June – 1 July 2018, and we would be very happy to see you there.

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If you are an interpreter who wishes to improve your relationships with clients and prospects, gain more respect, and negotiate higher fees, then this two-day event is exactly what you need!

You will receive two days of tuition, covering essential skills for any interpreter, costing less than one day’s interpreting fee.

You will be encouraged to take a step back from your own position, and envision the entire client relationship from new perspectives.

What is important to explore?

We will examine the mindset underlying the marketing and negotiating tasks that you carry out every day, so you may acquire invaluable tools that will have an immediate effect on your bottom line.

We will address questions such as:

What can you do to increase your chances of getting the job once you have targeted the client?

What should you avoid saying, or else the client may never hire you – or anyone else?

What phrase should always end your conversations with any client?

How do you increase your chances of earning what you are worth?

We will discuss concepts such as branding, selling, client relationships, pricing, negotiating tricks, and “coopetition,” all illustrated with real-life examples.

Julia draws on parallels with other – often surprisingly similar – professions, and what lessons we may learn from them. She focuses on the upstream work and preparation that must be done before the interpreter advertises his/her services, or negotiates any contracts.

To register, please use the link below, and don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.

Register here!

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If you would like to hold a seminar in your area, please contact us via this website, or by contacting the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com.

Please stay tuned for more updates, and don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.

You can also check our Facebook page for regular updates.