Niamh Lynch is in Madrid, five and a half months into her career as a translator. 14 days to go The real countdown has started – my six-month contract ends in precisely 14 days. There are plenty of things to get sorted, but the office is quiet, very quiet, and a type of all-consuming lethargy has taken me over. I have plenty of things I could be doing myself, but I just couldn’t be bothered.
Now that they have moved me into my own office (for space reasons, but I like to tell myself that it’s due to my seniority), I have even more room to do whatever I want with impunity, but, after spending all of Monday trying to find out what the bit of a door handle that screws onto the door is called, my will to do work of any kind (not to mention the will to live!) disappeared. By the way, it’s called a handle plate, should it ever come up in a crossword… The job hunt is going well, and I have pretty much decided to freelance unless something interesting comes along. The general plan is to stay here until September, at which point I’ll return home. It has to be said, I’ll be going home largely for my boyfriend, because at that point, if everything goes smoothly, we will have been in a long-distance relationship for a year, which I think is enough for anyone. His line of work (maths research) isn’t something that Spain excels at (but don’t tell the Spanish I said that!) so him joining me isn’t really an option. The freelancing is looking promising: I have one company in Valencia that I have done all the tests for and have been added to their database as a freelancer, the place I work for at the moment have asked me if I would like to freelance for them after I leave, and I am talking to a magazine about freelance writing, editing and translation. Hello to Hello magazineThe full-time options are bitty, but still coming. The fancy law firm turned me down, but then sent a very nice email saying that it was only because I didn’t have enough legal experience, and it was nothing to do with my translation skills, which made me feel better. They then offered me a part time job as PA to a partner, which would be a great way of getting that experience. I’m still talking to them about it though, and haven’t decided either way. I have a test and interview next week with a slightly less fancy law firm, and have sent an application to…wait for it… Hello Magazine, who are looking for a translator/editor! What the reality of the job would be like I don’t know, but I’m hoping to at least get an interview for the craic of being able to say ‘Yeah, had an interview with “Hello” today…’! I am quite excited about the prospect of freelancing though. One of the biggest reasons why I went back to college to study translation was because the idea of the 9-5 terrified me. I hate sticking to a schedule, and if I am awake at 11pm and want to get some work done, I don’t want to have to wait 10 hours to do it. I’m not saying that I’ll never work in an office again, but I want the option of not having to if I don’t fancy it. It hit home that being self-employed has drawbacks though; I’m also looking for a new flat, with no flatmates. In more than one ad the final words are: ‘Work contract essential’, and banks and businesses are notoriously terrified of the self-employed. People have pointed out that I might get a bit isolated working from home. I think in many other circumstances that is quite possible, but here in Madrid I live so centrally, and the lifestyle is so social, that I think I would have to make a deliberate effort to avoid people. I am a bit worried that I will get blasé about putting in 8 hours a day, but will really only find out if I can come up with the goods when I am actually doing it. If the money isn’t coming in as fast as I would like, I’ve always got the English teaching to fall back on, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that because, for me, that would be almost as bad as a 9-5! Share your comments about Niamh's blog Read Niamh's previous job logs |
