When I first applied to translation and subtitling agencies, I assumed a clean résumé and good language skills were enough.
They weren’t.
Here are the 4 lessons I wish I had known back then:
1. Agencies want relevance, not everything you’ve ever done.
My first CV had unrelated jobs, long paragraphs, and zero focus.
A translation résumé should highlight:
- specialization
- language pairs
- CAT tools / subtitling platforms you use
- test results, certificates, etc.
2. They scan for proof of ability, not claims.
Saying “I translate EN>ES” means little.
Showing three short samples is 10x stronger.
3. They prefer translators who understand workflow.
If you mention:
- file formats you handle (CSV, PDF, XML | SRT, TTML, STL, burned-in)
- QA tools you know
- style guides you follow
- …you stand out immediately.
4. “Professional communication” is part of the test.
I didn’t know this.
Your first email already shows your clarity, tone, and reliability.
I’m sharing these because I see a lot of beginners making the same mistakes I made. If you want the full breakdown and examples, here are the ebooks I wrote about starting a career in translation and subtitling: https://payhip.com/FreelanceTranslatorHub
