There are surprisingly few web-based sources of translation work that I have been able to find. Most of the sources that I have found are either newsgroups or discussion lists - both of which are email based (but you can also use some of these on the web). The main reason for this is probably speed of dissemination of information. A web site just sits there and waits for people to come along and visit. Email mailing list/ newsgroup info is delivered effortlessly onto people's desktops every time they log on. Hence their popularity for things like job opportunities, which may require a quick response. So, first I will cover mailing lists, then newsgroups, then subscription based services.

Mailing lists

TJO Translation Job Opportunities

[egroups was taken over by Yahoo! in 2000. This group no longer exists, but another one http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tr_jobs has replaced it.]

Translation Job Opportunities (TJO) is a free subscription based job opportunity listing service started originally by Karin Adamczyk and now run by Janos Fazakas. It is hosted by egroups.com, a very popular free mailing list hosting service, who make their money by attaching a short but not-too-annoying advertisement at the bottom of all emails they send out. It also has "read it on the web" and "digest" options so that you don't have to receive all the emails unless you choose to. Current volume is an average of around 7 messages per day (although this can fluctuate a lot) from many sources all over the place. Members post job listings that they have found. Only members can post to the list so it remains pretty much free of spam. There is also a searchable archive of past messages.

LANTRA-L Mailing List

This is a high volume mailing list of translators and interpreters. It includes some job postings, and many other subjects interesting to translators - some messages are just chat. There are about 150 messages per day, but there is also a "digest" and "switch off messages" option if you find the volume too high, or are going on holiday and don't want to come back to a thousand email messages in your inbox!

A comprehensive Lantra FAQ can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7110/ltr2.htm
and a searchable archive at http://segate.sunet.se/archives/lantra-l.html

U-jobs - German language jobs list (often these jobs are also posted to TJO)

U-JOBS - worldwide list for the German language market. The Listserver (for subscription infomation) is mailto:listserv@twh.nbg.de

Langit - Italian translators discussion list

As with U-jobs, I don't know very much about Langit because I don't know Italian, but I do know that jobs are sometimes posted to it, because I've seen them referred to in TJO. The following web site is in Italian, so if you are interested in LANGIT you might like to check it out. http://pages.inrete.it/farrell/langit.html

SPtranslators

Although not specifically translation job related there will inevitably be job postings in it. I thought this group worth including because it is still quite young (set up by Mary Maloof in October 1998). SPtranslators deals with all aspects of Spanish < > English translation and was set up as a forum for Spanish translators who are not necessarily on Compuserve. As Mary says...

"Translators who aren't CompuServe members have been in need of a similar forum (to FLEFO), but nothing like that has existed on the Internet until now, at least to my knowledge.

On the CompuServe forum, translators discuss myriad issues and problems, ask one another about obscure and archaic words, trade all sorts of tips, and even upload personal glossaries, articles, and reference materials for the benefit of the other members. This group has the potential to evolve into the same sort of thing.

We translators can't work in a vacuum -- we need all the help and mutual support we can get!!!"
I certainly agree with that - that's why I started tranfree and translatortips.com There are currently 49 subscribers to SPtranslators. If you want to join them go to... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sptranslators

Usenet Newsgroups

Many translators 'hang out' at the following internet newsgroups where translation jobs are posted:

sci.lang.translation.marketplace (sltm)
& sci.lang.translation (slt)

although people shouldn't post jobs to slt (that's what sltm was created for) they quite often do.

If you don't already read slt and sltm they are quite worthwhile newsgroups. You can also get help with translation problems you may be having. There is usually someone around who can lend a hand if you can't find a word etc. But before posting to any newsgroup you should read the FAQ (frequently asked questions) to ensure that your posting is appropriate. Groups with the word 'marketplace' in the name are a bit of a free-for-all, but slt does have an FAQ which is updated and posted to the group every month by John Woodgate. It is becoming an excellent resource of FREE information for translators.

The following is an example 'ad' taken from sltm on 21 June 99. I have included it because it also has a reference to freelance applications at the bottom, which may interest some of you.

"TRANSLATORS WANTED: TEAM MEMBERS AND TEAM LEADERS

SDL International (http://www.sdlintl.com) is a leading supplier of localisation services to the IT, e-business & Multimedia industries (our clients include Adobe, Corel, HP, Adaptec, Kodak, Novell, Sony, Interplay...). Due to continuous growth, we are continuously looking for technical translators of all major European, Asian and South American Languages to join on a permanent basis our multilingual in-house localisation teams in the UK.

---SNIP---

Position based at our UK headquarters, in Maidenhead near London. Please fax or email CVs to Margarita Holguin, SDL International Fax: +44 1628 416 305 mailto:mholguin@sdlintl.com Please include the reference "SCI June99 /P" in the subject header, or "SCI June99 /F" if applying for freelance work only."

Radek Pletka's job list

Radek collects information from all of the following sources and more. He has a network of people who regularly send information from particular sources:

A search is done in 87 major US newspapers by the keywords: translator, translators, interpreter, interpreters, linguist and linguists. Also included are job postings from CompuServe Flefo, sci.lang.translation, sci.lang.translation.marketplace, Lantra-L, Aquarius and contributions from other list members.

Radek's job list is distributed by email every week as a zipped text file. The 13 June 1999 edition contains over 24,000 words spread over 74 pages (when I opened the file in Word). This is a very comprehensive collection of job offers all around the world. If you want to save yourself time and money you really should consider subscribing to Radek's list. It only costs $30 per year and in my opinion is worth every penny. To subscribe, simply visit http://www.translation-agencies.com (This product is no longer available from translation-agencies.com, but there is other interesting stuff there.)

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