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[WillowLuman]

Definitely better for me vis a vis fatigue and repetitive stress injuries.

I work 0 hour weeks over 0 days.

'Cause I'm just unemployable like that.

That is rough.

[Eric Blank]

Try small businesses in your area. Less likely to run you through an online application process and actually get you an interview. Managements not as strenuous about who gets through hr. Bad news, management might not be very competent at all. But proving you can function without management makes you even more hireable!

[Kagus]

Try small businesses in your area. Less likely to run you through an online application process and actually get you an interview. Managements not as strenuous about who gets through hr. Bad news, management might not be very competent at all. But proving you can function without management makes you even more hireable!

Business and employment are rather strictly controlled in Norway for the most part; with the plus side being that if you can get a full position someplace, you have actual rights and a living wage, and are more or less able to keep that job for as long as you want.

My problem, you see, is that I have never been gainfully employed in my life. Nor do I have an education. Or a car/license. Or applicable experience in... Anything. Plus I have a mental illness that does not handle stress particularly well, as evidenced by the three half-days I spent stocking shelves at a local grocer sending me spiralling into a breakdown that had me sobbing all the way home and bloodying my hands by punching street ice every night.

Also my locale happens to feature three times as many registered unemployed as it does open job positions. This includes high-requirement positions such as Registered Nurses.


But hey, I'm officially fucked up enough to get disability benefits, so at least I'm not broke! And the ladies definitely love their welfare daddies...

[Il Palazzo]

Have you thought about freelancing from home? There's gotta be demand for English-Norwegian translators.

[Kagus]

Have you thought about freelancing from home? There's gotta be demand for English-Norwegian translators.

Everyone learns English in school, and I don't have any credentials to prove that I'm a better translator than the average high schooler.

I am a better translator than the average high schooler, but I don't have any credentials to prove it... And oh lawdy does Norway love its credentials!


But to be honest, I hadn't really considered it much. Haven't the foggiest idea what's even involved with trying to rise above the rabble and make money off of being bilingual.

[Egan_BW]

14160 posts on an english speaking forum is a solid statistic, at least. :V

Over the course of 11 years, you're either good with the language or at least very persistent.

[Kagus]

14160 posts on an english speaking forum is a solid statistic, at least. :V

Over the course of 11 years, you're either good with the language or at least very persistent.

I grew up in the US, Norwegian is my second language. That's the trickier one for me to prove that I'm fluent in... I took the basic competency test that's required for anyone pursuing higher education here, and I passed it, but it wasn't a phenomenal score.

And while I do have a Facebook quiz result placing me in the top 0.1% of English-speakers, I have my doubts as to how many employers would take that seriously, heh.


Actually I do have the results for the English Comprehension and English Composition exams I took as basically a cheat to count as a year of college studies, but in and of themselves I don't think they're good for anything. Not part of a proper degree or coordinated program.

[Frumple]

But to be honest, I hadn't really considered it much. Haven't the foggiest idea what's even involved with trying to rise above the rabble and make money off of being bilingual.

Well, first you poke around and find someone that's looking for help, and help them. Then you do it again, and repeat until people notice. Maybe gussy up a website or patreon offering commission work. You don't actually need to rise above the rabble to make money, really. Just manage to get yourself into the rabble being paid.

The big thing with translation work, from what I understand, isn't so much capability as persistence and consistency. There fucking boatloads of bilingual people but far, far fewer willing to put the time and effort into localization and particularly without buggering off into the distance half way through a project. If you can prove yourself willing and consistently not bugger off for a while you'll probably get some attention.

[Il Palazzo]

Disclaimer: This is speaking from experience in a different job market than Norwegian, but I imagine many aspects *cough* translate across borders.
It's not that you have to have some crazy credentials to do the regular translation jobs. I.e. not sworn translations or translating for the EU, UN etc. Showing a proof of your ability - e.g. a paragraph or two of some random translated text - should be enough for starters. Later on you'll have the working experience as well.
There's a whole lot of unglamorous stuff that has to be done by somebody, often not because anyone strictly needs it, but because the law requires it, or some manager thought it would make their company look good to have bilingual everything.
Like translating operation and maintenance manuals or health and safety notifications, etc. for new products or industrial machinery. Or tender documentation for some construction project that needs to be posted on official boards. Or some correspondence between small businesses.

Oftentimes half of the job is typing the thing and formatting the document (because the original was in PDF or a scan of some old paper pages). Remember that any business that for whatever reason has to translate something has a few choices - either tell one of their employees to do it on their (paid) time, hire a translator on a permanent position, or contract the job to an agency. That's where you come in.
Contact some translation agencies (don't have to be in Norway), tell them you're looking to get your foot in the door in the business. Send them some examples of what you can do (a few paragraphs on different topics) - or they might ask you to translate a short bit of their own. They'll likely put you down on their stable of contacts, because even if you're not that great, sometimes there's just nobody else available and their clients can ask for a job to be done by tomorrow.
Then you just sit on your arse and wait for them to contact you. From then on being reliable and not picky about taking jobs counts for more than having credentials.

(Oh, and being a 'native' Amerrhicun counts for a lot - general preference is for the target language to be a native one)

[ChairmanPoo]

I thunk in Europe translators should be licensed translators in principle. At least for serious work.

[Il Palazzo]

As I mentioned, most of the work in the industry doesn't require being licensed. It pays less, so you have to work more, but it's also less demanding and still provides for a relatively comfy living.

[bloop_bleep]

14160 posts on an english speaking forum is a solid statistic, at least. :V

Over the course of 11 years, you're either good with the language or at least very persistent.

I grew up in the US, Norwegian is my second language. That's the trickier one for me to prove that I'm fluent in... I took the basic competency test that's required for anyone pursuing higher education here, and I passed it, but it wasn't a phenomenal score.

Maybe spend 11 years posting on a Norwegian-speaking forum?

[Yoink]

Better get started, then.
My happy: it would appear shrooms still work for me despite my medication.

[overseer05-15]

did they make you taller

[NJW2000]

I saw a sheep give birth to triplets yesterday. Pretty happy about that.