I've worked in the language field for about 18 years. I translate medical content and I survived the 2008 recession at this one fucking job I had.
It was my first “professional” job out of graduate school. I moved to the East Coast for this job. Being from the dirty south, and not having grown up in stable circumstances, I just did not know how to think about this job and had relied on bad advice from people in my life. My grandparents were scammers and very entitled types who were not particularly talented. My mother could get jobs and was a hard worker, but did not understand how to manage money and kept getting caught embezzling money.
Like many others who were raised by boomers and early-genXers, I had been fed the bullshit line “work hard and show them you're a good hand and the boss man will reward you.” That was the first lie. I also had fallen victim to the US propaganda that says “you can be anything you want to be” and if you'll be successful and promoted based on “merit.”
I learned foreign languages, I love foreign languages and cultures – mainly because I already know American culture and frankly, McDonald's, Nascar, being woefully ignorant and proud just weren't my thing – though, I do love convenience, and I cannot help but feel the pull to be individualistic and contrary. I was raised in the US after all.
When I took the job on the East Coast, I already spoke 3 languages, was in my mid-20s, had a terminal degree, and saw the move as an opportunity (primarily, b/c it was the only job offer I had gotten in my field). I drove 2000 miles and had to figure out how to live in my car where no one would notice for the first month b/c I had no money and a credit card with a 5K limit that had 1.2K on it already. I was getting paid 23 dollars an hour, was 139K in debt from my education, my car was 10 years old at the time and the only thing I owned was a laptop, clothes, toiletries, and a candy-bar-shaped cellphone. I found people who would let me pay them to shower on Craig's list, and after a month of salary (and after some convincing), I was able to find a roommate situation with 4 other guys who were recent graduates.
I worked at this job for a few years and worked hard and kept getting promised a raise. I did my job, I did my colleagues' jobs, I learned how to manage shit that was out of my purview, I would follow the “raise” plans and I never got a raise. The 2008 financial crisis hit and I managed to stay employed. Like many translators, I am very much an introvert. I spent years living in something akin to a boarding house where the only common area was a bathroom I had to share.
After 4 years working at this place, I realized that I would never get a raise and I was super fucking pissed about it. So, I stopped being amenable to my colleagues' requests (now expectations) to do their jobs. I was only going to do mine. One thing I did learn how to do in those six years was work quickly and efficiently. We had revenue responsibility, which was calculated in a weird way b/c my department was operations and not sales. I managed translation projects and dealt with outsourcing and linguistics, but did not interact directly with clients. My “revenue responsibility” was at 2 million per year, and the next colleague to me was at 750K. There were 9 of us on the team and the whole amount of revenue for our department was at 6 million (7 people were managing 3.25 K).
What the majority of my colleagues could do in 10 hours I could do in 4. I used that to my advantage the last 6 years working there and no one was any wiser. I still managed 2 million a year and would pad that fucking time sheet hardcore. I kept getting passed up for promotions. But, it was fine. I lived poor, put many things off, didn't go on a vacation for 8 years, and never developed any hobbies, but I did start translating on the side 4 years before I quit b/c I finally had a niche that I was good at. I ended up continuing to live poor, moved to a cheaper state, and was able to work remotely, paid off all of my student loan debt and things were just finally starting to look up then we got a new manager.
I had trained this “person,” and I'd always been helpful to her. When she got the new title, she decided I was a problem and that I needed to be put in my place. Well, after a few months of that, I was finished. I sent in a letter of resignation to HR and said they had 4 weeks to get whatever information they wanted out of me. Then, I contacted the global head of vendor management and set up an account with them and hoped they qualified me to be a freelancer.
I did nothing those 4 weeks, the manager was trying to be a tyrant, and I told her she could fire me or she could try to get the information that she felt was missing from my very detailed accounts, but being that I was managing 1/3 of the accounts, she was having a hard time. She would get shitty with me on phone calls and I would just hang up. I also explained to them if anyone called me after about these accounts and not about freelance work, they would have to pay a consulting fee (which I also negotiated with the vendor manager) and the minimum charge would be 2-hours.
Anyway, I would say to anyone who is younger than me or who is not doing what I did that I really admire y'all for not forgoing a life and allowing yourselves to be disrespected. If I could go back and tell my younger self not to do it I would.
- I would have done something that was more lucrative and made languages a hobby.
- I would have spent more time getting myself in order and learning how to make friends and understanding who I was as a person
- I would have focused more on making a life that I like, instead of trying to prove to the world I wasn't a dumb piece of shit from a broken home in the south (spent a lot more time keeping my ego in check).
All of those things I did, all of the work I put in, and all of the sacrifices I made were not worth it. I am 40, have never had a relationship of note, don't like many people, hate my work even though I own the business now, and I am still living fairly poor and frugal though I have more free time. The bummer is that – with all this free time 0150 I have no idea what to do with it. Despite having been gone from corporate life for about 5 years, I am still recovering from the burnout, frustration, and feeling like everything I ever learned was a lie just to make some mediocre piece of shit a lot of money. I am bitter and I don't know if that will ever change. Y'all are much better for not accepting what I did.
I commend you all.