Jobs at Astrodienst

Translators for Russian

Astrodienst currently offers astrological services in ten languages via its website. Now we want to extend our services to Russian.

What has to be translated?

1. Text of our free online horoscope readings. The total volume of this material is 2500 pages of English text; at least 1500 pages need to be translated to offer a meaningful subset of free services.
2. Text of the Astro*Intelligence professional reports. The total volume is over 5000 pages; at least 2500 pages need to be translated in the first phase of the project.

How many translators are needed?

We want to hire two or three translators, who get paid at professional rates as they are typical for book translations from English into Russian. We expect the translators to work full time for the duration of the project which we estimate to be 6 to 12 months.

In addition to the actual translators, we need one or two quality supervisors. The task of the quality supervisors is to stay in close contact with us throughout the project and verify the continuous quality of the work delivered by the translators. The supervision is not a full-time job.

What are the required qualifications?

We would like the translators to be native speakers of the target language Russian and they should actually live in the area where their language is spoken. They need to have excellent understanding of modern English, both spoken and written. Considerable background knowledge in western psychology and literature is expected. Familiarity with the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung would be a special advantage. Familiarity with astrological terminology is needed to a certain extent. However, most of the text material can be considered "psychological writing". Please see the example reports at www.astro.com/samples/samples_e.htm (click on the [en] links for English language originals).

The translators should be able to give proof of their qualifications by providing references for similar professional work in the past and by making sample translations of up to 10 pages during the job application period. The text for this sample translation will be provided by Astrodienst and will be the same for all applicants. The samples will be evaluated according to certain criteria which are the same for all samples.

Supervisors should hold similar qualifications and have a talent for critical supervision of translation quality.

How to apply?

Please send your application to our foreign language editor, Trudy Baumann, trudy (ät) astro.com. Please also include your CV and references for translation work you have done so far.

Frequently asked questions

How much do you pay?

We pay to the translators a fee per page, as it is typical for book translations by free lance professional translators in the country where the translator resides. We need high quality translations but do not have unlimited funds. The actual fee will have to be negotiated and depends both on the translator's professional standing and the market situation for free lance translators.
Translation companies often employ translators at low pay, but charge the customers, i.e. us, high fees. This is why Astrodienst does not work with translation companies, but seeks to work with free lance translators directly.

I have a translator friend. Can he/she apply?

Yes, please give him/her the link to this page.

Can volunteers also contribute to the project?

There are areas on our website with a collection of astrological articles, introductions to various themes etc, which are not essential for using the website or for getting personal horoscopes. Many of these articles have been contributed by volunteer writers, to spread astrological knowledge further on this planet. We hope that there will also be volunteer translators who can contribute in translating such articles. The translation quality does not have to be as high as it is in the personal horoscope area. This gives also volunteer translators a chance who would not qualify for the main part of the project. Volunteers for this part of the website are expected to work for free, or for a small nominal fee.

Where to apply?

The email address of Trudy Baumann is given above in coded form. This is to prevent a flood of spam to her email. If you read the address, you will understand how to type it in your mail program. trudy (at) will become trudy@, and astro dot com will become astro.com
Please send your professional resume (also known as curriculum vitae or CV), including your date, time and place of birth, and a list of references for translation work in the past.