Requirements to earn a high income as a technical translator

In another article, I outlined the requirements to be a good technical translator. As in any career, being good doesn’t automatically mean earning a lot. In our field, there are three main paths to high income:

Work for an international organisation (mainly the United Nations or the European Union). If you’re on staff at a company, it’s unlikely you’ll be well paid. I speak from experience: I’ve been offered in-house roles at solid engineering firms and LSPs.
Build a translation agency. Outside this article’s scope.
Work as a freelance translator.

To earn serious money as a freelancer, you need these business skills:

IT literacy and curiosity to learn and use the best neural MT models effectively.
Planning and prioritisation. It’s common to juggle five or more projects while new offers keep coming. Learn to spot potential pitfalls early—either decline or price accordingly. Over time, specialise: the deeper your niche, the faster and better you’ll translate.
Financial analysis. Are you over-reliant on one client? Which clients/fields are most profitable? Are you claiming every allowable expense?
Communication. Clear, confident written and spoken communication.

Beyond these general freelance skills, technical translators have an extra requirement: mastery of CAT tools. Their main benefit is leveraging repetitions so you don’t translate the same sentence twice. Technical content is repetition-heavy (manuals for model variants, similar patents, specs), so CAT tools can multiply productivity. The better you use them, the more matches they find, the faster you deliver—and the more you earn. They also boost quality (consistency, accuracy).

For more on translator income, see my separate page where I estimate translators' typical earnings.