Syra Morii has been a member of the JLD for more than 10 years. She has served as the Assistant Administrator since 2023 and will transition to Administrator at ATA66 in Boston. Syra is also an active member of JAT. Her 25 years of freelance experience have honed her skills in many fields including IT, social sciences, business, marketing and more. She now enjoys the perks of working in-house with a fixed schedule. Read more about her transition from a freelance to an in-house role below.
How did you first get started in translation/interpreting (T/I)?
After taking a J-to-E translation course at Inter, a school in Osaka, I started working as a J-to-E freelance translator around the year 2000. I first worked for the translation agency affiliated with the school and part-time at the head office of a major manufacturer. I moved to Tokyo shortly thereafter and went fully freelance. I worked for various agencies and direct clients and branched out into editing, writing and copywriting in addition to translation.
Describe your switch in a nutshell.
I freelanced in translation, editing and writing for around 25 years, while also adding consecutive interpretation to my freelancing career more recently. Then in March 2025, I started working in-house on a full-time basis.
How long did it take you to fully make the switch?
The time between receiving the job offer and starting the job was very quick in my case. I stopped almost all of my freelance work when I transitioned, but there are a couple of ongoing editing and translation projects that I am still wrapping up. My current employer allows this as long as there is not a conflict of interest and it does not interfere with my in-house job. I plan to discontinue all freelance work once the last project wraps up.
What are some of the work/life balance pros and cons about making the switch to in-house work.
The anticipated pros were one of my main drivers to make the change. I had a busy freelance schedule and work would often bleed into the evenings and weekends. With the time difference between Pacific Time, where I am, and Japan Standard Time, where many of my clients were located, I would need to check email several times in the evening in addition to before bed and first thing after waking up. I never felt truly “off” as a freelancer, and this got old after 25 years. I needed a change. In most cases, I can now shut my laptop at the end of the workday and work week and feel truly “off.”
Describe some of the income pros/cons about making the switch to in-house work.
Historically, the accepted rule of thumb seemed to be that freelancing provided a higher income than working in house. My main reason for going freelancer was more due to family circumstances and needing to be home for my kids. That said, I enjoyed steady work in my freelance career and it did provide a stable income. Most of my clients were still based in Japan after I returned to the United States, however, and the sharp depreciation of the yen during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced my freelancer income.
What are some of the job satisfaction pros/cons about making the switch to in-house work.
I was ready for a change (quite burned out) from a long freelancing career. Working at home, alone, all the time was isolating and one source of dissatisfaction. I also wanted to be closer to the end customer, to both be able to better meet their needs and feel more directly involved in the process. I had great long-term clients in my freelance career and appreciate them very much, but I needed a change. In my current in-house role, I am part of a large team of language professionals and enjoy working with my colleagues and with the other teams that we provide our services to.
One con would be having to I work later in the evenings than the average worker in the United States. I am based on the West Coast and still work with in-house teams in Japan, so the time zone difference is still there. However, this is offset by starting work later in the morning, which gives me an opportunity to exercise and/or do other activities early in my day.
What was it like making the switch?
I was working a lot as a freelancer, so in terms of overall hours, I am working about the same or less, but with better work–life balance. There has been an adjustment with how I think about time and my schedule—I now have to be accountable to my team and my boss during my set working hours instead of making my own schedule. I can’t just go walk the dog after lunch when I need a break or an energy boost.
I also needed to coordinate handing off projects to other translators for several long-term clients with whom I had been working for a decade or much longer. They were boutique agencies or only used a select group of translators, and my leaving impacted their work. I wanted to maintain good standing with them, so I did things like introduce other freelance translators to them.
Overall it has been a very smooth adjustment, maybe because I was ready for the change. It certainly helped that I was already freelancing for my current employer, so I was familiar with my new job, coworkers, the schedule, etc.
What has been the biggest benefit of making the switch?
I am based in the U.S. but am now in a quasi-Japanese environment where I work with other translators, interpreters and bilingual colleagues. As a freelancer, outside of my assignments I used Japanese professionally in emails, with the occasional phone or video call. Now I use Japanese professionally every day in face-to-face communication in a wide range of situations both casual and formal. I miss many things about living in Japan and welcome this aspect of my new position. It’s also a great opportunity for ongoing professional growth.
I also have the opportunity to work with and learn more technical and IT content, which is another opportunity for professional growth.
If you could change one thing about your current work life, what would it be and why?
That is hard! I suppose it would be not having to do time tracking and activity reporting. I’m used to managing my schedule by myself, so it’s been an adjustment to be accountable to a boss and a team.
What advice can you give to people who want to make the switch?
Reach out to people doing what you want to do. LinkedIn and the ATA/JLD are great resources for that. You can set up informational interviews with people who have the kind of job you want and ask focused questions. The more information you can get early on, the better positioned you will be when making the switch. If you want to go freelance, I would contact agencies and take their tests months before actually planning to transition. It can take quite a long time from the initial contact before you actually get work through an agency, even in the best of scenarios.
Finances are also obviously a factor when making the switch. Freelancing especially requires you to manage your own tax payments and have enough of a buffer to absorb longer payment timelines and dry spells. You need to plan for different scenarios and budget accordingly.
When going in-house, giving notice to your freelance clients is also important! You want to make the transition smooth for your clients and not burn any bridges. I had a relatively quick transition and wish I had been able to give my clients more advance warning.
No matter where you are in the process of switching, building on your skills is vital. I have taken various professional development courses, self-paced online courses, and community college courses over the past several years, which have been professionally and personally rewarding. Regardless of whether you work freelance or in-house, you can never stop learning.
Edited by: audra lincoln, Syra Morii
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