"Marc" <box526TR@spamtrap.net> wrote in message
news:kbwPb.97155$sv6.400319@attbi_s52...
> It has been about 10 years since I did any translations professionally,
and
> I never pursued it seriously, although it was decent money for a grad
> student. What are the possibilities for making this a real 2nd job?

Quite possible.

It has even been rumored that some people manage to make a living at it!

>Anyone
> have an idea of how much money one can make translating pharmaceutical
> documents, patents, etc. from Japanese to English. I would set myself up
as
> an independent, not via an agency, I could probably get my own contacts in
> the Japanese and US pharamceutical industry, and it would be part-time.

You've done it before, so you should have an idea of what it pays. Your
income will be determined by
- what you can get for it
- how much work you do (function of how much you can get and how much you
can/want to actually do)

In general, my experience has been that it seems like a lot of money before
you're making it, then seems somewhat normal as you get used to it.
Naturally, YMMV.

In your case, your work contacts should help you get a few off jobs, unless
you've impressed them very unfavorably with your Japanese abilities.

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom