I kid, but translators tend to be creatures of the shadows, lurking and scurrying away if you look at them directly in the eyes. The profession does have its fair share of introverts, afterall we are more accustomed to texts and copies than people, but there are good ones out there and ressources to use to find them.
There are the usual places like LinkedIn: it is kind of obvious, so let's move on.
As a freelance translator, the first place is used to get jobs is a very popular website in the translation community named Proz.com, a website that provides a directory of translators and other language professionals, allowing clients to find and hire them for their language needs. It is a portal where clients post a job listing and potential providers can submit how much they would charge for said listing. Proz.com is a great tool to find a translator that works exclusively in their mother tongue and in their own culture. Also, Proz.com allow us to see feedbacks for both clients and services providers. You can find my profile over here, but you can also find other business professionnals in other fields and languages at Proz.com.
You might also want to use the services of a certified translator: they could be certified by a national association like the Canadian Association of Legal Translators (if you are looking for legal translator), OTTIAQ (the professional association for translators, interpreters and terminologist in Quebec) or the American Translators Association. Of course, a very good translator does not have to be a part of an association in order to prove its worth, but it could be seen as a good sign if such a translator do belong to a certifying association.
One quick and easy solution would be to, you know, just ask a collegue or someone working in the field if they have connections: I am mainly working as a English to French-Canadian, but I have been in contact with people that works in different language pairs. Need a English to Italian translator? Of course, that wouldn't be, but I can be of help in case: just drop me an email in the contact page, and I will see if I can find you anyone.
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