| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Professional vs. Unprofessional ways to get work Thread poster: geogroup
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| But that's exactly what I meant | Sep 4, 2014 |
Anton Konashenok wrote:
Translations are not a commodity, and you cannot tell whether you can take a given job and how much effort it will require until you actually see the text. You may standardise your rates for convenience, but sooner or later you will be facing a job that just doesn't fit into a simple rate structure.
I have a dream.
That someday we translators (including myself) will just stop selling translations by the yard. Every project is unique, and wordcount is ONE of the many factors that should be taken into account.
That's what I meant when I said that quoting on a per-project basis is NOT unprofessional.
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Alessandra Maugeri wrote:
That's what I meant when I said that quoting on a per-project basis is NOT unprofessional.
Oh... Then it's a slight linguistic confusion: "all but unprofessional" = "almost unprofessional, bordering on unprofessional", but "anything but unprofessional" = "not unprofessional at all"
| | | | jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 10:51
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| I tried to contract a job to a Chinese guy but he even refused to provide his resume | Sep 4, 2014 |
He said, "I don't want to distribute my resume everywhere but if you want to use my service, I can do a free test for you".
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 10:51
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
There's something I don't get about this. The OP is a company that has recently been sending me multiple requests for forms to be filled out, email addresses of references they want to contact (which I don't provide on principle) and other demands for documentation. This is even though I have already done 6 small jobs for them over the last 4 years. They have been a good client, even if small, so I'm not sure why they are doing this.
When I read the letter, my thought was, wow, t... See more There's something I don't get about this. The OP is a company that has recently been sending me multiple requests for forms to be filled out, email addresses of references they want to contact (which I don't provide on principle) and other demands for documentation. This is even though I have already done 6 small jobs for them over the last 4 years. They have been a good client, even if small, so I'm not sure why they are doing this.
When I read the letter, my thought was, wow, this translator has been really annoyed in some way. I think now I'm beginning to understand the translator, but I don't really understand the OP's reason for posting this. ▲ Collapse
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| "Punish one, ... | Sep 5, 2014 |
... frighten one hundred"
John Fossey wrote:
but I don't really understand the OP's reason for posting this.
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 22:51
Chinese to English
| Publishing private emails? | Sep 5, 2014 |
Also, I'm not at all sure about the ethics of publishing a private email in full (without permission). I know it's been anonymised, but I still think it's a rather iffy thing to do. Quotes from an email are fine, but the whole thing..?
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... the grade of the outsourcer´s professionalism, backed by a BlueBoard average of almost 5, showing that all were glad at least being paid.
Phil Hand wrote:
Also, I'm not at all sure about the ethics of publishing a private email in full (without permission)
| | | | Diana Obermeyer
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:51
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
| Who's unprofessional here? | Sep 5, 2014 |
John Fossey wrote:
When I read the letter, my thought was, wow, this translator has been really annoyed in some way. I think now I'm beginning to understand the translator, but I don't really understand the OP's reason for posting this.
I can certainly understand the translator here. There's far too many agencies that assume all translators are sitting around twiddling their thumbs, desperately waiting for the next job.
I fully understand that some form-filling may be required, but this should happen in the next step - once a specific agreement for a specific job is in place and this specific job is assigned. I also get irritated when I'm asked to waste my precious time ***just*** to be added to a database. Whenever an agency requests that, I loose all interest in working with them. It tells me that they don't value or respect me or my time. Why should I fight for an outsourcer like that? There are plenty of GOOD clients, agencies and direct clients alike, who understand what MY job entails.
I will be polite in the first response, but a lot more direct in the next one.
Just yesterday, I had a similar enquiry to provide all sorts of documentation to an agency, which also had a legal text on a rush schedule that they wanted to offer me for $x/word with a payment term of 45 days. I replied with my rate range for a legal rush job at 3x-4x, stating that the exact price would depend on the text, my payment terms and that I would see to the documentation once they confirm that they are willing to pay MY rate on MY terms. Their reply was "I strongly recommend you accept our rate, because we have regular work. Now please send us all this documentation and references." Really? Well I'm afraid, this is when diplomacy goes out the window. Why on earth should I invest that time for an outsourcer that can't pay me anyway???
I'm afraid the translator has a valid point when stating the schedule for the assignment of projects.
The procedure is as follows:
1) You have work,
2) You send me the source texts to evaluate,
3) You get a quotation of costs in return,
4) which you can accept or decline according to your budget,
5) if you say "yes" we are in business,
6) if you decline we are not.
This is what a professional workflow looks like. Everything else is a waste of time. Wasting time is unprofessional. That would be the agency making this request.
Posting communication online is unprofessional. That would also be the agency doing that.
Assuming that everyone is desperate for work is unprofessional. Again, this is the agency.
Publicly announcing that one doesn't take less desperate service provider seriously is unprofessional. Ooops, also the agency.
Nuff said.
[Edited at 2014-09-05 08:11 GMT]
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christenino
Austria
Local time: 16:51
English to German
+ ...
to see how quickly a laugh on Thursday morning turns into a backfire effect on Friday...
| | | | | Professional vs. unprofessional | Sep 5, 2014 |
I just can't wrap my mind around what prompted the translator to be so annoyed and bad-mannered but apparently he/she was right as posting a private email in full seems highly unethical and unprofessional!
| | | | deleted. (X)
Australia
Local time: 11:51
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Unprofessional | Sep 5, 2014 |
As Sheila has said, this email seems to be the last of a series of email exchanges and we wouldn’t know why the translator was upset until we have read all the previous emails. But the vendor manager obviously did not share the previous emails with her colleagues or with the OP, and OP formed his opinion based on the tone of this last email without bothering to enquire about the ins and outs of this whole affair, and ignoring the valid points raised in the translator's email.
Fro... See more As Sheila has said, this email seems to be the last of a series of email exchanges and we wouldn’t know why the translator was upset until we have read all the previous emails. But the vendor manager obviously did not share the previous emails with her colleagues or with the OP, and OP formed his opinion based on the tone of this last email without bothering to enquire about the ins and outs of this whole affair, and ignoring the valid points raised in the translator's email.
From what I can see, while the translator’s tone is unprofessional (though we do not know what triggered this), this agency’s handling of this translation job is also unprofessional. I think it is a good thing that this translator did not take this agency as his client. I cannot imagine a good working relationship based on mutual respect formed between these two. ▲ Collapse
| | | | P.L.F. Persio
Netherlands
Local time: 16:51
Member (2010)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Sums it up perfectly | Sep 5, 2014 |
christenino wrote:
Interesting to see how quickly a laugh on Thursday morning turns into a backfire effect on Friday...
We really do need a Like button.
I agree with almost everybody here. It's heartening to see such a strong support for a colleague who stands his ground firmly.
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Vera Schoen
Sweden
Local time: 16:51
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
missdutch wrote: christenino wrote:
Interesting to see how quickly a laugh on Thursday morning turns into a backfire effect on Friday... We really do need a Like button. I agree with almost everybody here. It's heartening to see such a strong support for a colleague who stands his ground firmly.
I believe the agency may have (as we say in Sweden) shot itself in the foot
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 16:51
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Yes, especially coming from a business person | Sep 5, 2014 |
Phil Hand wrote:
Also, I'm not at all sure about the ethics of publishing a private email in full (without permission). I know it's been anonymised, but I still think it's a rather iffy thing to do. Quotes from an email are fine, but the whole thing..?
However, I am not surprised at this coming from someone asking a *potential* translator to do their job for them and earn their salary, ie. doing their administrative tasks such as filling out the forms etc. I am also not willing to disclose my clients to translation agencies especially this type of agencies.
There are many valid points made in the disclosed email, not sure who is the one publicly embarrassed now, the OP and the email author? I say "well done" to the email author, although I wouldn't even waste my keyboard on trying to educate them, they are aware of all this already. Just because they are aware, it doesn't mean they care.
| | | | Erik Freitag
Germany
Local time: 16:51
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
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| Are they aware? Don't think so. | Sep 5, 2014 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
There are many valid points made in the disclosed email, not sure who is the one publicly embarrassed now, the OP and the email author?
Indeed!
Lingua 5B wrote:
I say "well done" to the email author, although I wouldn't even waste my keyboard on trying to educate them, they are aware of all this already.
I'm not sure: If they were aware of all this, they wouldn't have started this thread. At least they should be now. Good job.
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