| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Agencies letting freelancers manage projects without paying extra Thread poster: Viktoria Gimbe
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NMR (X)
France
Local time: 18:07
French to Dutch
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| Just an answer for Sonja | Nov 26, 2007 |
Sonja Tomaskovic wrote:
If an agency asks you to recruit a proofreader, this already costs time and money. But in "exotic language pairs" (and French>Dutch IS one), it also means that the client has nobody in his files and doesn't know how to find someone.
If you have to recruit a proofreader for a particular job, then you are probably talking about finding somebody new, somebody you have never worked with before, for a particular job at hand. Don't you find it a bit risky yourself to, all of a sudden, come up with a proofreader, just like that? Shouldn't you have somebody trusted at hand who is reliable and can guarantee a good job? The same thing with proofreaders in exotic languages: if you work in such a language pair, and you know it's difficult to find somebody, wouldn't it be your responsibility to tell your client that you cannot provide proofreading because of these reasons?
I NEVER come suddenly with someone. I only work with people I know and who are reliable. But I also know that most of them are very busy, don't like proofreading and that for each small translation I'll have to wait a fortnight and will get a bill which is equal to mine, or higher. So I don't do these kind of services anymore, and certainly not for agencies. And, as the clients aren't interested in my 'internal cuisine', I simply state that my quote is valid for my translation and a thorough proofreading by myself. If they want to have my work proofread, they'll have to go next door, I have lots of other work to do.
Btw. don't think that this is a way to do my work quickly and cheaply, I am an autocorrective translator with high standards, who drives mad anybody else.
By the way, I do DTP and charge more for this.
| | | | Sonja Tomaskovic (X) 
Germany
Local time: 18:07
English to German
+ ...
I also know that most of them are very busy, don't like proofreading and that for each small translation I'll have to wait a fortnight and will get a bill which is equal to mine, or higher. So I don't do these kind of services anymore, and certainly not for agencies. And, as the clients aren't interested in my 'internal cuisine', I simply state that my quote is valid for my translation and a thorough proofreading by myself.
As far as I see it, this is the way to go. So, if you already know that a) the job of recruiting a proofreader takes more time and b) know that their invoice will be as high as yours for the translation part, you would probably make sure that all of these expenses are covered by charging your client accordingly. Which begs the question why complain about the job, the time and hassle involved if you can either charge accordingly or simply reject the job? Or, to get back to the original question that Viktoria posted, who else can do anything about it but yourself?
Sonja
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Sonja Tomaskovic wrote:
Which begs the question why complain about the job, the time and hassle involved if you can either charge accordingly or simply reject the job? Or, to get back to the original question that Viktoria posted, who else can do anything about it but yourself?
Sonja
I guess the issue here is rather when one has been working for a client for some time for X euros/ word. Usually that client asks for a certain type of work but then sometimes, it may happen, that he/ she asks for something else altogether, knowing that you can provide that service, and expects to get it at the same price.
And it happens.
It is also a PR question:
If you don't provide, you are risking a great client-translator relationship (depending on the client of course and on how you handle it)
And if you provide then you are risking the fact that the client may expect it/ something similar in future.
And frankly, I'd rather go that extra mile for a client (within a certain limit, of course).
Anyways, we often ask each other for advice. Of course, I am the only one who can change things in such circumstances but like any other human being it is somehow nice when people advice and support you. Especially, when one has to face such questions.
This is one of the reasons why this world is such a beautiful place... because we care and support.
[Edited at 2007-11-26 18:10]
| | | | Sonja Tomaskovic (X)
Germany
Local time: 18:07
English to German
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| Complaints vs. advice | Nov 26, 2007 |
Maybe I can add that the original poster, and those who subsequently posted their replies, seem to be experienced translators of good standing. It has therefore surprised me that they would resort to complaining about issues that can be solved with very little effort such as communication. So if people actually resort to complaining about rather than changing a situation, it makes it hard to believe that external factors are really the problem. It is difficult to pinpoint what the problem, or ra... See more Maybe I can add that the original poster, and those who subsequently posted their replies, seem to be experienced translators of good standing. It has therefore surprised me that they would resort to complaining about issues that can be solved with very little effort such as communication. So if people actually resort to complaining about rather than changing a situation, it makes it hard to believe that external factors are really the problem. It is difficult to pinpoint what the problem, or rather problems, really are, but you don't need to be psychic to see that they're really frustrated.
I doubt that the frustration is due to lack of financial reimbursement or clients overloading you. As I mentioned in all my postings, these are problems that can actually be solved very easily. Whatever the cause it probably won't go away by complaining.
I personally believe that the answers to our questions lie in ourselves, and I am not talking about the question "What are the latest lotto numbers".
From time to time it might be a good idea to stop for a moment and think about the plans and visions you had years ago when you decided to become a freelance translator, and to look at yourself today.
The questions I posted throughout the thread were not just meant as criticism - actually I hoped somebody would take the time to answer them in all honesty. Maybe some of you did, it is not important to post them here as long you answered them for yourself.
Maybe some of them can be helpful in finding out what you can do about the problem that bothers you the most. ▲ Collapse
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Viktoria Gimbe
Canada
Local time: 12:07
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | The age-old problem | Nov 27, 2007 |
We are all freelancers. Therefore, we all take our own decisions, and many of us take the wrong decisions because they are alone. That is what we come here for - to discuss things with others who may be dealing with similar situations, so that we have a better idea of how to address such preoccupations. Also, I wasn't complaining, I was rather checking in to see if others have similar experiences and what they did about it, and if we, as a community, could do anything about it. What you may have... See more We are all freelancers. Therefore, we all take our own decisions, and many of us take the wrong decisions because they are alone. That is what we come here for - to discuss things with others who may be dealing with similar situations, so that we have a better idea of how to address such preoccupations. Also, I wasn't complaining, I was rather checking in to see if others have similar experiences and what they did about it, and if we, as a community, could do anything about it. What you may have interpreted as complaining is an example that was only meant to illustrate a point, since some of you didn't seem to understand the initial question (some of you thought that the question was only about contracting proofreading services as a freelancer).
Of course, what I will personally do about this is for me to know and to decide. But it can't hurt to discuss it with others who may have better ideas than I do, can it?
The fact is that whichever solutions were proposed so far are not foolproof. They might fix similar problems in some cases but not all. The problem that has become apparent to me is that small tasks are added gradually in large projects, where we at first react like Ritu, who will add little freebies for clients of good standing (nothing wrong with that and I do it too) but at the end of the day, these tiny tasks become a real burden. In fact, before one realizes it, one is doing volunteer work. That is what I am trying to discuss - avoiding to give too much of a hand to clients who otherwise can very well afford to pay for it. The focus should be on not being in a position to renegotiate since we're halfway through the project and papers have been signed for a while.
[Edited at 2007-11-27 01:45] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 09:07
English to German
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In memoriam | Full moon is over | Nov 29, 2007 |
And people are back to normal? Very good.
If there is any person out there who hasn't gone the extra mile for a client once in a while, please holler. I don't believe you anyway or maybe it's time for you to get clients instead of mere customers.
If there is a person out there who considers going the extra mile for the client part of their service: Congratulations. You know how to be a good business partner.
If there is a person out there who goes the ext... See more And people are back to normal? Very good.
If there is any person out there who hasn't gone the extra mile for a client once in a while, please holler. I don't believe you anyway or maybe it's time for you to get clients instead of mere customers.
If there is a person out there who considers going the extra mile for the client part of their service: Congratulations. You know how to be a good business partner.
If there is a person out there who goes the extra mile on a regular basis but has the feeling that he/she sometimes is taken advantage of - that's what this forum is about, as I see it.
To those who think they are natural born negotiators and know everything better than anybody else and are so much smarter and never, ever would lift a finger in their professional live without getting an estimate first:
Hahahahaha! ▲ Collapse
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