Facebook's "Online translating and interpreting jobs" group Thread poster: Georgia Blerot
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Georgia Blerot 
United States
Local time: 01:36
Member (2022)
French to English
+ ...
Hi all, I recently joined Facebook's "Online translating and interpreting jobs" group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1275461132505511. Does anyone have experience finding legitimate jobs through this group? To me, it looks like it could be a "free-for-all" for scammers. Thanks, would appreciate anyone else's opinion
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 10:36
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
I think you should use a separate Facebook ID that is for your translation business only, when you respond to jobs in such groups.
There may well be legitimate jobs in groups like this, but the usual warnings apply: watch out for the most well-known scams, and do due diligence (try to find out everything you can about the client before you work for him, etc.).
On this particular group, the MO seems to be that jobs posters will either ask people to send them a message, o... See more I think you should use a separate Facebook ID that is for your translation business only, when you respond to jobs in such groups.
There may well be legitimate jobs in groups like this, but the usual warnings apply: watch out for the most well-known scams, and do due diligence (try to find out everything you can about the client before you work for him, etc.).
On this particular group, the MO seems to be that jobs posters will either ask people to send them a message, or translators who are interested will reply to a message, and then the client will contact the translators by sending them a message. None of the messages that I've seen on that group contain any contact information in the post, but perhaps the job posters assume that you'll be checking them out by visiting their profile pages. This is a little dangerous, however, because there is no way to ensure that the contact details on a person's profile page are accurate (or belong to them), so extra care is needed.
Personally, if I were to respond to such a job post, I'd reply directly in the group (so that the job poster can send me a message), but I'll also send the job poster a tailored message directly, in which I tell him about my business, and invite him to contact me via e-mail. I myself don't want to do negotiations via instant messenger.
What I find a bit distressing about that particular group, is how people who are not the original poster of a job post reply to translators and pose as the client. If I were the moderator of this group, I'd delete such posts, to protect translators, and allow only the person who made the original post to post replies to replies.
I'd also not respond to anyone claiming to be the original poster unless their Facebook ID is the same as the original poster. Also, I'd visit the Facebook page of the poster to see if there are any contact details or other verifiable information. In all cases that I checked (I did not check many), the jobs posters' profiles were empty -- i.e. just a name and a photo, and nothing else.
In my opinion, if the job poster is a direct client, they should have a more comprehensive Facebook page. And if the job poster is a business, then you should be able to see their business information. A Facebook profile that is basically empty is a bad sign.
[Edited at 2023-01-25 09:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 11:36
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
| Mostly translators themselves... | Jan 24, 2023 |
...participate in those groups. A few years ago, when I had a FB account, I had joined one such group. The group admin was looking for two members to become admins so they could help him block the many irrelevant applications for membership. He was complaining that anyone and everyone who saw the group's title wanted to join. The group's admission rules were quite easy to understand. In your FB profile you had to state that you were a translator and there had to be a link to a translation-relate... See more ...participate in those groups. A few years ago, when I had a FB account, I had joined one such group. The group admin was looking for two members to become admins so they could help him block the many irrelevant applications for membership. He was complaining that anyone and everyone who saw the group's title wanted to join. The group's admission rules were quite easy to understand. In your FB profile you had to state that you were a translator and there had to be a link to a translation-related website. But every Tom, Dick and Harry (as well as every Ahmad, Ivan and Raj) were flocking into the group but only to be declined and be blocked since they were not translators and they had not even read the warning (we were also blocking those people because they were tenacious in re-applying to be let in). Every day for a few months, I was blocking tens of people who were not translators. Finally I got tired of it and told the admin that I had to quit as I was considering deleting my FB account, which I finally did.
I had never seen one single job ad in the group. ▲ Collapse
| | | | William Tierney
United States
Local time: 04:36
Member (2002)
Arabic to English
| Starve the Beast | Jan 24, 2023 |
Since Facebook is pro-censorship, I don't have anything to do with it. If it means I lose business, then so be it.
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