| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Cooperation/help request and attitude. Thread poster: Rad Graban (X)
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Rad Graban (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:21
English to Slovak
+ ...
Hi all,
One of my 'associates' has received a request for translation of a short document today. He's sent me an e-mail saying that he was on holidays and asked me to contact the client on his behalf. I did so, explained the situation, and promised to find someone to do it.
I contacted several people from ProZ who, I believed, could do the job, but (6 hours later) none of them bothered to reply.
What do you think of it? I've sent e-mails, called, left voice-mails....., y... See more Hi all,
One of my 'associates' has received a request for translation of a short document today. He's sent me an e-mail saying that he was on holidays and asked me to contact the client on his behalf. I did so, explained the situation, and promised to find someone to do it.
I contacted several people from ProZ who, I believed, could do the job, but (6 hours later) none of them bothered to reply.
What do you think of it? I've sent e-mails, called, left voice-mails....., you name it. No response whatsover. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 05:21
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
I am not so sure that everyone here really has one. Anyone who has to depend on others to get the work done is in for a lot of disappointment, and since such arrangement is the norm in our society, disappointment must be quite common.
| | | | Mirelluk
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:21
Member (2005)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Disheartening but not uncommon. | Jun 9, 2010 |
Dear Rad,
I know it is frustrating to offer some work and be totally ignored, but is not uncommon.
Bear in mind that some translators link the Proz message system to a secondary e-mail address that they not check regularly. Other translators are away or not online. Some have changed their e-mail address and forgot to update their profile. Some do not check their answering machine. Some just cannot bother to answer when they are not available.
I can only suggest you to ... See more Dear Rad,
I know it is frustrating to offer some work and be totally ignored, but is not uncommon.
Bear in mind that some translators link the Proz message system to a secondary e-mail address that they not check regularly. Other translators are away or not online. Some have changed their e-mail address and forgot to update their profile. Some do not check their answering machine. Some just cannot bother to answer when they are not available.
I can only suggest you to wait until someone answers and also continue to contact futher translators who have indicated their availability on Proz calendar.
Good luck.
Mirella
[Edited at 2010-06-10 08:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rad Graban (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:21
English to Slovak
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Not really... | Jun 9, 2010 |
I find it more disappointing than frustrating, Mirelluk. People I've contacted are people I always try to help with their KudoZ questions so I know they are rather active on ProZ and one of them has posted a question today, so I doubt s/he is not on-line. Never mind.
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Gerard de Noord
France
Local time: 13:21
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Buyors and vendors | Jun 9, 2010 |
Hi Rad,
If you've sent personalised e-mails to members who claim to endorse ProZ.com's Professional Guidelines and if you haven't received an answer, you should report them.
If you didn't personalise the e-mail(s) you've sent to your colleagues (Dear Rad, Gerard, Janice) you shouldn't be surprised. I don't feel obliged to answer (ProZ.com based) e-mails like: Dear colleague, e-mail me your best rates.
Are you at all sensitive to the fact that when I check y... See more Hi Rad,
If you've sent personalised e-mails to members who claim to endorse ProZ.com's Professional Guidelines and if you haven't received an answer, you should report them.
If you didn't personalise the e-mail(s) you've sent to your colleagues (Dear Rad, Gerard, Janice) you shouldn't be surprised. I don't feel obliged to answer (ProZ.com based) e-mails like: Dear colleague, e-mail me your best rates.
Are you at all sensitive to the fact that when I check your profile and see your rate of 0.06 GBP, I conclude there won't be any margin to negociate?
Cheers,
Gerard ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rad Graban (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:21
English to Slovak
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Have you checked it properly, Gerard? | Jun 9, 2010 |
Are you at all sensitive to the fact that when I check your profile and see your rate of 0.06 GBP, I conclude there won't be any margin to negociate?
Cheers,
Gerard
I've just checked my own website (thinking I was going mad) and "The rates below are for guidance only" clause is still there. I do not act here as a middle man, Gerard. It is my website, but I work closely with one Czech and one English native speaker. When someone sends an e-mail through my contact page, they have three options. Unfortunaltely, my English collegue is on holidays these days and he's asked me to contact the client on his behalf which I did and, as it is my website, I promised to find someone to do it. That's all.
When it comes to rates in my language combination, I really don't think it's as bad as you think. There are people back home willing to do the same job for half of it, if nor less.
| | | | Gerard de Noord
France
Local time: 13:21
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Hi Red,
This is a free market and more power to you if you can find people back home willing to do the same job for 0.03 GBP. I only visited your profile at ProZ, not your website.
Regards,
Gerard
Rad Graban wrote:
Are you at all sensitive to the fact that when I check your profile and see your rate of 0.06 GBP, I conclude there won't be any margin to negociate?
Cheers,
Gerard
I've just checked my own website (thinking I was going mad) and "The rates below are for guidance only" clause is still there. I do not act here as a middle man, Gerard. It is my website, but I work closely with one Czech and one English native speaker. When someone sends an e-mail through my contact page, they have three options. Unfortunaltely, my English collegue is on holidays these days and he's asked me to contact the client on his behalf which I did and, as it is my website, I promised to find someone to do it. That's all. When it comes to rates in my language combination, I really don't think it's as bad as you think. There are people back home willing to do the same job for half of it, if nor less.
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:21
French to English
+ ...
| Depends on people / the offer... | Jun 10, 2010 |
The situation you describe is frustrating, but there are occasions when not responding to an e-mail within 6 hours isn't such the social faux-pas that you're suggesting:
- you need to factor in time zones AND commitments within a particualr time zone
- people go on holiday from time to time
- for some people, "checking their e-mail" is still viewed as a grandiose task that they do once or twice a day, as in the good old days of dial-up connections, rather than being "glu... See more The situation you describe is frustrating, but there are occasions when not responding to an e-mail within 6 hours isn't such the social faux-pas that you're suggesting:
- you need to factor in time zones AND commitments within a particualr time zone
- people go on holiday from time to time
- for some people, "checking their e-mail" is still viewed as a grandiose task that they do once or twice a day, as in the good old days of dial-up connections, rather than being "glued" to their e-mail all day (as I and lots of translators are these days-- but not necessarily everyone)
- if you're really busy with a piece of work, then you may not immediately want to down tools to reply to some offer of a job you're not actually that keen on
- some people just don't operate on the time/urgency scale where 6 hours is a long time -- I've sometimes felt embarrassed because it's taken me an entire day to reply to a client because I've been really busy, and the client has said "thanks for your quick response -- we're still finalising the document".
This is why when I'm looking for collaborators I tend to just use the job posting system -- that way you see which of hundreds of thousands of colleagues are available now. In my opinion, ringing round answerphones, sending text messages, telegrams, smoke signals etc just doesn't scale. ▲ Collapse
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| What were the conditions of the job? | Jun 10, 2010 |
Rad Graban wrote:
What do you think of it? I've sent e-mails, called, left voice-mails....., you name it. No response whatsover.
I think a factor you do not comment on is how interesting the job was for possible candidates. Was the rate in the mid-to-high rate level of the market?
There is no excuse to leaving the email of a prospect unanswered, but unattractive conditions can make people take their time if they are very busy and if they usually charge a lot more. Choosing top-rated translators for a low-pay job might have also influenced this situation, although every professional should at least reply and say that the conditions are no interesting and suggesting better terms.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 04:21
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Just wondering | Jun 10, 2010 |
Rad Graban wrote:
One of my 'associates' has received a request for translation of a short document today. He's sent me an e-mail saying that he was on holidays and asked me to contact the client on his behalf. I did so, explained the situation, and promised to find someone to do it.
If your associate was on vacation, yet found the time to send you an email, why didn't he contact his client directly in the first place? ("Sorry, I am not available. May I recommend Mr. Graban instead?")
Your correct reply should have been: "Sorry, dear friend, but I am not your secretary."
Hours spent on a short text. Who is going to reimburse you for your time?
| | | | Rad Graban (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:21
English to Slovak
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hi all,
Thanks for your replies. Got someone eventually. Still a little bit disappointed.
@ Tomás - Not sure how interesting was the job for others. I explained that I charge £65/1000 (I think it's rather good for my language pair) but was just going to forward file and client's contact details to translator to negotiate his/her own price, deadline and payment terms.
@ Nicole - Well, people can contact through my website myself, or directly Czech or Engli... See more Hi all,
Thanks for your replies. Got someone eventually. Still a little bit disappointed.
@ Tomás - Not sure how interesting was the job for others. I explained that I charge £65/1000 (I think it's rather good for my language pair) but was just going to forward file and client's contact details to translator to negotiate his/her own price, deadline and payment terms.
@ Nicole - Well, people can contact through my website myself, or directly Czech or English native speaker, depending on their required target language. My English translator wasn't availale so forwarded request to me asking if I would be able to do it or contact the client and tell her otherwise. Don't see anything wrong with it. Dealing with client professionally can bring her back in the future with project into Slovak. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Indeed, that is best | Jun 10, 2010 |
Rad Graban wrote:
@ Tomás - Not sure how interesting was the job for others. I explained that I charge £65/1000 (I think it's rather good for my language pair) but was just going to forward file and client's contact details to translator to negotiate his/her own price, deadline and payment terms.
Indeed this is best. I remain a bit puzzled about the lack of response from potential translators.
Take care Rad!
Tomás
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 04:21
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Rad Graban wrote:
@ Nicole - Well, people can contact through my website myself, or directly Czech or English native speaker, depending on their required target language. My English translator wasn't availale so forwarded request to me asking if I would be able to do it or contact the client and tell her otherwise. Don't see anything wrong with it. Dealing with client professionally can bring her back in the future with project into Slovak.
It wasn't clear who you meant with associate, especially since this word was in quotation marks.
| | | | | Not puzzling... | Jun 10, 2010 |
I never reply to offers coming from Proz.com, because they always are a total waste of time... they go straight into the bin... in fact, the only two contacts I acquired through Proz turned out to be very unprofessional... not saying that you are... just my impression in general...
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 04:21
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Hm. Confusion? | Jun 10, 2010 |
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
I never reply to offers coming from Proz.com, because they always are a total waste of time... they go straight into the bin... in fact, the only two contacts I acquired through Proz turned out to be very unprofessional... not saying that you are... just my impression in general...
There is a huge difference between jobs advertised on the ProZ.com job list and direct and personalized contacts via the profile page.
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