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I have a question about providing references to potential clients - I'm a freelancer and the majority of my projects came from a few translation agencies. Sometimes when I try to expand my client base and make contact with new agencies, some of them ask me to provide references.
The best references I can think of actually are those PMs from the agencies I'm working with. But is it OK to provide the PM of one agency as a reference for another agency? I think in some way those agencies are actually competing with each other and will they be happy to provide reference to their competitors? And, will those PMs be annoyed by many emails or even phone calls asking about one freelance translator working for them?
I'm really not sure about the common practice in this business (if there is any, at all) and would like to hear from the community.
I don't provide references, which are often meaningless anyway. One job is not the next so if an agency wants to know how good you are, then they should give you a small job or test translation to see for themselves. Imo, it's none of their business who your clients are.
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Thomas T. Frost Portugal Local time: 02:17 Danish to English + ...
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Samuel Murray Netherlands Local time: 03:17 Member (2006) English to Afrikaans + ...
Yes
Dec 16, 2017
Frank Feng wrote: But is it OK to provide the PM of one agency as a reference for another agency?
Yes. Anyone who is willing to say that you're a great translator, is a potential reference. Of course, you must ask someone if they're willing to be your reference first -- you can't simply list someone as your reference without them knowing about it or approving.
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