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Are freelancing job interviews common practice?
Thread poster: Corbett AM
Charlotte Farrell
Charlotte Farrell  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:14
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
Hi Anne Jun 2, 2013

Anne M Corbett wrote:

I appreciate the comments from the more established translators as much as the relative newcomers like Charlotte (I read a post from you just today regarding the length of test translations). Is there any chance Charlotte you could let me know what they asked you in particular? I`d greatly appreciate it.


Hi Anne - sorry I just checked this post again and saw your question. I was on the phone to the vendor manager for about half an hour and most of the conversation was actually her explaining how the company works vis a vis taking jobs and receiving payment. The main 'interview' part involved me talking about my translation experience and what my translation studies at university involved. We then discussed my source languages and areas of expertise and finally arranged a time frame in which I would do a test translation. The conversation was in German as it was for a German agency, so I think that part of the point of the interview was to check that I actually speak the language and so assure them that I am who I say I am and not just someone who's going to outsource for a profit.


 
Corbett AM
Corbett AM  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 01:14
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Charlotte Jun 3, 2013

Hi Charlotte

Thanks for your response. I might have guessed it was something like that but the word `interview` puts most of us in a spin and you never know how much preparation you`re supposed to do. I wish they would just call it a consultation or negotiation as Sarah and others have called it.

I have not had the experience of Balasubramaniam who says that some agencies or PMs make you jump through hoops for nothing. I have signed up for agencies which made me jump
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Hi Charlotte

Thanks for your response. I might have guessed it was something like that but the word `interview` puts most of us in a spin and you never know how much preparation you`re supposed to do. I wish they would just call it a consultation or negotiation as Sarah and others have called it.

I have not had the experience of Balasubramaniam who says that some agencies or PMs make you jump through hoops for nothing. I have signed up for agencies which made me jump through no hoops yet have still only given me a single task!! My contract with them is meaningless but I don`t intend to work with this agency anymore even if they do ask me. They are one of those agencies with PMs who clearly know nothing about translation (and I agree also with the same poster about this about some PMs being far removed from translation, the agency which has given me only one task which I handled well despite the pressure and short notice they put on me at the time, is not swanky and definitely not fussy about who they hire as PMs).

Thanks again folks : )



[Edited at 2013-06-03 12:30 GMT]

[Edited at 2013-06-03 12:31 GMT]
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Corbett AM
Corbett AM  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 01:14
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I might be spared... Jun 5, 2013

Hi all,

Well it seems an interview might not happen after all. I got the feedback today and one of the test translations went ok (according to them, I thought it was better but not great) and the other went wrong, just wrong. They said they would put me in their system as a vendor for any suitable tasks (I`ve heard that one before), without any mention of the interview mentioned on their website. Maybe they are not as strict as they appear.

Anyway, I won`t be holdin
... See more
Hi all,

Well it seems an interview might not happen after all. I got the feedback today and one of the test translations went ok (according to them, I thought it was better but not great) and the other went wrong, just wrong. They said they would put me in their system as a vendor for any suitable tasks (I`ve heard that one before), without any mention of the interview mentioned on their website. Maybe they are not as strict as they appear.

Anyway, I won`t be holding my breath.

I do not want to sound like I am not taking responsibility for my self-training as a translator, for example taking the time to do research on a topic, but I replied to the feedback explaining that I have no experience of translating one of the text types concerned (IT). It says on their website that they can test a freelancer on any subject so that is fair enough. I still wanted to explain to them though that that was why I didn`t do so well. My response was lighthearted enough so as not to seem like I was saying `but that`s not fair wah wah`.

I still think I should have been marked better on the other text.

It`s been interesting getting your points of view on the whole interview issue. Whether someone from the agency has read this thread or is reading it right now and connecting the dots or not I don`t really care as this is a valuable part of the PROZ website and they must know that people will post questions on it.
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Are freelancing job interviews common practice?







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