| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Responses following bids Thread poster: mek0n
|
|---|
mek0n 
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:33
Member (2014)
German to English
I'm new to bidding via proz.com and would say I am pretty well qualified for the jobs I have bid for. I do not have a problem at all with failing to win the job (and have had some success so far) but what I can't grasp is what I can only call a lack of courtesy on the part of the agencies or individuals looking for translators.
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your inform... See more I'm new to bidding via proz.com and would say I am pretty well qualified for the jobs I have bid for. I do not have a problem at all with failing to win the job (and have had some success so far) but what I can't grasp is what I can only call a lack of courtesy on the part of the agencies or individuals looking for translators.
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your information on file etc etc etc".
Then there are those agencies who do express interest, request a test translation (a genuine one) or you compromise on price, and then you hear nothing.
Surely good professional manners works both ways?
What do other people think?
Ross Greville ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The world is busy | Nov 3, 2014 |
mek0n wrote:
I'm new to bidding via proz.com and would say I am pretty well qualified for the jobs I have bid for. I do not have a problem at all with failing to win the job (and have had some success so far) but what I can't grasp is what I can only call a lack of courtesy on the part of the agencies or individuals looking for translators.
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your information on file etc etc etc".
Then there are those agencies who do express interest, request a test translation (a genuine one) or you compromise on price, and then you hear nothing.
Surely good professional manners works both ways?
What do other people think?
Ross Greville
First of all, folks who post jobs are busy. Only 1 out of 10 will ever reply. In any case, if no reply, it's a "no", so why bother tracking responses back? I would suggest you simply move on.
As for translation tests, if you "pass" it (if you did great job), the agency might actually contact you in 1 month, 3 months, 1 year... You will not even remember them. It happens quite often.
It works that way because agencies usually have their "trusted translators". Now, these professionals are not always available (busy with other projects, take weekends off, sick, dead, you name it). That's when you get an email or a call (provided you are "new" to them, but submitted great test translation).
Over a course of a year or so, you become their "trusted translator", and the cycle is repeated.
| | | | Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 15:33
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
mek0n wrote:
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your information on file etc etc etc".
If you receive 500 quotes, are you going to respond to every one of them?
Applications should be fire-and-forget matters. I certainly don't need to waste my time reading a stock response.
[Edited at 2014-11-03 10:45 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 09:33
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
mek0n wrote:
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your information on file etc etc etc".
Whether it takes much effort or not is not relevant here. The ProZ.com job bidding system is what it is. It enables clients to get translators quickly, and it enables translators to get jobs quickly. The human element is largely removed from it (though that does not mean that you should not write friendly, well-written bids... since your bid will be read by a human). Just accept it and don't take offense.
| | |
|
|
|
| I know how they response quickly: | Nov 3, 2014 |
Just follow the advice I received this morning by "Israel’s leading translation
company, providing language services to hundreds of leading
companies, with a pool of translators which includes more than 1,000
professional and experienced translators world-wide":
"Please keep in mind that - the more attractive and low your
rate is - the higher the chances are for us to allocate you
with lots and lots of projects!"
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 08:33
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| I agree with you, Ross | Nov 3, 2014 |
mek0n wrote:
Surely good professional manners works both ways?
On the other hand most people, including those who post jobs and even most of the posters here, clearly don't. So we really need to be realistic.
The way I deal with it is to actually close my quote with something along the lines of hoping that we'll be able to collaborate on this or suitable jobs in the future, so would they please keep my name on file. This wording (a) lets them off the hook (although those who do reply with a polite rejection go to the top of my list of good potential clients), and (b) stops me feeling stressed out if I don't get any reply. Instead, I can imagine them filing my name away in their list of potential partners. In the past, I have actually been contacted months, or even years, after a non-response to a quote, so I feel justified in hoping this latest one will end up positive too.
| | | | Simin Tan
Local time: 15:33
Chinese to English
| Not that it's a surprise... | Nov 3, 2014 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
"Please keep in mind that - the more attractive and low your
rate is - the higher the chances are for us to allocate you
with lots and lots of projects!"
I like how quality of output isn't mentioned here.
To respond to the OP: I understand that job posters for certain language pairs can be inundated with quotes. The beauty of this web site that we all use, of course, is that it brings translators and posters together with fairly high efficiency. I suppose something has got to give in this case. Personally? I don't expect a polite rejection/KIV note either.
[Edited at 2014-11-03 13:05 GMT]
| | | |
mek0n wrote:
I'm new to bidding via proz.com and would say I am pretty well qualified for the jobs I have bid for. I do not have a problem at all with failing to win the job (and have had some success so far) but what I can't grasp is what I can only call a lack of courtesy on the part of the agencies or individuals looking for translators.
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your information on file etc etc etc".
Surely good professional manners works both ways?
What do other people think?
Ross Greville
I'm totally into good manners, but it's also true that those guys live in a fast-paced world and are quite busy. On the other, however, the same applies to translators. And courtesy from agencies to translators certainly could use some improvement.
Then there are those agencies who do express interest, request a test translation (a genuine one) or you compromise on price, and then you hear nothing.
They aren't interested in tests or negotiating to compromise. They're running a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_bid_auction]unique-bid[/quote] reverse auction. They simply select another bidder.
Lincoln Hui wrote: mek0n wrote:
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your information on file etc etc etc".
If you receive 500 quotes, are you going to respond to every one of them?
Something is seriously wrong with your business model if you need to and actually do waste your time wading through 500 quotes for a small job you put up on an Internet auction, and then comparing them.
(Especially when saving a coupla bucks in the process of selecting the optimal bidder is worth less than your own work time invested in running the auction, e.g. spending 2 hours trying to get it $10 cheaper in the US or a (Western) European country.)
Applications should be fire-and-forget matters. I certainly don't need to waste my time reading a stock response.
[Edited at 2014-11-03 10:45 GMT]
There is some truth in that, but the problem is that you're tied up because the fact you've quoted them for a potential job means you need to remain available. With large jobs, long quoting deadlines, short delivery deadlines etc. this is a serious complication.
Samuel Murray wrote: mek0n wrote:
Surely it does not take much effort to send a reply like "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately we have assigned the job elsewhere. We will keep your information on file etc etc etc". Whether it takes much effort or not is not relevant here. The ProZ.com job bidding system is what it is. It enables clients to get translators quickly, and it enables translators to get jobs quickly. The human element is largely removed from it (though that does not mean that you should not write friendly, well-written bids... since your bid will be read by a human). Just accept it and don't take offense.
I can't agree, Sam, on two accounts. You don't get jobs quickly (you get tied up by your binding quote instead), and your time as a translator is not less valuable than the PM's time, notwithstanding the current state of the 'industry'.
| | |
|
|
|
John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 03:33
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| Automated reply | Nov 3, 2014 |
Actually, when an outsourcer accepts a job offer the proz.com posting system includes a button to send a polite (if canned) note to the bidders who didn't get the job. So there's no excuse, not even "busy-ness".
[Edited at 2014-11-03 16:13 GMT]
| | | | Ildiko Santana
United States
Local time: 00:33
Member (2002)
Hungarian to English
+ ...
MODERATOR | Courtesy and tests go both ways | Nov 3, 2014 |
As for translation tests, if you "pass" it (if you did great job), the agency might actually contact you in 1 month, 3 months, 1 year... You will not even remember them. It happens quite often.
I agree that it is a matter of common courtesy and professionalism to acknowledge the bidders' existence and effort, even when the job poster selects another provider. Responding to translators, whether already "trusted" (i.e. used) or aspiring, is what I expect from all clients, potential and established alike. When someone fails to get back to me on a bid, to me this means that they failed the test; I do not wish to work with someone who is lacking courtesy and professionalism. I keep a folder for clients titled "Potential" (for bids, responses, and requests for quote) and another within that titled "Blacklist" (for those with negative first impression). Those who don't bother to at least send me a polite "Thanks but no thanks" response get filed in the latter. This helps me avoid wasting my time in the future on rude and unprofessional outsourcers.
| | | | | Prefer no reply | Nov 3, 2014 |
John Fossey wrote:
Actually, when an outsourcer accepts a job offer the proz.com posting system includes a button to send a polite (if canned) note to the bidders who didn't get the job. So there's no excuse, not even "busy-ness".
[Edited at 2014-11-03 16:13 GMT]
To be honest, I prefer no reply to an automated rejection. If I do get a reply I assume it is positive, and disrupting my work for an automated rejection is a bit annoying. Maybe I should turn off the 'ping' and set a time for checking mail.
| | | | | Israel is paying low rates - not worth the trouble. | Nov 3, 2014 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
Just follow the advice I received this morning by "Israel’s leading translation
company, providing language services to hundreds of leading
companies, with a pool of translators which includes more than 1,000
professional and experienced translators world-wide":
"Please keep in mind that - the more attractive and low your
rate is - the higher the chances are for us to allocate you
with lots and lots of projects!"
That's exactly my experience with translation agencies from Israel. There have been requests, but they never materialized. I have the impression, that they don't believe in their own business as long, as their all-life-war with Palestina is going on. They have other business, mainly on the financial markets. Translation is not interesting to them.
So I do not reply to requests from Israel anymore. They disqualified themselves. It's just like that.
[Edited at 2014-11-03 22:21 GMT]
| | |
|
|
|
Olga Koepping
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:33
German to English
+ ...
| love the quote | Nov 4, 2014 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
Just follow the advice I received this morning by "Israel’s leading translation
company, providing language services to hundreds of leading
companies, with a pool of translators which includes more than 1,000
professional and experienced translators world-wide":
"Please keep in mind that - the more attractive and low your
rate is - the higher the chances are for us to allocate you
with lots and lots of projects!"
Another one of those, which make me either despair or laugh depending on what mood I'm in. One day I'll be in the mood to reply, saying "I am not a monkey, and I need money to buy peanuts".
But the thing is, I often don't reply to people emailing me (in cc) asking me to do some kind of medical translation (completely not my field), for a laughable sum, within three hours. I suppose I could, as I don't get as many of those as the agencies do advert responses, but it is all about time spent. So I don't mind if someone doesn't respond to my bid, I'm just pleasantly surprised when they do.
| | | | mek0n
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:33
Member (2014)
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
It’s been interesting reading all the replies to my original post, and these have perhaps helped me to zero in on what I would prefer different. I don’t buy the argument that the agencies are too busy to reply. They cannot be too busy to read or even skim say 20 or 30 bids and to send a ‘no’ boiler-plated reply is a matter of seconds. Why would I want a decision? On the personal level I am terrible at waiting for anything or anyone but on the professional level it’s all about work plan... See more It’s been interesting reading all the replies to my original post, and these have perhaps helped me to zero in on what I would prefer different. I don’t buy the argument that the agencies are too busy to reply. They cannot be too busy to read or even skim say 20 or 30 bids and to send a ‘no’ boiler-plated reply is a matter of seconds. Why would I want a decision? On the personal level I am terrible at waiting for anything or anyone but on the professional level it’s all about work planning. If I’ve bid for a biggish job then I am already having to block out some time for this. Then another possible job comes up for me to bid on or an actual job is proposed, and there’s the planning problem. A quick ‘no’ I find helpful here. As I respect the working practices of vendors I think they should do the same for the translator, and I don’t think that is unrealistic.
Ross ▲ Collapse
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 03:33
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| No matter how we think, we should not allow our over-sensitiveness to harm our own business | Nov 4, 2014 |
Ildiko Santana wrote:
I keep a folder for clients titled "Potential" (for bids, responses, and requests for quote) and another within that titled "Blacklist" (for those with negative first impression). Those who don't bother to at least send me a polite "Thanks but no thanks" response get filed in the latter. This helps me avoid wasting my time in the future on rude and unprofessional outsourcers.
You might have missed a lot of good clients with such an approach.
Why is a "thank you" note that important?
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Responses following bids | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
