| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: You get a translation you don't like, you: Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| | | I never deny unless I am very busy. | Nov 29, 2009 |
Hi all,
When I am working as a freelancer, I never say 'no' to jobs that I can handle efficiently with good quality. I simply see language pair, specialization field, money and expected time involved to well-equip myself. I expect my client giving me the location and status of the target readers, so that I can translate in the same style that they can easily understand and may admire work of the client.
Translation is my passion and it rarely happens that I don't like ... See more Hi all,
When I am working as a freelancer, I never say 'no' to jobs that I can handle efficiently with good quality. I simply see language pair, specialization field, money and expected time involved to well-equip myself. I expect my client giving me the location and status of the target readers, so that I can translate in the same style that they can easily understand and may admire work of the client.
Translation is my passion and it rarely happens that I don't like a job. Each new job is as much interesting as the previous one was. Even while walking through streets, metro stations, if I found faulty language used, I feel sorry about the target readers as I understand the common mistakes done by some translators and the correct version behind their mistranslated version. I enjoy working and playing with my languages a lot.
If I have time, I always say 'yes' as 'unavailability' had been one of the major causes of 'loss of few good clients' in recent past, who depended on me heavily for my specific language pairs.
Moreover to improve availability, I have increased no. of instances of checking emails per day so that I can respond to any query of an existing or potential client as soon as possible.
Thanks and Regards,
: PRAKAASH
[Edited at 2009-11-29 09:03 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-11-29 09:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Grin and bear it | Nov 29, 2009 |
I try not to take translations which I don't like, but if I have to I just grin and bear it )
| | | | Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 04:40
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| As always, the answer is "yes, but ..." | Nov 29, 2009 |
I didn't answer "turn it down" because the other options gave the impression that this job had been accepted already. Of course, if I really don't like the text for any reason, I'll turn it down if that's possible.
If we accept that it's too late to do that, I'm lumbered with it. In that case there is absolutely no choice - I finish it as quickly (and as well) as possible, send it off, then go on to other, nicer, translations.
The idea of putting it off sounds like the ... See more I didn't answer "turn it down" because the other options gave the impression that this job had been accepted already. Of course, if I really don't like the text for any reason, I'll turn it down if that's possible.
If we accept that it's too late to do that, I'm lumbered with it. In that case there is absolutely no choice - I finish it as quickly (and as well) as possible, send it off, then go on to other, nicer, translations.
The idea of putting it off sounds like the beginning of a slippery slide into unprofessionalism. Outsourcing might be a possibility for some but I don't really want to go there. ▲ Collapse
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| surprising results | Nov 29, 2009 |
I'm very surprised by the amount of people who said "finish it quickly". Do we have a choice in how fast it gets finished if we want to do a good job? I suppose it depends on what we mean by a job "we don't like". To me, this means a job I have little experience/knowledge to do well so I feel uneasy about accepting it. In this case I wouldn't (and don't) hesitate to turn it down, outsource it if I know of a reliable translator in that field, or simply recommend another.
| | | | Brandis (X)
Local time: 05:40
English to German
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| I chose other.. | Nov 29, 2009 |
Hi! I talk to other colleagues, find like minded and preparedness and transmit the job to them. Brandis
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 00:40
Portuguese to English
+ ...
If a job offer comes in and I find the subject matter either something I consider hideously boring or something I know nothing about or maybe it's a handwritten illegible PDF, I'll turn it down. But I take lots of stuff I consider to be borderline unpleasant, especially when I don't have a lot of work.
| | | | | Other - propose a really high fee | Nov 29, 2009 |
I figure that if it's going to be something I don't enjoy (for example, PDFs of medical charts with notations in doctors' handwriting), I'd better reward myself generously so I won't feel negative about it. If the client still wants me to do it, we're both happy, and if they don't think it's worth the money, then I'm happy and I haven't turned them down.
I recently did this with a raft of difficult-to-read academic transcripts. The client agreed to pay a high fee and the work didn't... See more I figure that if it's going to be something I don't enjoy (for example, PDFs of medical charts with notations in doctors' handwriting), I'd better reward myself generously so I won't feel negative about it. If the client still wants me to do it, we're both happy, and if they don't think it's worth the money, then I'm happy and I haven't turned them down.
I recently did this with a raft of difficult-to-read academic transcripts. The client agreed to pay a high fee and the work didn't turn out to be as unpleasant as I had expected. I delivered it early, and in the end, I surprised her by charging less than I had said. She was thrilled and paid me within the hour on PayPal! ▲ Collapse
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| What's wrong with translations we don't like? | Nov 29, 2009 |
Doctors certainly prefer to treat a cough than hemorrhoids, but they devote the same care and attention to all patients. Shouldn't we do the same?
How come the poll does not contain an option like "I put the same effort in it" or similar? To me, the 20% in "Other" is most revealing in this sense.
| | | | Anne Carnot
France
Local time: 05:40
Member (2009)
English to French
| what's wrong? bis | Nov 29, 2009 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Doctors certainly prefer to treat a cough than hemorrhoids, but they devote the same care and attention to all patients. Shouldn't we do the same?
I agree with Tomàs here. Besides,I know that a couple of time I translated texts I didn't like much, but by the end of them, I'd learnt new things, and that wasn't so bad!! It certainly helped broaden my horizons
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Gary Smith wrote:
I'm very surprised by the amount of people who said "finish it quickly". Do we have a choice in how fast it gets finished if we want to do a good job? I think it means the following: let's assume you got that job you don't like, it will take about 1 day to complete it, but the delivery date is in 4 days. The question is: do you do it first to get rid of it? At least that's how I understood the question. And in that way, I would not find Tomás' remark relevant, I think it's not a matter of quality or of how much time you spend on it, but of how and when you handle it. Though, I find the poll quite poorly formulated too.
So for me the answer is Other: facing a job I don't like, I would most of the time decline it. But sometimes I happen to have accepted a job I don't like in the following situation: I know the job is boring, but there's not much booked work in advance, so it would be a pity to declien it and run the risk to stay without work, but on the other side, Murphy's law being what it is, you can be sure than once you've accepted it, you'll get offered a more interesting job that you'll have to decline. So in that case, what I do is I accept the job, but only with a very confortable deadline, more than I actually need, in order to keep capacity for other better jobs coming in. And in that case again, I must admit I am the procrastinator type: except if there's really no other job coming in, I'll most probably handle the job in the last minute, but still within the deadline (so option 2 in the poll doesn't suit me either).
| | | | Gianni Pastore
Italy
Local time: 05:40
Member (2007)
English to Italian
As I have only one field of specialization (which also happens to be a major passion of mine) I never get a translation I don't like.
G
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 23:40
Spanish to English
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| It depends on a lot of different factors... | Nov 29, 2009 |
...among which are the following:
1. Level of discomfort.
2. Reason for discomfort (i.e., lack of familiarity, handwritten or difficult-to-read material, niggling formating expectations that will take extra time).
3. Rate offered (or to be reasonably expected).
4. Current state of workload (e.g.., Have I just worked 6 straight days on a difficult project and was I looking forward to a day or two off?).
5. Current financial situation.
6. Is the wor... See more ...among which are the following:
1. Level of discomfort.
2. Reason for discomfort (i.e., lack of familiarity, handwritten or difficult-to-read material, niggling formating expectations that will take extra time).
3. Rate offered (or to be reasonably expected).
4. Current state of workload (e.g.., Have I just worked 6 straight days on a difficult project and was I looking forward to a day or two off?).
5. Current financial situation.
6. Is the work in question coming from a client that has given me a lot of work, and that I want to go out of my way to make happy?
7. Or, conversely, is it a "foot-in-the-door" opportunity to work for some agency/individual from whom I might expect more interesting and/or frequent work in the future?
A simple answer is not possible, and that is why I chose "Other/NA."
[Edited at 2009-11-29 15:57 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 23:40
Spanish to English
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| Physicians & Translators: Apples & Oranges | Nov 29, 2009 |
Translators have a freedom to apply a broad cost-benefit analysis (involving the kinds of factors that I mentioned in my previous post) to their decision as to whether to take on a given project. Physicians--at least in theory--do not have a similar freedom.
A better analogy might be with a law firm's decision to take on a personal injury case, in which case their choice will be based primarily on their assesment of: 1.) their probabilities of winning the case, and 2.) the amount o... See more Translators have a freedom to apply a broad cost-benefit analysis (involving the kinds of factors that I mentioned in my previous post) to their decision as to whether to take on a given project. Physicians--at least in theory--do not have a similar freedom.
A better analogy might be with a law firm's decision to take on a personal injury case, in which case their choice will be based primarily on their assesment of: 1.) their probabilities of winning the case, and 2.) the amount of money to be earned therefrom in relation to the labor invested therein.
[Edited at 2009-11-29 16:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Cecilia Civetta
Italy
Local time: 05:40
Member (2003)
Italian to Spanish
+ ...
| Turn it down | Nov 29, 2009 |
If I don't like it, it's either because the job is not rewarding enough for some reason, or because it's outside my scope. Therefore I just refuse it, no bid deal!
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