Job posting offering low rate - 39111 Thread poster: mónica alfonso
|
|---|
Have you seen this job posting?
http://www.proz.com/job/39111
I have sent them a mail; perhaps they are not aware what type of translators may be interested in such a low offer.
I think we professionals must help this world's rules be known: only low quality professionals (and obviously not highly experienced ones) can accept such a low rate.
| | | | Özden Arıkan 
Germany
Local time: 19:08
Member
English to Turkish
+ ...
| Indecent Proposals | Jul 6, 2003 |
mónica alfonso wrote: Have you seen this job posting? http://www.proz.com/job/39111 I have sent them a mail; perhaps they are not aware what type of translators may be interested in such a low offer. I think we professionals must help this world's rules be known: only low quality professionals (and obviously not highly experienced ones) can accept such a low rate.
This job posting is neither the first nor will be the last of its kind. I think you did something right by mailing them and make your professional response known. The administrators of a mailing list I'm a member of have recently decided to ban job offers whose rates fall below the sustenance level, hence are not acceptable and decent. I hope this will set an example to other lists, sites etc in the translation market. Why not set an acceptable minimum and thereby enforce job posters to show more respect to our profession? This would also help raise the professional standard here and further improve the Proz image. But as I already said in the beginning, individual action is also something I'd welcome. After all, we have every right to give such job posters *our* 2 cents in return
[Edited at 2003-07-08 01:09]
| | | | | No surprise... | Jul 6, 2003 |
Hi,
I am not surprised at all, as the agency seems to be located in India.
We are a global multifacetted market place...
Unfortunately low-rate jobs are also posted by agencies located in Countries, where informal minimum rates are higher.. this is my "concern".
Giuliana
| | | | | level already indicated? | Jul 6, 2003 |
A truly shocking offer. Amounts to just over 1 Euro cent a word. But who would even contemplate such a profession-damaging offer? When I looked, 15 people had already bid.
However the text clearly states:
Please reply directly on [email protected] with your best rates, experience, availability and references.
And yet 15 actually bid on ProZ. And they will be expected to translate 400 pages ... See more A truly shocking offer. Amounts to just over 1 Euro cent a word. But who would even contemplate such a profession-damaging offer? When I looked, 15 people had already bid.
However the text clearly states:
Please reply directly on [email protected] with your best rates, experience, availability and references.
And yet 15 actually bid on ProZ. And they will be expected to translate 400 pages of "User Documentation" (I suppose User Manuals) from English into their own language. Perhaps even a bit more difficult than the instructions provided here. For me, already an indication of the level of the job that will be done. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
DGK T-I
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:08
Georgian to English
+ ...
| One possibility | Jul 6, 2003 |
writeaway wrote:
"When I looked, 15 people had already bid."
Of course, we don't know what the 15 letters contained - they may have been saying that the rate was unfortunately too low.
| | | | Marc P (X)
Local time: 19:08
German to English
+ ...
| Counter-productive | Jul 7, 2003 |
Xola wrote:
The administrators of a mailing list I'm a member of have recently decided to ban job offers whose rates fall below the sustenance level
I sympathise with the motivation behind this move, but I believe that it is counter-productive. Whenever interest groups have attempted to set industry-wide minimum rates, these rates have generally been seized upon by clients as evidence of the "going rate".
The IoL used to issue minimum rates; some translation agencies then began advertising "prices below the IoL rates", and the IoL itself received phone calls from angry members of the public complaining about IoL members charging "above the official IoL rates".
The BDÜ also used to issue rates, and I know from personal experience that German agencies regarded these rates as "standard", whereas I believe they were intended as "minimum" rates.
There is also the legal issue. In some countries, this kind of rate-fixing is illegal. The IoL was forced to abandon its policy by the UK Office of Fair Trading. The ATA faced serious problems with the US authorities for, as I understand it, merely discussing rates in public - even now, the public discussion of rates is a very sensitive subject for many US translators. Conversely, the UK's IoL and ITI regularly publish surveys of members' rates precisely because such a survey puts members in a good negotiating position without constituting any form of overt market influence.
On a more general level, all this wailing and gnashing of teeth in public over low rates suggests to the reader/listener (including potential clients) that translators are in some way obliged to take what's on offer. They are not. If a new potential customer calls me, I tell them my rates. I am not interested in "what they pay"; I am running a business, not looking for a salaried position. If they want my services, they pay my rates.
Marc
| | | | Özden Arıkan
Germany
Local time: 19:08
Member
English to Turkish
+ ...
| To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Job posting offering low rate - 39111 | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
| | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
