Poll: Do you charge translation tests required by outsoucers?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
May 22, 2021

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you charge translation tests required by outsoucers?".

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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:29
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other May 22, 2021

In the past, I have done it for free a couple of times when I really wanted to work for the client. It has also happened that a prospective client has assigned a job to me for which I got paid. Presumably that paid-for job gave them an idea of my work. But those events happened a long time ago. I'm not really shopping for new clients anymore.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:29
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other May 22, 2021

Like Muriel I’m not looking for new clients, but if I happen to be really interested in that particular job or organization, I'll be happy to do a short translation test (preferably paid my minimum charge), providing we have already agreed on pricing and terms and there is no deadline set for the translation, so I can do it in my own time. These tests are compulsory to answer calls for tender by some international organizations. They may also be useful for agencies to sort out the wheat from t... See more
Like Muriel I’m not looking for new clients, but if I happen to be really interested in that particular job or organization, I'll be happy to do a short translation test (preferably paid my minimum charge), providing we have already agreed on pricing and terms and there is no deadline set for the translation, so I can do it in my own time. These tests are compulsory to answer calls for tender by some international organizations. They may also be useful for agencies to sort out the wheat from the chaff. In some cases this has led to long term relationships with clients. I must say also that a test goes both ways: the way it is handled is usually a good indicator of how organized the potential client is.Collapse


Yetta Jensen Bogarde
TB CommuniCAT
Becca Resnik
Muriel Vasconcellos
Philip Lees
Agneta Pallinder
 
Sanjin Grandić
Sanjin Grandić  Identity Verified
Croatia
Local time: 15:29
Member (2020)
French to Croatian
+ ...
A long time ago May 23, 2021

It was a long time ago when I was in contact with agencies requiring a translation test except two weeks ago but it was for a very prospective client.

Otherwise, I don t accept them alltogether.



[Edited at 2021-05-23 00:09 GMT]


 
Nikolay Novitskiy
Nikolay Novitskiy  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 18:29
Member (2018)
English to Russian
If you see a large test, run away! May 25, 2021

I know an agency which asks people to do a free test for each new project they have. It's usually a large test with lots of writing. I submitted 3 such tests and won only once, which resulted into several online meetings, 2 hours of paperwork with NDAs, signing in to several web-based apps, creating a separate Google account, applying a two-step verification to it, and... three (THREE!!!) small but time consuming tasks. They paid me 90 dollars in the end...

So... I never reply to th
... See more
I know an agency which asks people to do a free test for each new project they have. It's usually a large test with lots of writing. I submitted 3 such tests and won only once, which resulted into several online meetings, 2 hours of paperwork with NDAs, signing in to several web-based apps, creating a separate Google account, applying a two-step verification to it, and... three (THREE!!!) small but time consuming tasks. They paid me 90 dollars in the end...

So... I never reply to their inquiries now, regardless of how "famous" or "well-known" their end client is. And I never do large free tests.
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Poll: Do you charge translation tests required by outsoucers?






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