| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Agency offers low pay initial assignment to 'test an applicant skills and work attitude'. New trend? Thread poster: Mohamed Mehenoun
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Kamlesh Dhavale 
India
Local time: 03:48
Member (2013)
English to Marathi
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SITE LOCALIZER
Well, not quite nostalgia, as this incident happened at the start of this year. An agency in the UK asked me to take a test for translating subtitles. They "said" it will be a short, unpaid test for which I agreed. I'd generally do a 200 to 250 word test for free.
What they sent, however, was a full-blown transcript of a 25-minute industrial video!! Naturally I declined to take this "test" and was subsequently informed that since I have declined to take the test I wouldn't be co... See more Well, not quite nostalgia, as this incident happened at the start of this year. An agency in the UK asked me to take a test for translating subtitles. They "said" it will be a short, unpaid test for which I agreed. I'd generally do a 200 to 250 word test for free.
What they sent, however, was a full-blown transcript of a 25-minute industrial video!! Naturally I declined to take this "test" and was subsequently informed that since I have declined to take the test I wouldn't be contacted in the future for any job.
A shrug is sometimes the best answer.
Kamlesh ▲ Collapse
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Kamlesh Dhavale wrote:
They "said" it will be a short, unpaid test for which I agreed.
What they sent, however, was a full-blown transcript of a 25-minute industrial video!! Naturally I declined to take this "test" and was subsequently informed that since I have declined to take the test I wouldn't be contacted in the future for any job.
Pretty fair. All they were testing was if you work for free. As you don't, they are not interested in you.
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 00:18
French to German
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| Charities, the other way please! | Apr 13, 2009 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote: Pretty fair. All they were testing was if you work for free. As you don't, they are not interested in you.
Charities, the other way please! Professionals translating for a living here.
Laurent K.
| | | | | First impressions are always important | Apr 13, 2009 |
...and I agree with Parrot that if we all replied to enquiries in a polite and professional manner - even if finding the agency's attitude or rate/deadline proposal ridiculous - this effort might just little by little help improving the work conditions in this industry, or at least it would serve to inform the agencies about which rates/conditions we are willing to work under and what we find reasonable to accept. (I know that this of course varies a lot, but still) And this could in some case m... See more ...and I agree with Parrot that if we all replied to enquiries in a polite and professional manner - even if finding the agency's attitude or rate/deadline proposal ridiculous - this effort might just little by little help improving the work conditions in this industry, or at least it would serve to inform the agencies about which rates/conditions we are willing to work under and what we find reasonable to accept. (I know that this of course varies a lot, but still) And this could in some case maybe even make some agencies realize that their perception of what a reasonable price is for a certain task, is wrong.
And from time to time, your effort will surely get you some good clients along the way who just accept your rates without any fuzz. - And as mentioned by others, it doesn't take many minutes to reply if you have some ready-made templates for different contact/negotiation situations, which can be slightly modified to fit the given situation, and a price list you can attach to the e-mail. ▲ Collapse
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Louise Souter (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:18
Spanish to English
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| Rates/working conditions template | Apr 13, 2009 |
Parrot wrote: How about taking every opportunity to educate the client, while you're at it? Prepare a rates sheet on a luscious-looking PDF, complete with hourly rates, minimum rates, rush rates, overtime surcharges, service types (if you do interpretation, for example), file type breakdowns, your name, address and tax registration number... (you know, this is a business) and respectfully indicate that's what it takes for you to lift a finger.  You might want to add working conditions as well. D
Sorry, I'm still a newbie. Could you possibly suggest a format for such a document.
Thanks
| | | | | Use CutePDF to create PDF files from word docs, Excel files etc. | Apr 13, 2009 |
Hi Louise,
You can use the free software CutePDF (or another similar software) to create PDF files from a simple Word doc. Then you can just create a nice looking price list in Word, Excel or whatever you prefer and convert it into a PDF-file, you can easily attach to your e-mails.
Cute PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cutepdf.com/
For templates with "standard" replies... See more Hi Louise,
You can use the free software CutePDF (or another similar software) to create PDF files from a simple Word doc. Then you can just create a nice looking price list in Word, Excel or whatever you prefer and convert it into a PDF-file, you can easily attach to your e-mails.
Cute PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cutepdf.com/
For templates with "standard" replies, I just make appropriate e-mail drafts which I keep and can easily copy/paste into an e-mail and then modify to fit the situation (personalize to the receiver, change/add details etc.).
[Edited at 2009-04-13 16:09 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-04-13 16:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You can agree if you do free tests and the text is not too long | Apr 13, 2009 |
I do agree with Samuel: if somebody accepts to do small free translation tests, that proposal might be acceptable, as far as the text to be translated be small enough.
Some translators agree to do one single small translation test of 200-300 words; others refuse to do any free test. Both options are fine. If your option is the later, you don't need to waste your time reading the reminding of this post.
Let's say a... See more I do agree with Samuel: if somebody accepts to do small free translation tests, that proposal might be acceptable, as far as the text to be translated be small enough.
Some translators agree to do one single small translation test of 200-300 words; others refuse to do any free test. Both options are fine. If your option is the later, you don't need to waste your time reading the reminding of this post.
Let's say a translator is willing to do one single free test of 300 words. That translator would accept to do a longer translation test for one and only time, not charging 300 words of it and charging its normal rate for the reminding words. The final price of that long test would be:
p = (n-300)·R
Being:
p = The final price of the long test
R = That translator's normal rate per word
n = The total number of words of the long test
That would be exactly the same as doing a free 300 word test plus a normal translation of n-300 words.
Your potential client wants a translation test paying a small fee. Not any problem if it is not too long. How many words would be acceptable? Let's use a little bit of algebra:
Your client is willing to pay you:
p' = s·n
Being:
p' = The price your client is willing to pay you for that long test
s = The small rate per word your client wants to pay for that long test
n = The total number of words of that long test
The final price you want to charge for that long test (p) must be the same as the price your client is willing to pay for it (p'); otherwise, there would be no deal. Thus, p = p'
You get two equations:
p = (n-300)·R
p = s·n
That leads to this:
(n-300)·R = s·n
Once again:
300 = the longest free test the translator is willing to do (use another number if your longest acceptable free test is different)
R = Translator's normal rate per word
n = The total number of words of the long test
s = The small rate per word your client wants to pay for that long test
Using very simple algebra:
n = 300·R / (R-s)
For example:
Your potential client will pay you $2 per 100 words; that is $0.02 per word = s
Your rate is $0.10 per word = R
Your longest acceptable translation test is 300 words.
The maximum number of words you should accept for that long test is: 300·0.10 / (0.10-0.02) = 375 words.
If your rate is 0.09 per word and your client will pay you 0.03 per word, the maximum number of words you should accept for that long test is 4500.
¡Salud!
Ignacio Vicario Esteban
[Edited at 2009-04-13 20:43 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 00:18
Spanish to English
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| Format / possible content | Apr 13, 2009 |
Louise Souter wrote:
Could you possibly suggest a format for such a document.
Some rates sheets begin with the translator's working combinations. You can specify rates at source (or target, if that's the custom, or both). You can quote in words, thousand-words, lines or cartella, depending on your market (or, alternatively, get the equivalent rates in all modes).
One important caveat is to set a minimum rate that will cover any bank transfer expenses. (If, for example, you're getting paid by Paypal or SWIFT). As Mohamed points out, it makes no sense to accept 5 dollars on a SWIFT transfer, because chances are your expenses will be equal to or greater than that. (This will depend on the countries involved, but DO hedge your financial transactions).
The hourly rates may be the word/line rate multiplied by the number of words/lines you can translate in an hour. If doing revision, this will ensure you against lost opportunity.
Some translators slap a percentage or similar increase on PDFs, PowerPoint and handwritten manuscripts (note that the latter will be very variable). This covers the time lost when you're not working on plain modifiable text.
I personally base the "overtime" concept on the excess I am required to translate over my normal output for 6 working hours (1 day, not counting revision). Most CBAs where I live acknowledge the validity of a 50% surcharge. You can define "urgent" jobs this way, or on the basis of the turnaround time required. (For example, 1,500 words for delivery on the same day can cause more stress than 3,000 for 24 hours).
I count interpreting jobs on a half-day or whole-day basis, unless it's for the courts or the community (hourly rates). Meetings and conferences require preparation, whereas a judge might just flip at the slightest hint of an information leak (this will depend on the type of proceedings, of course; lawyers in certain civil proceedings prefer some kind of preparation). By way of working conditions, interpreters are generally not recorded without their consent, but be practical about it: if doing surveys or interviews, being recorded is better for the client.
Lay it all out on a Word document and convert it.
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