Unpaid hours of work / communication

Inez Ulrich wrote:

Hi Ivona,

I hear you, absolutely. I know what it is like when no work is around and you are desperate. And I, too, accepted jobs with the lowest rates possible, only to get some money in. BUT: That's just not the way to go. We have to deal with a huge crowd of fake translators whose crap we have to fix in the end (some are willing to pay more because of that experience, or far less because they have already spent most of their budget on the crappy translation), we have to deal with all those "professional" translators who work for ridiculously low rates. We have to compete with all of them. I find that since Corona things have got even worse. This has been the first year that I have almost zero work from August to October. I don't know where all this will end, but I'm no longer willing to accept jobs where I have to accept the company's conditions - they want me to do it? Accept my conditions. Rates too low? Okay, I'll plant some more veggies in my garden, so I don't have to spend money on buying them. Or I just go on a long walk with our dog. Time spent much more wisely and healthy. I have become much more unrelenting.