Poll: What is your main professional wish for 2011? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What is your main professional wish for 2011?".
This poll was originally submitted by Nicole Blanc. View the poll results »
| | | | Mary Worby 
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:14
German to English
+ ...
| All of the above ... | Jan 6, 2011 |
Longer deadlines, more time off, better pay, less stress ... I'd cope with all of them!
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and this would be the result of:
Higher rates and New clients, so I can have More holidays
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Susanna Martoni
Italy
Local time: 20:14
Member (2009)
Spanish to Italian
+ ...
| Longer deadlines | Jan 6, 2011 |
so less stress -> new clients -> higher rates
and why not: more holidays
This should work...
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I would like to have more clients, preferably direct clients, and a higher turnover.
| | | | Adnan Özdemir
Türkiye
Local time: 21:14
Member (2007)
German to Turkish
+ ...
| More more money, good customers... | Jan 6, 2011 |
I wish me personally for 2011 (İki bin onbir); more money, ''good customers-outsourcers, more lovely translators here in Proz.com (Prozköy)... High translation rates tambien.
Saludos desde Anatolia
Anadolu'dan selamlar
[Edited at 2011-01-06 09:18 GMT]
| | | | | Shorter payment terms | Jan 6, 2011 |
I chose to be a professional translator. However too many translation clients want to force me into financial services, viz. money lending. They want to pay for my services in 30, 45, 60 or more days, at zero interest, of course.
Professional services, if compared to amateurs, supposedly should offer better value. more bang for the buck. Assuming that banks are professional money lenders - a trade where a translator is supposedly an amateur - my interest rate should be higher than t... See more I chose to be a professional translator. However too many translation clients want to force me into financial services, viz. money lending. They want to pay for my services in 30, 45, 60 or more days, at zero interest, of course.
Professional services, if compared to amateurs, supposedly should offer better value. more bang for the buck. Assuming that banks are professional money lenders - a trade where a translator is supposedly an amateur - my interest rate should be higher than the banks'... otherwise banks should think about shifting to translation services!
All right, when a client hires me for a translation job, I need time to do it. That's operational time. When I deliver the finished job, they need time to check if I have done it to their requirements, more operational time, it's part of the game.
However let's check this latter operational time.
- 1 day should be enough for a translation agency to ascertain that I have done all that was requested. Quality can be verified by sampling. Nitpicking is not a proper issue here, unless there is real trouble. Worst case, unfavorable time zone difference, make it 2 business days.
- 1 day should be enough for the end client to do the same. Again, worst case, make it 2 business days.
- Let's assume that this is a miserable translation agency, no operating capital, no cash flow, just a guy or gal with a low-pay part-time job who is operating a translation agency from their kitchen table (in spite of their dazzling web site, displaying clip art photos of posh offices). Worst case again... the end-client pays them on PayPal with an eCheck that takes 3 banking days to clear. As soon as it does, they should pay the translator forthwith. After all, their profit is already in.
So, this worst-case scenario shows that (2+2+3) = 7 business days, or 9 consecutive days after delivery are enough to pay the translator. Let's give some leeway for mishaps, mistakes, delays, holidays, whatever, and add 50+%, 5 days to that, adding up to two weeks.
If all professional translators gave up on lending money at no interest, and treated agencies that take more than two weeks after delivery like they should, this might cleanse our market to some extent. The point is that these longer-term paying agencies simply don't seem to care, and apparently they have got end clients addicted to paying for translations later, perhaps whenever they really feel like doing it.
Of course, if there is so much traffic every other day beetween one agency and a specific translator, it would be normal to have a fortnightly closing account, however not in jobs that come up once in a while, especially urgent ones.
I see it on Proz more often than I'd like to. Drop-dead urgent job, say, 2,500 words, 'technical', needed within the next 6 hours. Demands Trados, credentials, experience, etc. Payment term 45 days. Two hours later, no bids. Poster closes the job, posts a new one, waives Trados requirement. Gets two bids, either too expensive or inadequate qualifications. Second job post expires on the expected delivery time, most likely unassigned and hence undone. It always makes me wonder... who was in a rush? ▲ Collapse
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| | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 20:14
Member (2009)
English to German
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A well-balanced combination of all items listed and... in both professions.
| | | | Rebecca Garber
Local time: 14:14
Member (2005)
German to English
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| fewer weekends worked | Jan 6, 2011 |
along with new clients who pay higher rates such that I can afford more vacations which should lead to less stress...
Who am I kidding? We're getting an extra teenager for 5 months as part of a school exchange.
It's sort of like the day we adopted a puppy and 2 kittens. Schedule? why would I have one of those?
| | | | Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 15:14
Portuguese to English
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| A combination of these, et al. | Jan 6, 2011 |
A combination of these, and also:
a) longer deadlines, as most clients here want the work "for yesterday", as we say in Portuguese. A couple of hours more per job would be enough to allow proofreading and a better overall job. As the proverb says, hurry is the enemy of perfection.
b) not strictly a professional goal, but one aim that I also have is to move to a city in the countryside. I have a city in mind, but need to convince my wife. Of course the city must have bro... See more A combination of these, and also:
a) longer deadlines, as most clients here want the work "for yesterday", as we say in Portuguese. A couple of hours more per job would be enough to allow proofreading and a better overall job. As the proverb says, hurry is the enemy of perfection.
b) not strictly a professional goal, but one aim that I also have is to move to a city in the countryside. I have a city in mind, but need to convince my wife. Of course the city must have broadband Internet, as with a computer you can work just about anywhere - maybe not in the North Pole ▲ Collapse
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Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 12:14
English to Spanish
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In memoriam
I'm with José, ask me what I want, it's fast pay. I am not in the business of financing other people's operations, especially at zero interest.
| | | | Patricia Charnet
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:14
Member (2009)
English to French
| higher turnover | Jan 6, 2011 |
new clients, higher turnover, longer deadlines, less stress, more holidays, well that's all really
at least, I'm going to be busy with all that
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