| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Copy of identity papers BEFORE a real assignment Thread poster: S_G_C
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S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 11:18
English to Romanian
A company located in the UK has just posted a job addressing multiple language combinations, including mine.
The job ad includes a link to an electronic form which should be filled in and submitted as the initial step.
However, the form contains this mandatory requirement:
Please upload a copy of your Native Country's Government issued Identity proof
Would you comply?
They also mention this:
Please upload a copy of your Native Country's Government issued Identity proof
Would you comply?
They also mention this:
Final Offered rate: Premium rates, disclosed only with candidates who submit this application
Note: a small 500 words test, free of charge will be applied.
Now, even if the size of the unpaid test didn't bother me, the national ID proof, as part of the initial selection process, still rang a bell... ▲ Collapse
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Well, at least the company you refer to has a fairly good Blue Board record, so it's not an outright fraud. On the other hand, the company is in the UK and is thus subject to UK privacy regulations. I am not sure they have legal basis for requesting your ID in such a situation, and in any event, they are supposed to disclose this legal basis and their own privacy policy, and to provide a secure method for transmitting the documents. I don't see any of these in their application form, nor on thei... See more Well, at least the company you refer to has a fairly good Blue Board record, so it's not an outright fraud. On the other hand, the company is in the UK and is thus subject to UK privacy regulations. I am not sure they have legal basis for requesting your ID in such a situation, and in any event, they are supposed to disclose this legal basis and their own privacy policy, and to provide a secure method for transmitting the documents. I don't see any of these in their application form, nor on their website.
In addition to that, 500 words seems a bit too big indeed, and having to mention major projects in the CV is also a bit of an overkill.
If you really want to work with them anyway, you can send a heavily sanitised copy of your ID (no photo, no document number, etc.) and inform them that a full copy can be sent if and when they actually start doing business with you. ▲ Collapse
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Because the UK does not issue identity documents on a national basis, driving licenses, showing a photo of the holder, their date of birth and their home address, are used as general proof of identity.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:18
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Anton Konashenok wrote:
Well, at least the company you refer to has a fairly good Blue Board record, so it's not an outright fraud.
The Blue Board is not a reliable guide to anything.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:18
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| They will never give you any work | Jan 6, 2022 |
Sorana_M. wrote:
A company located in the UK has just posted a job addressing multiple language combinations, including mine.
The job ad includes a link to an electronic form which should be filled in and submitted as the initial step.
However, the form contains this mandatory requirement:
Please upload a copy of your Native Country's Government issued Identity proof
Would you comply?
They also mention this:
Final Offered rate: Premium rates, disclosed only with candidates who submit this application
Note: a small 500 words test, free of charge will be applied.
Now, even if the size of the unpaid test didn't bother me, the national ID proof, as part of the initial selection process, still rang a bell...
In the past, I have done dozens of applications like this that ask for all kinds of documentation and require you to do a translation test.
I have never, ever, had any work from any of them.
So a simple rule applies: the more work you are asked to do to enrol with an agency, the less likely it is that they will ever give you any work.
| | | | Michael Newton 
United States
Local time: 04:18
Japanese to English
+ ...
| Identify papers | Jan 7, 2022 |
This is fraud, pure and simple. Your identity papers could be used for anything. Tom in London is absolutely right. The more laborious the onboarding process, the less work they will give you.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 10:18
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| One red flag, one orange | Jan 7, 2022 |
Sorana_M. wrote:
Please upload a copy of your Native Country's Government issued Identity proof
...
Final Offered rate: Premium rates, disclosed only with candidates who submit this application.
1. The ID requirement is not truly a red flag, but obviously you have to redact certain sensitive information from the scanned copy before you send it to them.
2. The fact that they refuse to discuss rates before you submit certain sensitive information to them is a red flag. It means that they intend to offer you very low rates, in the hope that they will accept their low rates because you have invested so much time in their onboarding process.
3. I assume it's this one: https://www.proz.com/translation-jobs/1867652. Unfortunately, I can't see the name of the agency, but I can see that they are a "ProZ.com Business Enterprise member", and the fee for such membership is $872 per year, which may be higher than your garden variety scammer may be willing to pay. On the other hand, AFAICS ProZ.com doesn't really provide any information about what vetting scammers would have to undergo to become a "Business Enterprise member".
Tom in London wrote:
The Blue Board is not a reliable guide to anything.
In my experience, the Blue Board is a reasonably reliable guide to willingness-to-work-again from translators who claim to have worked for the agency. As with anything, it should not be taken at face value and should only form part of a larger investigation. A high Blue Board rating doesn't mean high rates or that the agency keeps their promises, but simply that these translators have found them to be legitimate and are on the balance of things willing to work for them again.
[Edited at 2022-01-07 08:49 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:18
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Samuel Murray wrote:
The Blue Board is a reliable source of information about willingness to work again, by translators who claim to have worked for the agency.
I once gave a bad BB rating to an agency that wouldn't pay me despite multiple reminders. A big, well known agency.
They suggested that they might pay me if I changed my bad rating to a good rating.
This made me very angry. They should have just paid me in the first place.
So I gave them a good rating, as they had requested. And sure enough, they paid me.
Then I changed my bad rating back again - to an even worse rating.
It was what they deserved. I hate dishonest people.
My experience showed me that a positive BlueBoard rating can be obtained in exchange for payment.
I have no reason to suppose that this is not a widespread (mal)practice. I know of at least two other translators who have had the same experience.
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Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
"Premium" so very rarely indicates anything good.
| | | | S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 11:18
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER | Another company | Jan 7, 2022 |
Meanwhile, I've passed a test with another company.
Some of their requirements are even odder.
Like agreeing to make free-of-charge changes for a period of ... years after submitting the work and even if the work has been released to the market or incorporated into products and agreeing to be held liable if the released work causes political or legal issues.
What the heck.
| | | | S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 11:18
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
No, it's not. I reported it to the proz.com staff members but the answer was that it is in line with ProZ.com job posting rules.
[Edited at 2022-01-07 22:02 GMT]
| | | | Mihai Badea (X)
Luxembourg
Local time: 10:18
English to Romanian
+ ...
| It sounds harsh | Jan 8, 2022 |
Sorana_M. wrote:
Meanwhile, I've passed a test with another company.
Some of their requirements are even odder.
Like agreeing to make free-of-charge changes for a period of ... years after submitting the work and even if the work has been released to the market or incorporated into products and agreeing to be held liable if the released work causes political or legal issues.
What the heck.
However, from their point of view it might be just a way to reassure themselves.
Being required to correct your own mistake, even after a number of years, does not seem completely unreasonable.
Translation mistakes which cause real trouble for anyone are rather rare. Workflows at well organised companies are so that the risk for errors is minimised (there are structural checks, there is the revision and, for more complex specialised texts, there is a review as well).
It is interesting how (some) translation companies are prepared to sanction translators for errors, but there is no reward for spotting and helping rectify errors in the original, isn't it?
[Edited at 2022-01-08 10:22 GMT]
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:18
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Sorana_M. wrote:
Meanwhile, I've passed a test with another company.
Some of their requirements are even odder.
Like agreeing to make free-of-charge changes for a period of ... years after submitting the work and even if the work has been released to the market or incorporated into products and agreeing to be held liable if the released work causes political or legal issues.
What the heck.
I hope you didn't sign that!
| | | | S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 11:18
English to Romanian
TOPIC STARTER
Tom in London wrote:
I hope you didn't sign that!
I told them I couldn't possibly agree with something like that.
Given their country of residence, I reckon such things might happen there.
But not here, not in my country, not anymore.
And not in any democratic country, as far as I know.
| | | | | The problem here | Jan 8, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote: Sorana_M. wrote:
Meanwhile, I've passed a test with another company.
Some of their requirements are even odder.
Like agreeing to make free-of-charge changes for a period of ... years after submitting the work and even if the work has been released to the market or incorporated into products and agreeing to be held liable if the released work causes political or legal issues.
What the heck. I hope you didn't sign that!
Once you have provided your text to the client, you already no longer have any control with what is done to it. I have had clients "correct" my work, introducing all the typical non-native grammar mistakes, false friends and heaven knows what else into work I had done. I could do nothing about it and was extremely pleased that my name was not attached to that work in any way whatsoever. If a third party agency is sending out tons of warning signs that you they are doing little more than acting as a psot box between you and the end client, give them a wide berth.
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