| বিষয়ের পেজ: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] > | finding work in 2025 থ্রেড পোস্টার: edward o loughlin
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Lingua 5B 
বসনিয়া ও হার্জেগোভিনা
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে ফেঞ্চ/ফরাসি
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Zea_Mays wrote:
If they don't act like this, well, after the first hiring fail they'll know what to do.
Yes, they will go to their database and pick another one. That's why they keep sourcing endless amounts of CVs, so they can pitch them to clients and create an illusion of resource choice. In assistant roles, value is sometimes hard to measure.
[Edited at 2025-08-18 11:31 GMT]
| | | | Zea_Mays
ইটালি
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে জার্মান
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Zea_Mays wrote:
Alessandro Marchesello wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
Well, as a freelancer, but even as a potential employee, you define your own rate = value.
No, you don’t.
Given the long list of responsibilities and requirements, a fair rate would be around $50/hour.
In reality, no employer is going to double an offer when they already have hundreds of applicants.
They do. Think what importance such a role has for that company. Hundreds of applicants don't mean anything - they wouldn't pick just the cheapest one, but someone who shows to bring value and competence to their business at a fair rate - and who is able to communicate this to them.
If they don't act like this, well, after the first hiring fail they'll know what to do.
(An aspect to consider as well is skill shortage and ageing population, meaning a shrinking younger workforce.)
Just quoting to put the emphasis on a key aspect that many undervalue: communicating their skills, their value and their expectations.
Get rid of the employee mentality!
| | | | | Just words... | Aug 18, 2025 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
Just quoting to put the emphasis on a key aspect that many undervalue: communicating their skills, their value and their expectations.
Get rid of the employee mentality!
Nice words—skills are invaluable, experience is priceless, communication matters—and then they offer $25/hour.
No negotiation, no explanation, no discussion of added value. That’s the budget, and they know they’ll find someone with enough expertise—and enough desperation—to take it.
I can cite dozens of similar cases from the last six months: “€0.03 per word for human translation; AI assistance prohibited. That’s what we pay.” Twenty years of experience, an engineering background, professional specializations… it’s still €0.03 per word.
I will never work for such abysmal rates, but the market seems saturated with non-professional translators accepting whatever they can get. Maybe some clients will eventually realize (again) you can’t get quality for free—but this is the situation right now.
| | | | Zea_Mays
ইটালি
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে জার্মান
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Alessandro Marchesello wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
Just quoting to put the emphasis on a key aspect that many undervalue: communicating their skills, their value and their expectations.
Get rid of the employee mentality!
Nice words—skills are invaluable, experience is priceless, communication matters—and then they offer $25/hour.
No negotiation, no explanation, no discussion of added value. That’s the budget, and they know they’ll find someone with enough expertise—and enough desperation—to take it.
If this is a role you're interested in, have you tried negotiating with them? Or did you give up before even trying?
(May I ask what big tech firm searches "experts" that way and where? LinkedIn? Peanuts-paying-jobs site?)
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| Just hopes... | Aug 18, 2025 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
If this is a role you're interested in, have you tried negotiating with them? Or did you give up before even trying?
(May I ask what big tech firm searches "experts" that way and where? LinkedIn? Peanuts-paying-jobs site?)
I’m not going to spend days completing six different tests on the off-chance they’ll double their usual budget—that makes no sense.
This job happens to be posted on LinkedIn, but I can point to plenty of similar examples on other sites as well, including ProZ.
| | | | Zea_Mays
ইটালি
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে জার্মান
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| interesting role? --> try to negotiate | Aug 18, 2025 |
Alessandro Marchesello wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
If this is a role you're interested in, have you tried negotiating with them? Or did you give up before even trying?
(May I ask what big tech firm searches "experts" that way and where? LinkedIn? Peanuts-paying-jobs site?)
I’m not going to spend days completing six different tests on the off-chance they’ll double their usual budget—that makes no sense.
This job happens to be posted on LinkedIn, but I can point to plenty of similar examples on other sites as well, including ProZ.
That's why I suggested checking the negotiation chance before carrying out any tests. Isn't there a preliminary step where they conduct an initial assessment? If not, the process is unprofessional, from a company or for a role that is not interesting at all anyway, and I wouldn't spend any time even ranting about it. Serious companies use headhunting or hiring firms, or have HR experts responsible for finding suitable candidates.
We all know that there are sweatshop jobs out there and that someone will accept them. In that scenario, $25 per hour is even a high rate...
All those low paying jobs/tasks serve a certain market segment, but there are still other segments where quality and expertise are good selling points.
| | | | Lingua 5B
বসনিয়া ও হার্জেগোভিনা
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে ফেঞ্চ/ফরাসি
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| Zea, shooting in the dark | Aug 18, 2025 |
Hope you realize what ATS is and that the entire sourcing/hiring process is automated? There will be no human being to negotiate with. They will only maybe speak with you after all those steps and tests (I doubt it).
Why do you think you may be better than 100 others who applied that they will stop work in their busy schedule and negotiate with you? They don’t care about your communication skills, they want to see results. E.g. what did you do to increase a company’s profit from... See more Hope you realize what ATS is and that the entire sourcing/hiring process is automated? There will be no human being to negotiate with. They will only maybe speak with you after all those steps and tests (I doubt it).
Why do you think you may be better than 100 others who applied that they will stop work in their busy schedule and negotiate with you? They don’t care about your communication skills, they want to see results. E.g. what did you do to increase a company’s profit from $10k to $100k, provide a breakdown of key activities. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Zea_Mays
ইটালি
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে জার্মান
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| Think like a business2 | Aug 18, 2025 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
communication skills --> what did you do to increase a company’s profit from $10k to $100k, provide a breakdown of key activities.
Ya get the point?
The other point is: If I want that job, I'll find ways to contact someone in charge of finding the right talent. I'll need to be proactive. If it's just another boring AI evaluation or project managing job - then who cares? I'll look for better opportunities.
There's too much passivity among translators, with a widespread tendency to think and act as an employee.
But you're business people!
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Lingua 5B
বসনিয়া ও হার্জেগোভিনা
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে ফেঞ্চ/ফরাসি
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| Overestimation | Aug 18, 2025 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
Lingua 5B wrote:
communication skills --> what did you do to increase a company’s profit from $10k to $100k, provide a breakdown of key activities.
Ya get the point?
The other point is: If I want that job, I'll find ways to contact someone in charge of finding the right talent. I'll need to be proactive. If it's just another boring AI evaluation or project managing job - then who cares? I'll look for better opportunities.
There's too much passivity among translators, with a widespread tendency to think and act as an employee.
But you're business people!
No, we are not business people, we are service providers. I imagine “business people” to have their own employees, or tenants, or at least an assistant or two.
If I were a business person I’d ask you to provide screenshots from a sales software where I can see numbers and chronologies of you increaing a company’s profit, and to describe your overall methodology. The “I have communication skills” doesn’t count, that’s one channel. I need you to manipulate 200 channels.
| | | | Zea_Mays
ইটালি
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে জার্মান
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| employee mentality | Aug 19, 2025 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
Lingua 5B wrote:
communication skills --> what did you do to increase a company’s profit from $10k to $100k, provide a breakdown of key activities.
Ya get the point?
The other point is: If I want that job, I'll find ways to contact someone in charge of finding the right talent. I'll need to be proactive. If it's just another boring AI evaluation or project managing job - then who cares? I'll look for better opportunities.
There's too much passivity among translators, with a widespread tendency to think and act as an employee.
But you're business people! . I imagine “business people” to have their own employees, or tenants, or at least an assistant or two.
If I were a business person I’d ask you to provide screenshots from a sales software where I can see numbers and chronologies of you increaing a company’s profit, and to describe your overall methodology. The “I have communication skills” doesn’t count, that’s one channel. I need you to manipulate 200 channels.
Freelance service providers ARE business people. They are their own boss and have to make their business profitable. Or is it just a hobby?
I think you misunderstand and/or undervalue communication skills. Without them, you'll not be able to convincingly convey your unique qualities (not to mention that this is a key skill for a "language expert", as well as speaking and reading comprehension).
| | | | Lieven Malaise
বেলজিয়াম
Local time: 17:37
2020 থেকে সদস্য
ফেঞ্চ/ফরাসি থেকে ডাচ
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Zea_Mays wrote:
Freelance service providers ARE business people. They are their own boss and have to make their business profitable.
Exactly. I'm pretty sure more than a few freelancers are struggling because they hardly have a clue about how to run a business. The sheer amateurism almost daily on full display in these forums is quite something.
Zea_Mays wrote:
Or is it just a hobby?
For many it probably is.
| | | | Tom in London
যুক্তরাজ্য
Local time: 16:37
ইটালিয়ান থেকে ইংরেজি
| You know everything | Aug 19, 2025 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
The sheer amateurism almost daily on full display in these forums is quite something.
Enlighten us please with some tips on how to be a wildly successful translator when everyone else is failing.
[Edited at 2025-08-19 09:59 GMT]
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Lieven Malaise
বেলজিয়াম
Local time: 17:37
2020 থেকে সদস্য
ফেঞ্চ/ফরাসি থেকে ডাচ
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| Enlighten yourself | Aug 19, 2025 |
Tom in London wrote:
Enlighten us please with some tips on how to be a wildly successful translator when everyone else is failing.
I've shared my way of working, my rates now and in the past, my (financial) attitude towards MTPE and my general work ethic (availability, daily output...) on several occasions in the past 5 years. I suggest you enlighten yourself by actually reading what people write.
I have my own way and that way seems to be working until this very day, but I don't claim to hold the secret of being a succesful translator. I'm just saying that you can't be succesful in the long term if you don't regard yourself as a business that needs to be and stay profitable. That means paying attention to how the industry is changing and acting upon it. Freelancers that decline machine translation/AI, e.g., are obviously doomed. That's clear today, but it was already clear a few years ago. It's like an industrial company refusing to invest in a new more profitable machine because it likes the old less profitable one better for reasons of nostalgia. That's fine if you're almost retired, but for fulltime freelancers with some more years to go it's a death sentence. The only question is how long you will remain on death row before your execution.
And what those bottom-feeders are concerned: I can't be bothered by them because I completely ignore their 0.01 or 0.03 offers. Heck, I ignore every possible translation offer that is proposed on this website. If I would run out of work one day, I will be looking for customers for a long term business relationship, not for single jobs offered by people that are looking for the cheapest translator. Amateurism has many faces: being stuck on job platforms like Proz to find work is only one of them. Being professional, on the other hand, would entail using your communication skills (Zea is absolutely right about that) to present yourself to the world and eventually find the customers you need.
[Bijgewerkt op 2025-08-19 10:53 GMT]
| | | | Lingua 5B
বসনিয়া ও হার্জেগোভিনা
Local time: 17:37
ইংরেজি থেকে ফেঞ্চ/ফরাসি
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Tom in London wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
The sheer amateurism almost daily on full display in these forums is quite something.
Enlighten us please with some tips on how to be a wildly successful translator when everyone else is failing. [Edited at 2025-08-19 09:59 GMT]
When I was a project manager, we routinely had problems finding Dutch and German translators, there were just a few. Comparing to other pairs, the demand-supply ratio was misaligned in these pairs. This of course led to an increase in price in these two pairs. When there is a shortage of supply, the price goes up (101 business course). You don’t even need a business knowledge or sense for this, just the math from primary school.
Now I’d like someone who is NOT a native German or Dutch speaker to say how they are doing. Thank you.
| | | | | Thank God someone’s still using their head... | Aug 19, 2025 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
Comparing to other pairs, the demand-supply ratio was misaligned in these pairs. This of course led to an increase in price in these two pairs. When there is a shortage of supply, the price goes up (101 business course). You don’t even need a business knowledge or sense for this, just the math from primary school.
So true!
Also, no professional translator can juggle hundreds of active clients, so personal perceptions of a downturn are often skewed or delayed by the small number of clients responsible of the majority of the yearly income.
I’m an English–Italian translator (very common pair), and it was all going great until about eight months ago, despite many colleagues reporting troubles since 2020.
But I’m sure those unparalleled "communication skills" will persuade their clients to pay top rates even as their translation budgets are slashed or cancelled, even as they go broke or out of business (all scenarios I’ve seen among my own clients in the past eight months).
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