| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | During hard times, would you accept a job that doesn't pay much with a tight deadline? Thread poster: Jennifer Traini (X)
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 00:27
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Only if you are able | Jul 27, 2015 |
Jennifer Traini wrote:
Given the pair and subject (financial), in my opinion, the rate was really low (0.03 per word), but I couldn't say no to 450$. While I was trying to get a decent deadline (they proposed 3 days for completing the work), the manager asked if I could do just 5500 words in 24 hours. ... To me, it was a tight deadline and eventually, I refused but I felt really bad about losing the money.
It's okay to work for low rates, but it's not okay to deliver slipshod work if the client expects good work. For this reason, you should only accept such low rates (and any deadline) if you would be able to deliver an adequate translation with those restrictions.
In your case, the rate was very low, but it would have been okay if you could renegotiate the deadline so something more realistic. You are a part-time translator, so your daily output is even less than that of a full-time translator, and you should always keep that in mind when accepting deadlines.
If you accept this tight deadline and you deliver bad work, the client is likely to ask you to spend additional time to fix your translation, or is going to demand some kind of discount on the already low rate, or is going to stop sending you more lucrative jobs because you are now "a bad translator".
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 23:27
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| A very valid point | Jul 27, 2015 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
Remember, if your work is accurate and fit for purpose, then it is worth the same to the end user as an experienced colleague's work. If you translate a birth certificate, the minutes of a meeting, whatever, it is either good enough, and then you can charge the full fee for it, or it is not good enough, and the client is entitled to complain... and everyone wastes time over hassle and trying to sort it out. That applies, no matter how many years experience you have, from 3 months to 30 years or more.
Jennifer, I understand that you think your work should bring you less income than an established translator would get, as you're still learning the trade. And I agree - otherwise there'd be nothing for anybody to aim for, would there? But this income difference doesn't come from a different rate. It comes from the time it's going to take you to produce the same excellent (or at least adequate) work. The established translator may be able to produce 3,000 words, fully proofread and delivered, in a 7-hour day if they're right in their comfort zone. You, as an inexperienced translator, don't yet have a comfort zone. You don't have vast TMs and glossaries, nor do you have real familiarisation with the range of labour-saving IT techniques (I'm guessing here - maybe you do!). All this means you may well only be able to produce half the number of words in the same time. Hence: identical rate for the client; but 50% lower pay per hour for you.
That's the way to become established with good clients. As you gain experience, you don't have to risk losing them by immediately raising your rate; you'll be earning more each month just by increasing your speed.
I think if you aim to do 5,500 words in 24 hours, you'll probably end up with some massive problems. Many translators have posted here to complain that they've spent weeks working flat out on a major project, and now the client is refusing to pay a cent as they claim the work is not fit for purpose. That can't be a nice outcome for anyone.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 00:27
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Sheila makes a good point | Jul 27, 2015 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
I understand that you think your work should bring you less income than an established translator would get, as you're still learning the trade. ... But this income difference doesn't come from a different rate. It comes from the time it's going to take you to produce the same ... adequate work.
I agree. It is a common misconception among student translators that starting translators should charge lower rates. They should, in fact, aim to charge the same rate as established translators, and they will earn less than established translators because it will take them longer to translate.
Sheila Wilson wrote:
You're clearly grabbing at every straw that comes along, but how much harm are you doing to your self-respect and your professional reputation?
I don't think that grabbing all the work you can get will harm your professional reputation in the long run, nor should it affect your self-respect. What will harm your reputation is delivering bad translations and being an unpleasant or unreliable translator.
Dan Lucas wrote:
As Sheila says, an established translator would not even look at the kind of jobs you have been accepting.
I don't think there is any link between how established a translator is and what types of jobs he's willing to accept. An established translator is one who makes enough money from it to support himself and/or his family. An established translator is one who gets new clients by word of mouth. An established translator is one whose translations are popular among colleagues as proofreading assignments. No-one will become an established translator by simply raising his rates.
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:27
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Possible reading comprehension issue | Jul 27, 2015 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Dan Lucas wrote:
As Sheila says, an established translator would not even look at the kind of jobs you have been accepting. No-one will become an established translator by simply raising his rates.
Maybe so, but irrelevant, as nowhere in this topic have I argued that the original poster should "simply" raise her rates.
In an earlier post I did advise her to take a number of concurrent actions to improve her fortunes. One of those four or five measures was "Never take on jobs with outrageously low rates". I'm sure a careful re-reading of the thread will clear up any misunderstandings.
As for the OP, I would argue that she is not going to become an established translator by accepting jobs with rates significantly lower than the average for her pair.
You don't get good clients by presenting yourself as a less-than-averagely competent translator. Low prices send a strong signal of weakness or incompetence.
Regards
Dan
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