questions related to Services&Expertise Thread poster: Rosannelei
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Rosannelei
China
Local time: 05:25
English to Chinese
+ ...
I know the winning strategy on proz.com is be specialized in profile. So my question is:
For Services&Expertise:
Should I only list limited options on Services&Expertise, if so, what is the suggested number? 3 options? 5 options?...
Thanks.
| | | | Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 22:25
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Only list what you really can and want to do | Jul 18, 2020 |
Rosannelei wrote:
I know the winning strategy on proz.com is be specialized in profile. So my question is:
For Services&Expertise:
Should I only list limited options on Services&Expertise, if so, what is the suggested number? 3 options? 5 options?...
Thanks.
I don't think there's anything particular to gain by restricting your services, other than credibility. I personally would have doubts dealing with someone who offers translation, subtitling, teaching, voiceovers, DTP services etc., but I would find it normal for them to offer translation, editing and proofreading (most of us do all three) plus one or two other services.
Expertise should be sorted so that your main specialisation comes first. I'm not sure if there's a filter in directory searches regarding the number of specialisations. (I'm on my phone on holiday so not inclined to find out  ). I suggest you do a search of the translators' directory to check that. But credibility certainly applies here too. If you say you're a medical translation expert and then put advertising in #2 spot and poetry/literature in #4, you're risking losing a medical client. However, putting photography in the last slot and stating in the About me section that it's a lifelong passion does make sense.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:25
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
In both the Services section and the Expertise section, the more you include, the better your odds of being found in a directory search and the better your chance of getting a job post notification. However, if you know that you are unlikely to be able to offer a service even if someone asks you to do it, then it makes little sense to include that service on your profile page.
My suggestion for the "Services" section is: list only the types of services that you can provide and want... See more In both the Services section and the Expertise section, the more you include, the better your odds of being found in a directory search and the better your chance of getting a job post notification. However, if you know that you are unlikely to be able to offer a service even if someone asks you to do it, then it makes little sense to include that service on your profile page.
My suggestion for the "Services" section is: list only the types of services that you can provide and want to provide. Some might say that you should also list services that you might want to do, even if you don't currently offer it. If you list e.g. "Website localization" as a service, then your profile will be included when people search the directory for translators who offer "Website localization", and your will qualify for jobs posts where the service is "Website localization". It gets you a foot in the door, at the risk of wasting both your and the client's time.
My suggestion for the "Expertise" section is: list as many as you can. While clients may be able to determine fairly accurately what service they require (e.g. translation, transcription, etc.) they will be less able to select the correct subject field for their job, so casting your net as wide as possible will help catch them. It may seem dishonest in an ideal world, but the fact is that ProZ.com's jobs and directory system depends on it, so why shoot yourself in the foot? If ProZ.com truly meant "specialism" in the sense that translators typically use the term, they would not have allowed users to indicate **TEN** specialisms.
Sheila Wilson wrote:
I'm not sure if there's a filter in directory searches regarding the number of specialisations.
No, and worse: if the client indicates the "Field of expertise" without selecting "More options", all translators who indicated that field as both "specialist" and "working" would be included in the search results. Under "More options", the client can select "Specialist", "Working" (which I assume does not exclude specialists) and "Interest" (ditto mutatis mutandis). There is no option for e.g. "top or top 3 specialisms" or "exclude users with more than 3 specialisms"... which may have been a good thing (=:
Besides, the order in which specialisms are listed on one's profile is different from the order in which they are sorted when adjusting the settings. In my case, for example, "Tourism & Travel" should be at the bottom of my list, but it's not:
[Edited at 2020-07-18 08:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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