| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11] > | Blast your CV to 16000 Agencies? Has anyone tried it? Thread poster: Silvia M.
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XXXphxxx (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:06
Portuguese to English
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| High expectations abound | May 31, 2013 |
Shai Nave wrote:
@To all the list users.
This is a relatively picky kind of a question so feel free not to answer. So here goes:
Out of curiosity, how long are you into your translation career? Do you work in specialized fields or more of Jacks-and-Jills-of-all-trades?
You have reported that on top of getting requests to fill out some forms, you also got actual work.
Would you define this work as quality work, or more of a quantity on the account of quality type of work? Have there been instances in which you found yourself reducing your rates and/or accepting terms that you are not comfortable with in order to get that work? Or in other words, out of all the connections that you have made through this service, what percentage would you classify as quality, what percentage would you classify as 'potential', and what percetnage would classify as low quality (offers and connections that you didn't go through with becasue they were sub par by your standards).
I’m not a list user so apologies if I’m speaking out of turn here. I just wanted to make the point that an agency would not have a successful business if they were not after the highest quality at the lowest rates. I have been in this business for 20 years and have worked with the majority of my regular agency clients for 10+ years. It does not stop them from occasionally “trying it on” or contacting me because they have a job for which the budget is only “X” but they’d like me to do it. There must have been something in the water yesterday as I turned down 5 jobs from agencies with whom I have had a long-standing relationship; the rates were below the minimum I would charge for general texts, let alone those of a specialist nature. The bottom line is that even “quality” agencies have been known to wear translators down on rates. Surely unreasonable terms or rates are not something we can pin on Karel and his list but rather on the translators who choose to accept them?
[Edited at 2013-05-31 08:19 GMT]
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:06
Czech to English
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i actually do appreciate a lot of the ideas suggested here and am making plans for a lot of changes, including the annual request with very clear reminder. Urge them to login to state what languages they are interested in, but for me to actually apply such a system will be very complex, take time, and I wouldn't want to send them the impression it will have an immediate effect. Will have to word everything carefully, and other ideas here. I'm glad the atmosphere has taken a friendlier tone.
... See more i actually do appreciate a lot of the ideas suggested here and am making plans for a lot of changes, including the annual request with very clear reminder. Urge them to login to state what languages they are interested in, but for me to actually apply such a system will be very complex, take time, and I wouldn't want to send them the impression it will have an immediate effect. Will have to word everything carefully, and other ideas here. I'm glad the atmosphere has taken a friendlier tone.
I've been running it for more than ten years I'd say and in the very early years it was only one every few months. I'd say of everyone I ask more than half respond with a positive testimonial, rest don't respond at all, so far no complaints. If some then often due to technical issues and we worked to resolve them, possibly with a second resend later. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:06
Czech to English
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| translation rates | May 31, 2013 |
I think many would love to enter this industry and this could increase as jobs subside. Everything is getting automated, even translation itself, and the need for work will always make a downward pressure on prices. On the other hand there will always be a need and high prices offered for high quality specialised stuff. The industry has a very broad spectrum of demand, such as for editing of machine translated police reports. But with increase in trade between countries apparently the translatio... See more I think many would love to enter this industry and this could increase as jobs subside. Everything is getting automated, even translation itself, and the need for work will always make a downward pressure on prices. On the other hand there will always be a need and high prices offered for high quality specialised stuff. The industry has a very broad spectrum of demand, such as for editing of machine translated police reports. But with increase in trade between countries apparently the translation industry is increasing 20% a year. There are a lot of factors between supply and demand, and then technology. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Shai Navé
Israel
Local time: 09:06
English to Hebrew
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| Clarification | May 31, 2013 |
Thank you for pointing that out Lisa.
I want to clarify that my questions were not meant to associate Karel's service with any of the practices that the 'list agencies' may use.
Indeed, agencies are very volatile at times, but there are agencies and there are resellers of translation services. The latter ones are becoming more and more of an issue due to their lack of any value and the increase overhead they cost.
I asked those questions in an attempt to get more information, b... See more Thank you for pointing that out Lisa.
I want to clarify that my questions were not meant to associate Karel's service with any of the practices that the 'list agencies' may use.
Indeed, agencies are very volatile at times, but there are agencies and there are resellers of translation services. The latter ones are becoming more and more of an issue due to their lack of any value and the increase overhead they cost.
I asked those questions in an attempt to get more information, because in my mind (and I might be wrong), I suspect that there are certain patterns here that it might be nice to identify.
This question is more of a footnote, and certainly not an attempt to say something about Karel's service.
@Silvia
Thank you.
I agree with you. Sometimes it seems as if instead of taking an action and being proactive about an issue, people prefer to indulge in a digital venting/ranting session; not that these sessions don't have their place, it's always nice to rant and vent a little.
@Samuel
Thank you for the clarification. I agree with you that people love to complain, and nothing will ever satisfy everyone anyway. But I'm all for a transparent and honest service, not matter what kind of service it is, and although people will always find something to complain about, when the service provider takes all the necessary actions to ensure a transparent, fair and honest conduct, the problem lays more with the complainers than with the service provider.
Spam, as we all know, is a global issue. It is easy to confuse legitimate mailing lists with Spam or frauds. Therefore, I think that a legitimate service provider that uses bulk email as the core of his or her service should be as transparent as possible with offering an opt-out option. Bulk email always puts the recipients in disadvantage because those who use the service to send emails have opted in as they see its value for them, however, in the online world of nowadays, not all those on a mailing list have chosen to be there or no longer interested to remain there. Therefore I think that the service provider should make any reasonable effort to minimize that gap. In the process I also think that such actions improve the quality and value of the service for those who are interested in it to begin with, as well as for the provider.
[Edited at 2013-05-31 08:55 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-05-31 08:58 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Shai Nave wrote:
And one suggestion to Karel.
Switch to an opt-in model, or at least, once a year send an email to all the entities in your list, inform them that they are on the list and allow them to opt out. I read that you have an unsubscribe link at the bottom of all the emails, and that's great, but it might be easy to miss. Sending a proper remainder once a year would be a more effective way to maintain the quality of your list and avoid flooding people with communications that they don't have any desire to receive. Yes, please! This would be the only sensible way to go. Even if it meant a couple thousands less email addresses ("Blast to 14,000 companies"), those who did not exercise their right to opt-out cannot really complain, can they? If this was done, I would take back my words about this "service" being spam, and would probably stop using the quotes in "service". 
At last a chance to opt-out, in an explicit, specific message and not at the end of unwanted email. Thank you!
[Edited at 2013-06-05 11:36 GMT]
| | | | Corbett AM
Ireland
Local time: 07:06
French to English
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| As a newbie translator, I would be careful | Jun 5, 2013 |
As a relative newcomer to translation, I would never respond to this. You don`t know where your cv will end up. Very untrustworthy source. Your reputation would be damaged for good.
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:06
Czech to English
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| making up things again | Jun 6, 2013 |
again accusations drawn from the air. Why do you make things up and ignore testimonies of many?
Sending out the opt-out email, very clear in subject and quick to the point. Modest unsubscription.
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:06
Czech to English
+ ...
it just occurred to me that I could create a separate opt-in list based on positive responses to the mail sent out from the full list. That way people would have a choice.
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| Makes total sense | Jun 6, 2013 |
Karel Kosman wrote:
it just occurred to me that I could create a separate opt-in list based on positive responses to the mail sent out from the full list. That way people would have a choice.
If you mean that this way you could offer two different target lists, i.e. a full list (without those who opted-out), and a list with those who specifically opted in, that would make total business sense to me.
| | | | Jane Proctor (X)
France
Local time: 08:06
French to English
| Following with interest | Jun 6, 2013 |
I've been passively following this thread over the past few days. I'd never heard of this service and was initially very dismissive. It sounded like a faceless business.
However, Karel, I have to say that your willingness to participate in this (often unfriendly) discussion, put your cards on the table and be open-minded about making changes is commendable. You seem like a serious guy, who believes in his business and I've got a feeling that there will be a high demand for your serv... See more I've been passively following this thread over the past few days. I'd never heard of this service and was initially very dismissive. It sounded like a faceless business.
However, Karel, I have to say that your willingness to participate in this (often unfriendly) discussion, put your cards on the table and be open-minded about making changes is commendable. You seem like a serious guy, who believes in his business and I've got a feeling that there will be a high demand for your service this month! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 02:06
Spanish to English
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| I don't have a CV... | Jun 6, 2013 |
because translators do not need them.
Is there an option to send these agencies a personal message instead?
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:06
Czech to English
+ ...
Thanks for all the ideas everyone, certainly appreciated.
For CVs, it is your option. I encourage at least a cover/personal email in the message, and then you can attach or not attach any number of files, although I restrict the sizes of CVs, as I know people don't like massive attachments slowing down their mail (a lot of times it is because of a small picture of themselves that can be easily resized, which I'll do for them). I agree that many agencies will ignore a CV, because they'll j... See more Thanks for all the ideas everyone, certainly appreciated.
For CVs, it is your option. I encourage at least a cover/personal email in the message, and then you can attach or not attach any number of files, although I restrict the sizes of CVs, as I know people don't like massive attachments slowing down their mail (a lot of times it is because of a small picture of themselves that can be easily resized, which I'll do for them). I agree that many agencies will ignore a CV, because they'll just send you an autoresponse with weblink to fill in their online application form feeding right into their database, or an attached Excel or Word file which indirectly does the same, but there seems to be a lot of small agencies who don't have a database set up and merely save your email with attachment into a folder and may get back to you years later with a job offer, and I think an attached CV with more detailed information looks more professional in their eyes. With the internet, small and large agencies alike can accept work and farm out to others, so I believe the best option is to write a shorter and concise cover letter, get immediately to the point (visible also in the subject), since everyone's so busy these days, and then attach a nice looking Word or PDF file for more detailed info and to make it look more professional. ▲ Collapse
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 02:06
Spanish to English
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| Thanks for the response | Jun 7, 2013 |
You should also consider allowing the user to restrict marketing to a specific region.
For example, I generally only work for agencies in the U.S. and Canada in order to mitigate payment issues.
| | | | inkweaver
Germany
Local time: 08:06
French to German
+ ...
| Good suggestion, Jeff | Jun 7, 2013 |
The idea to restrict marketing to a specific reason is certainly a good one.
Although I do have a couple of clients elsewhere, I prefer to work with EU-based agencies, just in case...
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:06
Czech to English
+ ...
I have started asking the recipients to fill in more details about themselves, such as what country they are in, what language combinations they are interested in and so forth, but these days people really don't have much interest in filling in such information, so it will probably take time before most agencies fill in this info to the point that it becomes useful, but better to start at some point.
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