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Poll: What do you do when a casual acquaintance tells you they can translate and wants to work with you?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Lose them Jan 25, 2021

Q. What do you do when a casual acquaintance tells you they can translate and wants to work with you?
A:. Keep them as a casual acquaintance until you get to know them much better.

[Edited at 2021-01-25 15:48 GMT]


Michael Harris
Paul Lambert
 
Rebecca Garber
Rebecca Garber  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:57
Member (2005)
German to English
+ ...
never happened Jan 25, 2021

I have had people ask me how to get started in translation, and I point them at ProZ.
The irritating one wanted me to distill all of ProZ's knowledge and my experience into one bite-sized email for them. I told them I couldn't do that, and that work is, well, work.


Yetta Jensen Bogarde
expressisverbis
Paul Lambert
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I ca do that Jan 25, 2021

Rebecca Garber wrote:

......The irritating one wanted me to distill all of ProZ's knowledge and my experience into one bite-sized email for them. I told them I couldn't do that....


I can do it. in one word:

SPECIALISE


Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Barbara Cochran, MFA
Barbara Cochran, MFA  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:57
Spanish to English
+ ...
Asked For Resume Jan 25, 2021

One of my Italian professors (native) asked me if I could help her find translation work. She told me that she had experience doing legal translations into Italian for a law firm, and I found out that she is on the list of translators at the Cleveland, Ohio, Italian Consulate satellite office who are referred to individuals for document translations and the like. She sent me her resume, but the only work I have been able to "find" for her is some she did for me. Anyway, the good thing about aski... See more
One of my Italian professors (native) asked me if I could help her find translation work. She told me that she had experience doing legal translations into Italian for a law firm, and I found out that she is on the list of translators at the Cleveland, Ohio, Italian Consulate satellite office who are referred to individuals for document translations and the like. She sent me her resume, but the only work I have been able to "find" for her is some she did for me. Anyway, the good thing about asking for a resume is that you can see if the person has any references listed who, you can, of course, contact to verify the person's actual abilities as a translator.

[Edited at 2021-01-25 19:52 GMT]
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Ana Florencia Fernandez
 
Liviu-Lee Roth
Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 04:57
Romanian to English
+ ...
much easier for me ... Jan 25, 2021

For years I've been trying to find some colleagues to work with me and then take over my workload. When other translators approach me and ask to work with me, I send them just two paragraphs from an US indictment and one paragraph from an AUSA affidavit. Never heard from them again!. Same for legal interpreting. Believe me, it works!

Lee


Rachel Waddington
 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:57
German to English
Former professor was a disaster Jan 26, 2021

A number of years ago, a former professor from my undergraduate days in the 1960s recognized me from something I posted on Proz and sent me an e-mail wishing to renew acquaintanceship. He had left academia to work at the US office of a large German automaker. Eventually he rose to a technical supervisory position at a different automaker and spent several years working in Germany. After he retired, wishing to supplement his pension, he decided to utilize his German skills translating, so he join... See more
A number of years ago, a former professor from my undergraduate days in the 1960s recognized me from something I posted on Proz and sent me an e-mail wishing to renew acquaintanceship. He had left academia to work at the US office of a large German automaker. Eventually he rose to a technical supervisory position at a different automaker and spent several years working in Germany. After he retired, wishing to supplement his pension, he decided to utilize his German skills translating, so he joined this site. I was shocked to hear from him after all this time, to say the least. When I was his student he had a near-native knowledge of German and displayed an impressive intellect. A few telephone conversations convinced me that he had a good grasp of automotive technology, so I had no trepidation about referring him to a colleague who was looking for assistance with a project, as I had no shareable work of my own at the time.

It turned out that he had poor computer skills, and years of alcoholism had largely ruined his ability to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time. Needless to say, I got an earful from the colleague for wasting his time.
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Mariana Hauber
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:57
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Many other possible answers Jan 26, 2021

This poll should at least have a "other" option, since not even half of the possible answers are there.
This happens all the time, and you can't be rude with your friend. What I do is I tell them I will get in touch if any opportunities appear. But I've said this to several people and only actually got in touch for jobs with very few.
I only call colleagues like this when I'm sure of their competence in the specific arear, people who have worked with me before, or people who are goi
... See more
This poll should at least have a "other" option, since not even half of the possible answers are there.
This happens all the time, and you can't be rude with your friend. What I do is I tell them I will get in touch if any opportunities appear. But I've said this to several people and only actually got in touch for jobs with very few.
I only call colleagues like this when I'm sure of their competence in the specific arear, people who have worked with me before, or people who are going through hard times and really need jobs.
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Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 09:57
French to English
. Jan 26, 2021

I tell them that they need first to declare their freelance status to the government (it costs nothing and you only need pay a small percentage of what you earn). I tell them that once they've done that, I'll send them any work I can't take on. I point out that work I can't take on will mostly be very urgent, or very badly paid. One young friend, who was training to be a lawyer, was interested in legal translations. Sure, only my clients know I don't do them, so they don't send them to me. You'... See more
I tell them that they need first to declare their freelance status to the government (it costs nothing and you only need pay a small percentage of what you earn). I tell them that once they've done that, I'll send them any work I can't take on. I point out that work I can't take on will mostly be very urgent, or very badly paid. One young friend, who was training to be a lawyer, was interested in legal translations. Sure, only my clients know I don't do them, so they don't send them to me. You'll have to look for yourself.
Another friend said she'd be happy to help out. While she was at my place, I got a message from a client, asking if I might do a job, but for less than the rate I had already negotiated with them. I just read the email out loud to show my friend how you had to be tough with such agencies, and explained how I was going to answer them. She promptly said, oh but no, tell them I'll do it for them since you don't want to.
Let's just get this straight, you want me to help you set up as a translator, pass work on to you, and let you undercut me? Sorry no way.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Christine Andersen
Muriel Vasconcellos
Paul Lambert
 
Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:57
Spanish to English
+ ...
Really best to steer clear of of such sub-contracting arrangements... Jan 28, 2021

...unless you have good reason to be confident of the individual's ability to handle the job in question.

My forays into such ventures did not work out well, and typically led to situations in which I had to spend an inordinate amount of time correcting faulty work. In the instance of one person I tried to help by throwing him a couple of jobs, he not only produced poor work, but acted like he knew more than I did, belligerently defending his inaccurate translations.

As
... See more
...unless you have good reason to be confident of the individual's ability to handle the job in question.

My forays into such ventures did not work out well, and typically led to situations in which I had to spend an inordinate amount of time correcting faulty work. In the instance of one person I tried to help by throwing him a couple of jobs, he not only produced poor work, but acted like he knew more than I did, belligerently defending his inaccurate translations.

As Muriel points out, in the end, it is your name and reputation that is on the line. I have found that farming out extra work in order to earn a little extra money is simply not worth the risk.

[Edited at 2021-01-28 16:48 GMT]
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 09:57
French to English
+ ...
Mostly "no", but... Jan 28, 2021

If this casual acquaintance is girlfriend material, I might make an exception from my usual "no" and invite her to move in with me and work together.

[Edited at 2021-01-28 15:55 GMT]


expressisverbis
Paul Lambert
 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:57
Dutch to English
+ ...
Sigh Jan 28, 2021

Anton Konashenok wrote:

If this casual acquaintance is girlfriend material, I might make an exception from my usual "no" and invite her to move in with me and work together.

[Edited at 2021-01-28 15:55 GMT]


Because every woman loves getting hit on when they are trying to do business.


Susan Madden
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Jo Macdonald
Muriel Vasconcellos
Federica Scaccabarozzi
Hauke Christian
 
Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 09:57
French to English
+ ...
Double sigh Jan 28, 2021

Rachel Waddington wrote:

Because every woman loves getting hit on when they are trying to do business.


I get your drift, but "girlfriend material" in my book implies at least some mutual attraction being already present. In such a situation, "I can translate and want to work with you" is a very clumsy and improper way to try doing business, but a nice (and laudable) way to say "I want to be with you and have a legitimate pretext".

[Edited at 2021-01-28 20:26 GMT]


expressisverbis
 
Tomasz Sienicki
Tomasz Sienicki  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 09:57
Member (2007)
Danish to Polish
+ ...
1st task Jan 28, 2021

My answer is: Sure, your first task is to find a client.

Liena Vijupe
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Muriel Vasconcellos
expressisverbis
Paul Lambert
 
FPC
FPC
English to Italian
+ ...
Asking is free Jan 29, 2021

The sensible thing to do is to carry out an inquiry, starting with asking her relevant questions. Then go on and find out more. I don't see any valid reason to say no outright, except that you're really pressed for time or are positive that you won't need any kind of collaboration ever.

 
Cristina Heraud-van Tol
Cristina Heraud-van Tol  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 03:57
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
There was no "Other" option Jan 29, 2021

Happens all the time, many people ask me about that! Not only acquaintances but also friends, people I don't know and colleagues (some of whom are good translators, others bad).

It's because I have plenty of customers, associations with international companies, have been doing remote translations and interpretations already for a long while, good equipment, updated CAT tools, a website (very soon, mobile too), presence in digital media, and Peru is light-years behind! I think they s
... See more
Happens all the time, many people ask me about that! Not only acquaintances but also friends, people I don't know and colleagues (some of whom are good translators, others bad).

It's because I have plenty of customers, associations with international companies, have been doing remote translations and interpretations already for a long while, good equipment, updated CAT tools, a website (very soon, mobile too), presence in digital media, and Peru is light-years behind! I think they still use pen and paper and physical documents.

So they see I'm doing good and ask me for jobs. I don't want to be rude, so what I do is I listen, then I ignore (hence the "Other" option). Only when I am too busy, I share some work with colleagues I fully know and who studied with me, so I am very much aware of their quality. And I proofread everything before delivery.
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
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Poll: What do you do when a casual acquaintance tells you they can translate and wants to work with you?






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