Poll: Do you see an increase in work just before important festivities? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| | Mary Worby 
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:52
German to English
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By which I really meant sometimes. But there are no patterns.
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There is usually an increase in the peak of summer, which is logical. I have not noticed any increases before holidays.
| | | | Miranda Drew
Italy
Local time: 02:52
Member (2009)
Italian to English
| in Italy yes | Nov 13, 2010 |
I live in Italy where they take extremely long vacations, so they try to get a ton of work done before going on leave
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 02:52
Spanish to English
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| I don't know | Nov 13, 2010 |
The situation in Spain is similar to Italy. Rushing at the last minute before holidays, long or even just normal weekends, seems to be par for the course (as does describing 90% of all translation jobs as "urgent"). Also, nobody except the self-employed seems to work on Friday afternoons either, so being flooded with "urgent" jobs which the clients expect back by Monday is just what passes for normal practice (or snAFU).
Also, one wonders what qualifies as an "important" holiday now... See more The situation in Spain is similar to Italy. Rushing at the last minute before holidays, long or even just normal weekends, seems to be par for the course (as does describing 90% of all translation jobs as "urgent"). Also, nobody except the self-employed seems to work on Friday afternoons either, so being flooded with "urgent" jobs which the clients expect back by Monday is just what passes for normal practice (or snAFU).
Also, one wonders what qualifies as an "important" holiday nowadays. When I was at school we were taught that "advent" was the period leading up to Christmas, which began in December, with the traditional festive feeling gradually building up until the actual event. Now, with just over 2 weeks to go until the end of November, the foisting of Xmas upon us at such an early date (with London already in full hohoho mode) makes me at any rate conclude that it's not worth the bother. The upshot is that more work I can take over Xmas the better, to distract me from the tatty vulgarity that now passes for Yuletide, at least in the UK.
Pah, humbug!
[Edited at 2010-11-13 12:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rebecca Garber
Local time: 20:52
Member (2005)
German to English
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| End of the year, high summer | Nov 13, 2010 |
I ticked before Christmas, but that is simply coincidental with the year's end, when a lot of work needs to get done.
And like Alexander, I notice an uptick prior to the summer vacations.
Otherwise, except for my monthly jobs, it's pretty random, feast or famine of different durations.
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Hi, I am not trying to imply that Christmas is important or more important than other festivities (if it was for myself, it definitely would not), also because I am obviously aware of other religions and festivities throughout the world.
I was just trying to see whether it could be possible to identify some kind of patterns about the work flow, but looks like an impossible task!
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 01:52
Member (2007)
English
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| Situation in France | Nov 13, 2010 |
In France, everyone takes gearing up for festivities very seriously, especially here in the Midi. There seems to be a serious festival (by serious, I mean serious eating, serious drinking and serious socialising) pretty much every week.
Of course, all the preparation for these festivals takes precedence over the day-to-day work of earning the daily crust. So, English non-festive translators have to wait until their French clients have finished celebrating whichever Saint's day it is... See more In France, everyone takes gearing up for festivities very seriously, especially here in the Midi. There seems to be a serious festival (by serious, I mean serious eating, serious drinking and serious socialising) pretty much every week.
Of course, all the preparation for these festivals takes precedence over the day-to-day work of earning the daily crust. So, English non-festive translators have to wait until their French clients have finished celebrating whichever Saint's day it is before they get given work.
That's a bit tongue-in-cheek, of course - but it does seem that way at times, particularly in weeks like this one where, having celebrated Toussaints (All Saints) on Monday 01/11, there was a day off for Armistice day on Thursday, followed by an across-the-board bridging day on Friday. Maybe there'll be time to generate a bit of work next week. Or maybe someone, somewhere will have a birthday so we can all "faire la fête" again.
Mind you, ask me to work between 24th Dec and 3rd Jan and you'll get a resounding "not likely!" For me, that's reserved for the family. Christmas is the one time in the year that we really get together. Some people say Christmas is for kids: I say we're all kids at Christmas. We'll all have silly toys to play with on 25/12 even though the youngest in our family is 24.
Sad news for the French: both 25/12 and 01/01 fall on a Saturday this year so Mon-Fri workers don't get a single day off! ▲ Collapse
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I have noticed that just before christmas, people seem to want to get a lot of things done. Sometimes there are holiday-related projects (for marketing clients etc). But then things dramatically drop off after about the 21 and remain nearly dead until after new years. I don't mind a bit of pre-holiday work because then I get to relax and do almost nothing for two weeks!
| | | | | | Sara Senft
United States
Local time: 20:52
Spanish to English
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| Sort of--this is normally part of my busy season | Nov 23, 2010 |
I find that November is when business really starts picking up, and it goes untill around January. Summer is typically slow.
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