| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you respond to enquiries for potential jobs? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you respond to enquiries for potential jobs?".
This poll was originally submitted by Mary Worby. View the poll results »
| | | | Mary Worby 
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:12
German to English
+ ...
Depending on the credibility of the agency and the rates offered. I will never turn down what looks like a good opportunity on the basis that I am too busy. You never know.
However, while I do recollect submitting a slightly similar poll, I cannot remember my answer options looking like this!
| | | | Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 10:12
Spanish to English
+ ...
| If the offer is personally addressed, if I have reason to believe it offers professional rates,... | Nov 22, 2011 |
...and if I am available.
@Mary:
I am sure you did not write "most of the times" as an option. 
It is bad enough to leave poorly written non-native English unedited. It is even worse for a non-native to edit perfectly written native English.
Both of these practices are not altogether infrequent in these polls, and do nothing to enhance the professional image of this site.
| | | | | If it's personally addressed | Nov 22, 2011 |
Like Robert, if the enquiry is personally addressed, I usually respond. I rarely, if ever, respond to enquiries addressed to "Dear translator" or similar.
[Edited at 2011-11-22 09:40 GMT]
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Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 16:12
Italian to English
In memoriam | I answer personal messages... | Nov 22, 2011 |
... politely, even if I cannot or do not want to take the job.
Job offers that have been sent to a list go in the bin, mainly because the client will probably decide solely or mainly on price, where I make no attempt to compete.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 07:12
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Rarely and only if personally addressed | Nov 22, 2011 |
Other than that and all too often your profiles and CVs will simply be used as a means of advertising, "Hey, look, we can offer you a combined 150 years of expertise!"
| | | | Neil Cross
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:12
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
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I can only echo the above.
Anything that begins "Dear Neil" I will endeavour to answer, although I must confess that in busy periods some enquiries slip through the net, which is unforgivable of me. Mass mailings I tend to ignore, unless they look exceptionally interesting.
And I don't want to sound like a grumpy old man (perish the thought!), but recently the standard of English in some of these polls has been pretty poor...
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 16:12
English to French
+ ...
Yes from long standing customers. No if they come from complete strangers, often when adressed through someone of my network...
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Patricia Charnet
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:12
Member (2009)
English to French
I depends how the message is written if it's just yet another great offer of cooperation after I've done a test then I tend to forget about it however if it sounds genuine and has some background work done on me I tend to answer it
I've got a website that answers most questions about my profile and I tend to leave these numerous requests for tests
| | | | Taner Göde
Türkiye
Local time: 17:12
English to Turkish
+ ...
In the beginning, I did.
Now, I don't.
I have to offer the lowest price for the highest quality and best service, and then I have to wait for 30 days to get paid...!
The service of a translator deserves to be orderly and timely paid. This is not a "bargaining" type of house painting or lawn mowing job where you can put pressure on the amount of money that is requested. This is brainwork, not muscle work. Clients should appreciate the service of any translat... See more In the beginning, I did.
Now, I don't.
I have to offer the lowest price for the highest quality and best service, and then I have to wait for 30 days to get paid...!
The service of a translator deserves to be orderly and timely paid. This is not a "bargaining" type of house painting or lawn mowing job where you can put pressure on the amount of money that is requested. This is brainwork, not muscle work. Clients should appreciate the service of any translator instead of trying to find the cheapest and fastest one who also accepts to get paid after a month.
Translators! Market value, and nothing else!
Taner Göde ▲ Collapse
| | | | Simon Bruni
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:12
Member (2009)
Spanish to English
Yes, "most of the times", unless its author misuses the suffix '-s' or the message otherwise seems too spammy! The effort some offerers make to put together a well-presented offer is often abysmal.
But using discretion, responding to such enquiries has resulted in decent clients on a few occasions.
| | | | Ventnai
Spain
Local time: 16:12
German to English
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| Don't tell me | Nov 22, 2011 |
I find that some (Spanish) agencies don't tell me that they are offering me potential job. They ask me if I can do an assignment and I give them a price, deadline for delivery and any other information. They then answer back, saying that they now have to confirm with the client.
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Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 11:12
Portuguese to English
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...the job is from a company I already work with. These potential jobs are ones that haven't yet been approved, but the PM wants to know about my availability.
| | | | David Wright
Austria
Local time: 16:12
German to English
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Depends on where/who the job offer comes from. Mostly I reply (and turn it down if it's not from a known source)
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:12
Hebrew to English
| If it's a question of merely responding.... | Nov 22, 2011 |
Ian Jones wrote:
I find that some (Spanish) agencies don't tell me that they are offering me potential job. They ask me if I can do an assignment and I give them a price, deadline for delivery and any other information. They then answer back, saying that they now have to confirm with the client.
Then Yes.....but.........
I nearly always respond even if it's to say no. Unless it's an obvious scam like "Hello, I'm Mr Nigerian and I'm going to send you a cheque for £3000 blah blah", in which case it would just be instantly deleted.
I do find enquiries about "potential" jobs to be quite annoying sometimes, knowing you are spending time to reply only to maybe hear back. However, it has on occasion yielded some quite good clients, so I wouldn't necessarily stop answering potential enquiries just yet.
I'm less inclined to reply if it's pretty obvious they've emailed everyone on a proz emailing list and even more so if it's completely de-personlized. (I can't compete on price so I don't bother - I refuse to work for 0.07USD per word).
P.S Also quite irritated by non-native "correction" of flawless native English.
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