Poll: Do you use your smartphone to reply to job offers and client messages on the go? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you use your smartphone to reply to job offers and client messages on the go?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Lieven Malaise 
België
Local time: 13:05
Member (2020)
uit Frans in Nederlands
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| Obviously, yes. | Jul 14, 2025 |
I would say that being able to reply to job offers or other client messages when I'm on holiday or out of office for some reason is the main advantage of a smartphone. It allows me to convey a sense of availability, while I'm basically not available.
| | | | | Occasionally, yes | Jul 14, 2025 |
But I prefer to reply from my computer...
| | | | | Of course I do. | Jul 14, 2025 |
That’s one of the advantages of working remotely on a freelance basis. You do not have to stay glued to your computer. In fact, I enjoy working with my laptop in different working locations.
Replying to my customers from my mobile phone during working hours shows that I care. Clients don’t just value the quality of the translation, they also appreciate quick turnarounds and a clear, quick communication. They know they’ll get a timely response from me. When I go on holiday, I s... See more That’s one of the advantages of working remotely on a freelance basis. You do not have to stay glued to your computer. In fact, I enjoy working with my laptop in different working locations.
Replying to my customers from my mobile phone during working hours shows that I care. Clients don’t just value the quality of the translation, they also appreciate quick turnarounds and a clear, quick communication. They know they’ll get a timely response from me. When I go on holiday, I set up an out-of-office reply so they’re aware I am unavailable. ▲ Collapse
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| My phone is for private use. | Jul 14, 2025 |
I check my mails a couple of times a day at least when I am away from home, but I use my laptop for work, so that I can see the document before I commit to replying.
Usually I am not available for work if I am not at home, so clients get an automatic ´out of office, back on ...day´ message, but I sometimes have an agreement with regular clients that I can take their jobs anyway.
| | | | Beatriz Souza
Brasilië
Local time: 08:05
uit Engels in Portugees
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| Yes, it's useful | Jul 14, 2025 |
Yes, I make sure to reply to job offers and client messages via my smartphone whenever I’m on the move. Being available and responsive is essential in the freelance world, and using my phone helps me stay connected and professional at all times.
| | | | Oscar Núñez Alfaro
Costa Rica
Local time: 05:05
Member (Oct 2026)
uit Engels in Spaans
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When I started out my freelance career, job sites and colleagues recommended me to respond quickly to potential clients´ messages to get more chances to be hired. It is what I actually do thanks to have my smartphone close to me. Sometimes, I try to take a look at the job sites, social media and email box to apply or reply to any job offers. Phones makes everything much easier and simpler!
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If I'm away from my computer/home, it's because I'm not working at that moment.
I work mainly with my computer at home. I don't work with my phone at the supermarket, on the bus, or while I'm with my family or friends.
My phone might send me notifications of emails, but I just dismiss them when I'm away.
I don't live to work; I just work to live. That's what I love about freelancing: I'm free to decide my working hours.
And as I'm short-sighted, I don't thin... See more If I'm away from my computer/home, it's because I'm not working at that moment.
I work mainly with my computer at home. I don't work with my phone at the supermarket, on the bus, or while I'm with my family or friends.
My phone might send me notifications of emails, but I just dismiss them when I'm away.
I don't live to work; I just work to live. That's what I love about freelancing: I'm free to decide my working hours.
And as I'm short-sighted, I don't think it's healthy for my eyesight to read anything on the 10" screen of a phone.
Besides, I really don't care for, nor believe in, FOMO; that level of anxiety isn't healthy either. ▲ Collapse
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Philip Lees
Griekeland
Local time: 14:05
uit Grieks in Engels
I don't have a smartphone.
| | | | IrinaN (X)
Verenigde State
Local time: 06:05
uit Engels in Russies
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As usual, the question has not been thought through. There is no single answer and there cannot be one, at least for established freelancers.
Maria Laura Curzi wrote:
Besides, I really don't care for, nor believe in, FOMO; that level of anxiety isn't healthy either.
Maria Laura, this was the main reason I agreed with you:-). The higher you are in the food chain, the less you subdue to a knee-jerk reaction or lose sleep over a potentially missed opportunity to become a millionaire overnight .
Since my phone is always On when I'm not asleep (and always Off when I am catching some sleep) regardless of the time of the day , I will always react to my old clients' messages/calls, be it on the road, on vacation or on break in the middle of another assignment. Simply because I know all too well that they are aware of my current whereabouts yet must have a very good and urgent reason. No time will be wasted on initiating correspondence, research, negotiations etc etc. It will be a clear and concise message related to current or future work that is not "potential" and will fall into my fields so I can answer in a few words, say, "We have last-minute schedule changes, or We have X words by Y date, or X days of interpretation on Y dates" - "OK, I can take it to start on day Z, or Yes, I can fly. Bye now, back to the beach:-)" or "No, sorry." I will do my absolute best to let them know ASAP whether they can count on me or not.
No FOMO, or rather Fear of losing a client on the horizon. They know that the reason I didn't react sooner must have been truly objective. It has nothing to do with relentless job hunting or grabbing on to mass mails or some vague potential clients. Those can wait for later or forever.
With old clients, who have been feeding me for the last 25 years, respect for them comes first; with everybody else, self-respect for my rest, personal schedule and today's mood and activities rules.
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