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Yet another inflammatory job offer
Thread poster: Noni Gilbert Riley
Noni Gilbert Riley
Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 03:22
Spanish to English
+ ...
Oct 12, 2018

Here's another one to get us all up in arms about.

To give further context, this arrived in my inbox via Proz yesterday evening, and required availability for at least the next two days, and perhaps a further three. Today is a national holiday here in Spain, although perhaps the advertiser wouldn't know that, since the offer came from ROI. Tomorrow and Sunday are the weekend.

Do the maths and then fume!

"To deal with a spike in dem
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Here's another one to get us all up in arms about.

To give further context, this arrived in my inbox via Proz yesterday evening, and required availability for at least the next two days, and perhaps a further three. Today is a national holiday here in Spain, although perhaps the advertiser wouldn't know that, since the offer came from ROI. Tomorrow and Sunday are the weekend.

Do the maths and then fume!

"To deal with a spike in demand on an on-going automotive
translation project we are looking for 20 to 30 Spanish to English
technical translators. Experience in automotive is not a
requirement, but Trados Studio and open-mindedness about machine
translation are.


Many words do not need to be translated so payment is EUR .05 per
word with discounts for TM matches etc. and payment terms are 2
weeks end of this October. Earnings of EUR 200 per day are typical
on these kinds of projects."in


One comment only from me to start you off: I've been working in automotive translation for over 20 years and have no idea how someone without some specialised training/experience could translate at speed in this area...

[Edited at 2018-10-12 20:24 GMT]
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writeaway
Daryo
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Jean Dimitriadis
Fiona Grace Peterson
Andy Watkinson
Rachel Fell
 
Katalin Szilárd
Katalin Szilárd  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 03:22
English to Hungarian
+ ...
End customers Oct 12, 2018

Noni Gilbert wrote:

Experience in automotive is not a
requirement, but Trados Studio and open-mindedness about machine
translation are.

....
Many words do not need to be translated


I am wondering what the end customers would say if they knew this.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Noni Gilbert Riley
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
Daryo
Viviane Marx
Karin Seelhof
MollyRose
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
Open-mindedness Oct 12, 2018

Noni Gilbert wrote:

"To deal with a spike in demand on an on-going automotive
translation project we are looking for 20 to 30 Spanish to English
technical translators. Experience in automotive is not a
requirement, but Trados Studio and open-mindedness about machine
translation are.



I hope the end client will have the same… open-mindedness. Because they'll get a bang for the buck.


Katalin Szilárd
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Noni Gilbert Riley
Dmytro Nehrii
Viviane Marx
Germaine
Karin Seelhof
 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 03:22
Italian to English
Disgraceful Oct 12, 2018

Noni Gilbert wrote:

open-mindedness about machine translation [is a requirement].


"Open-mindedness" sounds awfully like "you'd better be prepared to put up with all the crap we throw your way."

Noni Gilbert wrote:

payment is EUR .05 per word... Earnings of EUR 200 per day are typical
on these kinds of projects.


That's 4000 words per day, not allowing for matches, repetitions and so forth.

But still! Two hundred euros a day!!! How could anyone refuse????


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Viviane Marx
 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 22:22
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
No bottom line for the bottom feeders Oct 12, 2018

Some agencies might have thought a translator the same as the owner of the convenience store in the street corner downstairs, where they can get everything they want at any time for a very low price.

I had an agency from an Asian country Skype me once, offering me an "opportunity" to proofread their files for $15. I rejected. Then, they asked me "how about I pay you $17?"

I guess $2 means lot to these people and for them each dollar counts. It is not surprising that t
... See more
Some agencies might have thought a translator the same as the owner of the convenience store in the street corner downstairs, where they can get everything they want at any time for a very low price.

I had an agency from an Asian country Skype me once, offering me an "opportunity" to proofread their files for $15. I rejected. Then, they asked me "how about I pay you $17?"

I guess $2 means lot to these people and for them each dollar counts. It is not surprising that they do business this way.
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Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
 
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)  Identity Verified
Thailand
Local time: 09:22
English to Thai
+ ...
Ridiculous job offers Oct 12, 2018

jyuan_us wrote:

Some agencies might have thought a translator the same as the owner of the convenience store in the street corner downstairs, where they can get everything they want at any time for a very low price.

I had an agency from an Asian country Skype me once, offering me an "opportunity" to proofread their files for $15. I rejected. Then, they asked me "how about I pay you $17?"

I guess $2 means lot to these people and for them each dollar counts. It is not surprising that they do business this way.


This is a recent trend on job offers. When more translators are tolerable with those bitter wordings related to professionalism, darker future of the career is counted.

Soonthon L.


 
Andy Watkinson
Andy Watkinson
Spain
Local time: 03:22
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
ROI? Oct 13, 2018

Noni Gilbert wrote:

Today is a national holiday here in Spain, although perhaps the advertiser wouldn't know that, since the offer came from ROI. Tomorrow and Sunday are the weekend.



Return On Investment? (OK. Probably deformación profesional).


 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 22:22
Japanese to English
+ ...
Inflammatory job offer Oct 13, 2018

"Translations are like sausages, it is best not to see them being made"

Adam Warren
Vesa Korhonen
Haluk Aka, Chartered Linguist (MCIL)
Germaine
Liviu-Lee Roth
Christopher Schröder
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard
United States
Local time: 22:22
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Long-time practice by this job poster Oct 13, 2018

Sixteen years ago, this job poster offered $.06 per word, and that sparked protest among Proz members. Some people never learn.

https://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/1741-transpiralcom_germany_offers_only_006_for_sap_translations_is_this_a_normal_rate_in_germany.html


Rachel Fell
writeaway
 
Noni Gilbert Riley
Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 03:22
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
ROI Oct 13, 2018

Andy Watkinson wrote:

Noni Gilbert wrote:

Today is a national holiday here in Spain, although perhaps the advertiser wouldn't know that, since the offer came from ROI. Tomorrow and Sunday are the weekend.



Return On Investment? (OK. Probably deformación profesional).


Republic of Ireland! I like the way our translators' minds scroll through the options! I tried once to explain to my children that seeing a term often feels like opening a drop-down menu of choices.


Andy Watkinson
Jasmina Towers
Diana Coada (X)
 
Rebecca Davis
Rebecca Davis  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:22
French to English
+ ...
Quick question Oct 13, 2018

Was it addressed to you personally, or a general email?

 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 03:22
Member
English to Italian
Now on the high side... Oct 13, 2018

Catherine Howard wrote:

Sixteen years ago, this job poster offered $.06 per word, and that sparked protest among Proz members. Some people never learn.

https://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/1741-transpiralcom_germany_offers_only_006_for_sap_translations_is_this_a_normal_rate_in_germany.html


Actually, that thread says it was €.06 (but that doesn't really change much). Fact is that it's dated 2002, and now, 16 years later, we not only have a lot of "mainstream" agencies "offering" similar rates, but also a horde of new ones getting work done at 0.1-0.5 (USD)...

Very reassuring.


writeaway
Catherine Howard
Ilse Heyrman
 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 03:22
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Just take it for what it is Oct 13, 2018

This must definitely be a joke, so laugh about it and then delete the mail.

Seriously, it's apparent that the sender of that email doesn't know what it takes to deliver a flawless translation. S/He definitely has no respect for your work. Offering a meager 0.05 per word and then even daring to demand discounts for matches can only mean that that person wants to have only half of the words translated. It would be interesting to know if s/he is sufficiently open-minded when receiving
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This must definitely be a joke, so laugh about it and then delete the mail.

Seriously, it's apparent that the sender of that email doesn't know what it takes to deliver a flawless translation. S/He definitely has no respect for your work. Offering a meager 0.05 per word and then even daring to demand discounts for matches can only mean that that person wants to have only half of the words translated. It would be interesting to know if s/he is sufficiently open-minded when receiving the results that s/he deserves.

The cherry on the cream is they claim that you can make EUR 200 a day. The translation of this assumption is, if you managed to translate about 4.000 (at full rate) words (of complicated / complex content) and of course proofread them after having deducted all the matches (at a rate of 0.02 - 0.01?), then you can indeed earn EUR 200. Sometimes I wonder in what kind of dream world some outsourcers live)
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Melanie Maiwald-Meylahn
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Que? Oct 13, 2018

Not trolling (honest) but what’s the big deal here? Isn’t this pretty typical for ProZ?

writeaway
Daryo
Stuart Hoskins
Germaine
Yvonne Gallagher
Rachel Fell
Ventnai
 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 03:22
Member
English to Italian
But... is this PEMT with deductions for fuzzy matches/repetitions on top? Oct 13, 2018

Noni Gilbert wrote:

"Experience in automotive is not a
requirement, but Trados Studio and open-mindedness about machine
translation are."



I mean, why mention machine translation otherwise?


Catherine Howard
writeaway
Yvonne Gallagher
 
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