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Job equals sample text - I am lost for words!
Thread poster: Norbert Hermann
Norbert Hermann
Norbert Hermann  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:13
English to German
+ ...
Oct 8, 2006

Just saw today a job posting which asked for 67 words to be translated from English into German in 60 minutes. The sample text applicants had to translate was 67 words long. The job is now closed, though it appears there were 3 applicants.

I remember this kind of practice from the past and I am surpised it still goes on and people are falling for it.


 
Manuela Junghans
Manuela Junghans  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:13
Member (2004)
English to German
+ ...
I´m very surprised too... Oct 8, 2006

I just saw this job as well and couldn´t believe that they let the 67 words be translated as the "sample". Unbelievable.

 
Joost Elshoff (X)
Joost Elshoff (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:13
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Cheap way to get your work done Oct 8, 2006

But probably not the way to get the best quality. I wonder whether the job poster was intending on paying the quoters for their effort.

Are there any rules to including a test translation/sample text in the job offer? I can understand why one would require a sample text being translated if the size of the job is over a certain amount of words or pages, but it never should be over 50% of the text total.

At least, that's my opinion. Should it be made possible to have rest
... See more
But probably not the way to get the best quality. I wonder whether the job poster was intending on paying the quoters for their effort.

Are there any rules to including a test translation/sample text in the job offer? I can understand why one would require a sample text being translated if the size of the job is over a certain amount of words or pages, but it never should be over 50% of the text total.

At least, that's my opinion. Should it be made possible to have restrictions on the size of a sample text relative to the entire job at hand? I think it should.
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erika rubinstein
erika rubinstein  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:13
Member (2011)
English to Russian
+ ...
I was the stupid one! Oct 8, 2006

In fact I applied for that job. At the same time I was quoting, I noticed, that there were exactly 67 words. And though I have made already the half of the translation, I deleted it and sent them just ....
No answer.


 
Claudia Krysztofiak
Claudia Krysztofiak  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:13
English to German
+ ...
Maybe a misunderstanding Oct 8, 2006

Since the job poster has an excellent blue board record, I guess this may very likely be some sort of misunderstanding.

Why would someone with a blue board 5 endanger his good reputation for a 67-words-translation? This does not sound very likely to me.


 
Andrea Pinto (X)
Andrea Pinto (X)  Identity Verified

Local time: 20:13
How about a "thank you" note? Oct 8, 2006

Hi,

It's not quite the same story though ...but still..
Recently I saw a job post from somebody asking for immediate help with a Dutch into English translation. I was still up, it was late, and thought...why not lend a helping hand...so I replied at once and mentioned in my email that I would give it a go.
Two minutes later I received an email with the message "I only have a few words" and the text that needed to be translated...I did the job as fast (yet correctly) as I
... See more
Hi,

It's not quite the same story though ...but still..
Recently I saw a job post from somebody asking for immediate help with a Dutch into English translation. I was still up, it was late, and thought...why not lend a helping hand...so I replied at once and mentioned in my email that I would give it a go.
Two minutes later I received an email with the message "I only have a few words" and the text that needed to be translated...I did the job as fast (yet correctly) as I could and waited...and waited...and waited. So I sent a second email asking if my email had arrived and if they could make something of it (it was a message from somebody, referring to some jobs done, not mentioning what kind of jobs etc). I got an email back with a short yes, thank you and some more questions about other topics and certain names written in Dutch. I translated them again and even explained what the names stood for (governmental issues). I’ve never heard from them since.

Besides the fact that there was no kind of financial compensation whatsoever, what bothers me most is that some people can't even send you a decent “thank you” email!
I mean surely that’s the least you can do, or is that too much to ask?

Well, my first reaction was......next time something like this comes up, I’ll think twice before replying and translating immediately for the sake of trying to help someone asap...
Then I thought, not everybody is like that....so I guess I’ll end up doing the exact same thing again when somebody needs immediate help! Or am I still being too naive?

Regards Andrea






[Edited at 2006-10-08 18:24]
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Heike Behl, Ph.D.
Heike Behl, Ph.D.  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 19:13
Member (2003)
English to German
+ ...
Favor among colleagues Oct 8, 2006

Hermann wrote:

Just saw today a job posting which asked for 67 words to be translated from English into German in 60 minutes. The sample text applicants had to translate was 67 words long. The job is now closed, though it appears there were 3 applicants.

I remember this kind of practice from the past and I am surpised it still goes on and people are falling for it.



I would not call this "falling for it" and cheating, just asking for a favor among colleagues. Since it was really urgent, this is probably the fastest way to reach a fair amount of translators and get a quick reply. I don't know whether they also offered to pay for it or not, but who wants to fill out an invoice and do the bookkeeping for only 67 words anyways?

I usually don't have any problems doing such short translations for respectable clients for free as a favor.

Live and let live...


 
Ralf Lemster
Ralf Lemster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:13
English to German
+ ...
How about assuming good faith, unless proven otherwise? Oct 8, 2006

Hi all,
Some job posters are mistaken regarding the use of the "sample text" box. This might well be a genuine mistake.

As I have often suggested in the past, the most efficient thing to do is to contact a Jobs moderator (one at a time, please...), indicating the job URL. We'll contact the outsourcer, and will check what's going on.

Regards,
Ralf


 
Inga Jakobi
Inga Jakobi  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:13
Member (2006)
Chinese to German
+ ...
I would do it for free, if I only knew Oct 8, 2006

Heike Behl, Ph.D. wrote:


I would not call this "falling for it" and cheating, just asking for a favor among colleagues. Since it was really urgent, this is probably the fastest way to reach a fair amount of translators and get a quick reply. I don't know whether they also offered to pay for it or not, but who wants to fill out an invoice and do the bookkeeping for only 67 words anyways?

I usually don't have any problems doing such short translations for respectable clients for free as a favor.

Live and let live...


I wouldn't have a problem doing such a short translation for free neither, but nevertheless, it would be sort of kind, if you knew what you are doing...

But still we don't really know what was going on and so it could still be a misunderstanding.

But it is a strange coincidence anyway...


 
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 21:13
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
I bid too Oct 9, 2006

without filling in the sample translation. I cited my word rate and my minimal charge of 15 Euro, but got no response. Fortunately there must have been a third colleague who sent the sample off, I hope s/he gets paid.

Regards
Heinrich


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:13
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
I've had the opposite experience Oct 9, 2006

A J Pinto wrote:
Besides the fact that there was no kind of financial compensation whatsoever, what bothers me most is that some people can't even send you a decent “thank you” email!


I often get mails from non-clients (private individuals) who want something translated. These texts usually range between 20 and 200 words. I usually make an effort for them. I almost always get very nice thank-you notes from such people (once someone even mailed me a book in gratitude).

Saying please and thank you should be part of every translator's protocol.


 
Jalapeno
Jalapeno
Local time: 20:13
English to German
Possible explanation ... Oct 9, 2006

I'm with Ralf here.

Having never used the job system on proz.com, I always assumed that the purpose of the "sample text" section was to provide applicants with a rough idea of what the text to be translated looks like. That way, you can make sure that you only bid on jobs that you are actually qualified to translate.

Perhaps the person posting the job had the same misperception.


 
Manuela Junghans
Manuela Junghans  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:13
Member (2004)
English to German
+ ...
Second thought Oct 9, 2006

After thinking about it again and having read all your postings I came to the conclusion that, given the job posters blueboard record, it has probably been a misconception on the posters side. I too don´t think that they want to spoil their record with asking for a free translation of such a small job.

 
Norbert Hermann
Norbert Hermann  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:13
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Yes, maybe it was a mistake Oct 9, 2006

Claudia Krysztofiak wrote:
... some sort of misunderstanding.


Ralf Lemster wrote:
Some job posters are mistaken regarding the use of the "sample text" box. This might well be a genuine mistake.


Manuela Junghans wrote:
After thinking about it ... has probably been a misconception on the posters side.


I think you are right here. It was probably all a misunderstanding or mistake when entering the information.

Heike Behl, Ph.D. wrote:
I usually don't have any problems doing such short translations for respectable clients for free as a favor.


Yes, we all do that as long as it is clear from the outset.

Jalapeno wrote:
Having never used the job system on proz.com, I always assumed that the purpose of the "sample text" section was to provide applicants with a rough idea of what the text to be translated looks like.


It says clearly 'Sample text: Applicants must translate the following text'

IMO there is not much to confuse. But maybe it was just wrongly entered and then the poster did not know how to undo it.


[Edited at 2006-10-09 10:26]


 
erika rubinstein
erika rubinstein  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:13
Member (2011)
English to Russian
+ ...
To find out the truth Oct 9, 2006

We know there were three bids. So we know too, that two of us dindt get any answer. Now we have only to figure out who was the third one in order to know the truth.
I went also on there website and sent a direct email, but it came back, saying that the adress was wrong. And this should be a serious company?


 
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Job equals sample text - I am lost for words!







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