Restricted job, distance and bidding : What does this mean? Thread poster: Williamson
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Williamson 
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:21
Flemish to English
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The outsourcer has chosen to restrict quoting on this job to members who:
... currently live in: Belgium (You have not reported you do.)
You do not meet all the necessary criteria for quoting on this job.... and hence I can not quote.
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For fiscal reasons, I prefer not to live in Belgium.
However, my parents live there and I can always save on per diems.
Did it ever occur to some posters that the distance between London St.Pancras and Brussels-South sta... See more The outsourcer has chosen to restrict quoting on this job to members who:
... currently live in: Belgium (You have not reported you do.)
You do not meet all the necessary criteria for quoting on this job.... and hence I can not quote.
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For fiscal reasons, I prefer not to live in Belgium.
However, my parents live there and I can always save on per diems.
Did it ever occur to some posters that the distance between London St.Pancras and Brussels-South station is 1.51 minutes and costs about €80 if the ticket is booked well in advance. This makes is perfectly feasible to be active both in the U.K. (London and surroundings) and Belgium (Brussels, Antwerp and surroundings). You are faster in Brussels and London than you are from say Leeds to London. How "far" is Brussels from Paris? Price of round-trip about €100.
How relevant is "currently live in" in such circumstances? Is there no possibility to indicate : Active in both London and Brussels or active Europewide?
[Edited at 2007-11-13 00:10] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 20:21
English to Spanish
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In memoriam | It's Arbitrary | Nov 13, 2007 |
Since interpreting jobs require one's presence, the poster wishes to get replies from people who are close enough to require little or no travel costs. It is, of course arbitrary, since country may not have so much to do with that, but then how can that factor be designated?
In my case, for instance, someone can say "US" and if it's New York or Miami, I might as well forget about it; and even if it's Houston, and I live in the same state.
If they say "Mexico" and it's C... See more Since interpreting jobs require one's presence, the poster wishes to get replies from people who are close enough to require little or no travel costs. It is, of course arbitrary, since country may not have so much to do with that, but then how can that factor be designated?
In my case, for instance, someone can say "US" and if it's New York or Miami, I might as well forget about it; and even if it's Houston, and I live in the same state.
If they say "Mexico" and it's Cd. Juárez, Chih. I am excluded, yet I can easily walk that far! Needless to say, someone in Mexico City cannot.
So I do not know any answer other than to not allow any restriction to a specific place, but to state that travel cost will be an important factor in selection.
Indeed, some interpreters might pay their own way to some places because they want to visit there anyway. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Prima Vista
Russian Federation
Local time: 07:21
Russian to English
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| It's customer's choice | Nov 13, 2007 |
Being a PM, I often come across clients who do not want to bear any extra expenses (travel, accomodation, etc.), that is why we have to restrict quotings.
However, sometimes such restrictions are baffling indeed. Recently, I have seen a job posting here. A US agency was looking for Eng-Azeri interpreters (professional, experiece, credentials - of course!) residing in *** County, state ***, ONLY!
Made me wonder how many interpreters who speak Azeri as A or B language ac... See more Being a PM, I often come across clients who do not want to bear any extra expenses (travel, accomodation, etc.), that is why we have to restrict quotings.
However, sometimes such restrictions are baffling indeed. Recently, I have seen a job posting here. A US agency was looking for Eng-Azeri interpreters (professional, experiece, credentials - of course!) residing in *** County, state ***, ONLY!
Made me wonder how many interpreters who speak Azeri as A or B language actually live in the entire US.
Tatiana
[Редактировалось 2007-11-13 06:59] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:21
Flemish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Pennypinching | Nov 13, 2007 |
Isn't that pennypinching : Travel costs are only €80 and the distance with the Eurostar from London to Brussels is veeeeeerrrry far indeed : One hour and fifty minutes or about the same amount of time needed by somebody taking a train from Ostend (Belgian seaside) to Brussels (in that case the bidder lives in Belgium at the same distance in time as a person taking the Eurostar). With regard to technological evolution and evolutions in the field of transport some minds did not evolve.
Y... See more Isn't that pennypinching : Travel costs are only €80 and the distance with the Eurostar from London to Brussels is veeeeeerrrry far indeed : One hour and fifty minutes or about the same amount of time needed by somebody taking a train from Ostend (Belgian seaside) to Brussels (in that case the bidder lives in Belgium at the same distance in time as a person taking the Eurostar). With regard to technological evolution and evolutions in the field of transport some minds did not evolve.
Yep, sometimes it is better to pay one's own travel costs and deduct them from taxes.
[Edited at 2007-11-13 08:21] ▲ Collapse
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| Possible carelessness by job poster | Nov 13, 2007 |
I see it happening often here at Proz.
- A job poster somewhere in Europe asks for an EN>PT-BR translator, but requires that they live in China.
- Another one offers a conference interpreting job and says Trados is an absolute must.
... and so on.
I won't delve into examples, but "random-clickers" are proliferating everywhere, in banks, hospitals, and other places as well.
In this case, it would have been enough to me... See more I see it happening often here at Proz.
- A job poster somewhere in Europe asks for an EN>PT-BR translator, but requires that they live in China.
- Another one offers a conference interpreting job and says Trados is an absolute must.
... and so on.
I won't delve into examples, but "random-clickers" are proliferating everywhere, in banks, hospitals, and other places as well.
In this case, it would have been enough to mention (as I've seen now and then) that "travel, lodging, and food expenses are not covered". If anyone is willing to take the chance and visit a relative or friend there at their own expense, why not? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Angela Dickson (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:21
French to English
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| contact outsourcer | Nov 13, 2007 |
Why don't you get in touch with the outsourcer and offer your services, stating your conditions? Even if the job is 'quote only', they will have an email address. They might just not have thought about the possibility of someone travelling from the UK.
[Edited at 2007-11-13 10:45]
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Angela Dickson wrote:
Why don't you get in touch with the outsourcer and offer your services, stating your conditions? Even if the job is 'quote only', they will have an email address. They might just not have thought about the possibility of someone travelling from the UK.
[Edited at 2007-11-13 10:45]
The site simply can't cater to everyone's personal circumstances.
I'll be living in the UK permanently from January, for professional reasons relating to law, and commuting back to Algarve as often as I can with the tax restraints to be with my husband and children (or they'll visit me).
Only 2 hours and 15 minutes, last-minute boarding with online check-in if you're only carrying hand luggage (my laptop) and, booked in advance, normally only costs around €45.00 - but unless I tell people, how are they to know?
In a case like this, I'd say just pick up the phone (a respectable agency isn't difficult to trace) - it's far more proactive than posting it here, if you really want the job.
Worse they can do is say no.
[Edited at 2007-11-13 15:23]
| | | | Prima Vista
Russian Federation
Local time: 07:21
Russian to English
+ ...
| It may be up to ProZ | Nov 14, 2007 |
[quote]Williamson wrote:
The outsourcer has chosen to restrict quoting on this job to members who:
... currently live in: Belgium (You have not reported you do.)
You do not meet all the necessary criteria for quoting on this job.... and hence I can not quote.
---
I do not intend to exercise my boldness here, but I think ProZ can change its policy as it comes to "geographic" restrictions. At least, they can place a note that quotes without any "geographic" restrictions attract more bidders.
It is especially true for Europe where travelling distances are small and visas are not required.
BR,
Tatiana
[Редактировалось 2007-11-14 07:57]
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Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:21
Flemish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
The site simply can't cater to everyone's personal circumstance.
"No, but this site could easily remove a couple of lines of programming which include geographical and native language restrictions":
In Europe, you have high-speed trains which are not that expensive and low-cost carriers, which are not that expensive either. If you have created a network of friends Europewide or stay at members of couchsurfing.org or the hospitalityclub or if your relatives live in one... See more The site simply can't cater to everyone's personal circumstance.
"No, but this site could easily remove a couple of lines of programming which include geographical and native language restrictions":
In Europe, you have high-speed trains which are not that expensive and low-cost carriers, which are not that expensive either. If you have created a network of friends Europewide or stay at members of couchsurfing.org or the hospitalityclub or if your relatives live in one country and you in another, hotel costs are no problem too if an agency really wants to pennypinch. Although it would be a gesture of good collaboration if such an agency is willing to pay a flight with Ryanair, Easyjet, VirginExpress or the Eurostar or is €100 so expensive with the fall of the $? I wonder why they don't post : interpreter say French to English and vice-versa, bidder must live in the US, per diems included. It might save money.
The same is true for the "native only" restriction. My native language is Dutch, but thanks to a client of this site I went to the London and interpreted from French into English and vice-versa in a posh hotel at Picadilly Circus.
At noon, I was invited to dine at the "tables des francophones"? After all, I am Belgian and have been speaking French for 32 years. I grew up with the linguistic border next door
[Edited at 2007-11-14 09:02] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Travelling expenses | Nov 14, 2007 |
Williamson wrote:
In Europe, you have high-speed trains which are not that expensive and low-cost carriers, which are not that expensive either. If you have created a network of friends Europewide or stay at members of couchsurfing.org or the hospitalityclub or if your relatives live in one country and you in another, hotel costs are no problem too if an agency really wants to pennypinch. Although it would be a gesture of good collaboration if such an agency is willing to pay a flight with Ryanair, Easyjet, VirginExpress or the Eurostar or is €100 so expensive with the fall of the $? I wonder why they don't post : interpreter say French English, bidder must live in the US, per diems included. It might save money.
If you're registered as a sole trader, you can claim legitimate travelling/accomodation costs incurred for generating income, so it's not necessary for the agency to pay. Pay yourself and bring it in as a business expense.
Again, agencies aren't going to know what you can/are prepared to do from the UK to get to Brussels/Antwerp is you don't publicise the fact. The new service (1 hour 51 minutes) is only being launched today, it's not exactly common knowledge yet or something somebody sitting in Brussels would think about when there are plenty of local people who could do the job.
The key to getting the job is to be proactive and deal directly with the outsourcer.
Perhaps site changes can be suggested and/or implemented over time to take these things into account, but the way to get the job under present circumstances is to put yourself in the running by picking up the phone/e-mailing.
| | | | | Click the mouse and move house | Nov 14, 2007 |
Although the site does have rules about misleading people, I have noticed on several occasions that apparently it's possible to change your location settings any time. Don't like where the site says you are? Want to look like you are where you're not? Just go to your profile page and change to the location of your choice. And change back whenever you want. ( I admit I once moved myself to a remote, uninhabited island for a while but there was no power supply or ADSL so I had to move back to Belg... See more Although the site does have rules about misleading people, I have noticed on several occasions that apparently it's possible to change your location settings any time. Don't like where the site says you are? Want to look like you are where you're not? Just go to your profile page and change to the location of your choice. And change back whenever you want. ( I admit I once moved myself to a remote, uninhabited island for a while but there was no power supply or ADSL so I had to move back to Belgium )
At least as interpreter, you will be where you are say you are when you do the job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | PeggyStrachan
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:21
English to German
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| Tax Deductible Expenses | Nov 28, 2007 |
Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
If you're registered as a sole trader, you can claim legitimate travelling/accomodation costs incurred for generating income, so it's not necessary for the agency to pay. Pay yourself and bring it in as a business expense.
I am just starting out as a freelance translator and find the information on proz very helpful.
Now, I was wondering if traveling costs incurred to get to ITI Network meetings or to Powwows count as "cost incurred for generating income", since strictly speaking they are networking events, but might or might not contribute to future income.
Many thanks in advance,
Cheers,
Peggy
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