| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11] > | Blast your CV to 16000 Agencies? Has anyone tried it? Thread poster: Silvia M.
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Ty Kendall 
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:55
Hebrew to English
| Cherry / Nit picking | May 30, 2013 |
Nuno Rosalino wrote: Ty Kendall wrote: Samuel Murray wrote: Ty Kendall wrote:
blast
noun
A destructive or damaging influence
Need I say more? I suggest you get yourself a better dictionary, Mr Native Speaker (-:. Being a native speaker  I am fully aware that "blast" is one of those pesky words which has more than one sense/meaning. I chose "one" which reflected my personal opinion of this service (poetic licence). Beyond its dictionary meanings, it's hard to deny that the connotations of "blast" are overwhelmingly on the negative side (at the very least it usually implies a lack of care and prudence). ... is always a blast, wouldn't you say?;-)
Cherry-picking is alright, but nit-picking is much more fun
| | | | Shai Navé
Israel
Local time: 09:55
English to Hebrew
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| Different Percpectives | May 30, 2013 |
@Tomás, @Karel
I don't think that continuing debating and trying to refute each other's opinion and experience would lead to anywhere. As a reader of this discussion it seems pretty obvious to me that you serve different market segments, and have different idea and/or perception about how to do business.
It is kind of obvious already what is the value of this service, and what type of independent translators it is good for.
I will not switch to opt-in...
I'm very sorry to read this. You are actually saying that you won't even take a relatively simple and effortless action to allow people who are no longer interested in your service or those who were added to the list by mistake to opt-out.
If I switch to opt-in most people simply do not bother with these things.
I appreciate the honesty, but maybe it means that it is not as important or beneficial for them as you might think? Anyway, even if you don't want to switch to a full opt-in model, I think that an annual remainder is the most efficient, effective, reasonable and fair way to go about it for both sides. You will be able to maintain the quality of your list, and those who are bothered by your service will be able to opt-out.
The details and unsubscribe link are clearly explained and visible at the bottom of each email.
This is not nearly as effective, visible and straightforward as a dedicated remainder.
But to distinguish myself from, at least what I'd like to call, the real spam, I have started putting "TA:" (short for "translator application") at the start of each subject. People might start noticing this pattern, open the email and unsubscribe if they like.
You assume here that all recipients are interested in receiving those emails to begin with, while in fact other participants in this discussion are reporting that, in general, they are not interested in this kind of communication. So the main issue is not how to differentiate your service and bypass Spam filters, the main issue is that your messages are landing in mailboxes of people who don't wish to receive them in the first place and therefore are less likely to scan the email body and notice the unsubscribe link.
...Or learn what it means and differentiate it from the actual spam (giving my emails greater consideration and more success for the applying translator), which doesn't even come from real translators.
With due all respect, if you don't believe that people will take the time to opt-in to the service, I doubt that they will care enough to learn the meaning of a new acronym.
By the way, and as a side note, an independent translator is not an employee and therefore does not apply to a position nor does he or she work 'for' an agency; an independent translator work with the agency. So I think that the term 'application' is not appropriate here. Also, TA sounds too much like PA, i.e. Translation Assistance, which is actually what many agencies - which are not even an agency but a reseller of translation services - consider translators to be. Just some food for thought.
[Edited at 2013-05-30 07:55 GMT]
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:55
Czech to English
+ ...
when I said I wont switch from out to in I didn't say opt-out is not possible. It has always been opt-out and possible. To actually make such a switch I would have to stop using the existing list and only use those who bothered to go through the opt-in process. I know people are busy these days with emails and everything that, even if they were interested, usually they might see opt-in and immediately move on. So the 16,000 could easily drop down to a few hundred, not because so many are not int... See more when I said I wont switch from out to in I didn't say opt-out is not possible. It has always been opt-out and possible. To actually make such a switch I would have to stop using the existing list and only use those who bothered to go through the opt-in process. I know people are busy these days with emails and everything that, even if they were interested, usually they might see opt-in and immediately move on. So the 16,000 could easily drop down to a few hundred, not because so many are not interested but because they just have a billion other things to do. The opt-out is very visible and I'll even make it more so by branding the subject (doesn't really matter if it is TA or whatever - what would you propose?).
I think the bottom line is that my customers are happy, most recipients are happy (those who want to unsubscribe always have the easy option to do so), those that might be indifferent or whatever just ignore the two emails a month, but if it is really important I could consider sending a once a year mail with special text in the subject "opportunity to opt-out" etc.
I think a lot of the anger against this service is generated by people who are sick of the spam (30-50 mails a day from imaginary translator applicants), or possibly who see it as added competition. But the industry, last I checked, grows 20% a year (with increasing trade between countries) and it's plain selfish anyway to block others from entering, or established colleagues who are simply looking for additional work. Anyway, I hope this all ends in a happy tone. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | My experience was very positive | May 30, 2013 |
As far as I know does not send 16,000 emails in one go, but takes 4 days to do this, personaly I very satisfied with this service, I had job the same day, and for the weeks to follow, actually I've got some of my current regular clients from that service, and I had not time to asnwer all the email I received.
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traductive
France
Local time: 08:55
German to French
| No scam, no spam, just excellent ! | May 30, 2013 |
As a customer, I have to say I am more than satisfied with the service rendered. As translator for 20 years, this prospective operation was more efficient than any I have been able to undertake by myself in the past. I let Karel blast out my resume almost a year ago and I still keep getting emails from agencies from all around the world. At that time, I made use of this service without getting great illusions. I just wanted to find some new customers. But the result has exceeded all my expectati... See more As a customer, I have to say I am more than satisfied with the service rendered. As translator for 20 years, this prospective operation was more efficient than any I have been able to undertake by myself in the past. I let Karel blast out my resume almost a year ago and I still keep getting emails from agencies from all around the world. At that time, I made use of this service without getting great illusions. I just wanted to find some new customers. But the result has exceeded all my expectations. Today I am literally bombarded with requests and I may not answer all and can afford to choose my clients. As a translator, my job is to do translations and not to answer to dubious tenders like those I sometimes see on some B2B websites like translatorscafé or sending applications to agencies case-by-case (which is looking for a needle in a haystack). The mailing cost me a whopping 99 $ and helped me to find a lot of new clients who, today, offer me interesting work on a regular basis. No spam, no scam, just an excellent service ! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:55
Hebrew to English
A lot of positive endorsements seem to be coming out of the woodwork.....
I don't believe in coincidences.
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:55
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| A service or disservice? | May 30, 2013 |
I'm just curious to know if the marketing states the rates at which people are prepared to accept work or does the individual set the rates themselves? The subject line on the screenshots that Mihail has posted links to all seem to quote rates of $0.04. Yes, I can imagine there would be a number of takers at those levels.
| | | | traductive
France
Local time: 08:55
German to French
My rate is 0,1 EUR per word !
[Edited at 2013-05-30 10:54 GMT]
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Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:55
Czech to English
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the person always chooses the subject etc, hence the price they offer. I know that Bulgaria has the lowest wages and prices in Europe, and 0.04 makes actually a good living there. A sound starting price. When I lived for 15 years in Prague I was not able to charge more than the standard $0.05/target word, but many charged less than me, some more.
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:55
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Karel Kosman wrote:
the person always chooses the subject etc, hence the price they offer. I know that Bulgaria has the lowest wages and prices in Europe, and 0.04 makes actually a good living there. A sound starting price. When I lived for 15 years in Prague I was not able to charge more than the standard $0.05/target word, but many charged less than me, some more.
So assuming a translator's average output of 2500 words a day, is $100/day (i.e. €77 +/-) really a good living wage in Bulgaria? Will this pay you enough to cover accommodation costs, utility bills, taxes, living expenses, healthcare, sick pay, holiday pay, pension etc?
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:55
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Karel, just for the record | May 30, 2013 |
I don't have any issue at all with the service you are providing. I was simply trying to clarify who set the rates.
| | | | Karel Kosman
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:55
Czech to English
+ ...
| rates in bulgaria | May 30, 2013 |
no problem Lisa. I lived for two years in Bulgaria and helped a friend on reconstruction. Fairly hard work and he had no problem putting together a team of workers, at 25lev offering slightly more than the going rate of 20 lev a day, which should be about 10 Euro. In Egypt I heard the average daily earnings is around 2-3$. For a hundred bucks a day you would certainly live like a king in most of the world (I'm staying on an island paradise in Thailand for more than a year and shoot for a minimum... See more no problem Lisa. I lived for two years in Bulgaria and helped a friend on reconstruction. Fairly hard work and he had no problem putting together a team of workers, at 25lev offering slightly more than the going rate of 20 lev a day, which should be about 10 Euro. In Egypt I heard the average daily earnings is around 2-3$. For a hundred bucks a day you would certainly live like a king in most of the world (I'm staying on an island paradise in Thailand for more than a year and shoot for a minimum required target of $800 a month - mobility a great benefit of this job). I stayed one winter in a fairly fancy hotel in Bulgaria for about $6 a night. Beautiful country though and I love it. ▲ Collapse
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:55
Hebrew to English
| Phew, I wasn't the only one who noticed... | May 30, 2013 |
Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote:
all seem to quote rates of $0.04. Yes, I can imagine there would be a number of takers at those levels.
It made me wince too.
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Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote: Karel Kosman wrote:
the person always chooses the subject etc, hence the price they offer. I know that Bulgaria has the lowest wages and prices in Europe, and 0.04 makes actually a good living there. A sound starting price. When I lived for 15 years in Prague I was not able to charge more than the standard $0.05/target word, but many charged less than me, some more. So assuming a translator's average output of 2500 words a day, is $100/day (i.e. €77 +/-) really a good living wage in Bulgaria? Will this pay you enough to cover accommodation costs, utility bills, taxes, living expenses, healthcare, sick pay, holiday pay, pension etc?
Don't know about Bulgaria, but you could definitely live from that in the Czech Rep. In fact, I used to earn about a half of that as a secondary-school teacher (with my 12 hrs/month overtime). You get the picture.
Just for info...
[Upraveno: 2013-05-30 12:17 GMT]
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:55
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| "most of the world"? | May 30, 2013 |
Karel Kosman wrote:
For a hundred bucks a day you would certainly live like a king in most of the world
I think you may be confusing holiday expenditure with everyday living expenses and money that everyone needs to put aside for taxes, healthcare, education, pensions and for those periods when you have no work, are sick or on holiday. Freelance translators tend to make the classic mistake of assuming that their income is all spending money and set their rates accordingly, without factoring in all those hidden expenses. Finally, I'm not sure you should be comparing professional translators' incomes with that of construction workers.
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