| User | Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff Poll: Do you send your CV/resume with your applications/quotes? |
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ProZ.com Staff 
United States
Local time: 15:05
 Member (2011)
SITE STAFF |
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you send your CV/resume with your applications/quotes?".
This poll was originally submitted by Jan Schauseil. View the poll results »
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Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 07:05
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| | Yes, if required ... | Jan 5 |
... only if the person or company receiving my CV agrees in advance to handle the personal information in the CV with care and not automatically put me in their database of registered translators without my permission.
In the past, I found that certain companies had been using my name in this manner to drum up new work from clients, saying that I'd be the person in charge of translating it. As expected, none of this work came my way. 
So, I am very wary of supplying this information unconditionally these days.
Happy translating!
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Dr Jérémy Anquetin
France
Local time: 00:05
Member (2011)
English to French
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Do you ask your plumber for his CV?
We are professional service providers, and we should present our service on a dedicated professional website and marketing material. Even when we are dealing with agencies, THEY are the clients and WE are the providers. We should stop considering the agencies as if they were our bosses.
Of course, I provide a CV if it is really necessary, but I removed it from my ProZ page and from my Website, and I never send it to potential clients.
Think and behave as professionals! (of course you should also provide professional quality to go with that!)
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David Wright
Austria
Local time: 00:05
Member (2007)
German to English
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I don't have one (at least not one that is up to date, I'm sure there's an old one somewhere on my computer), have hardly ever needed one and don't plan to update it in the near future.
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Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 00:05
 Member (2006)
German to English
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never, unless specifically asked for.
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Nikita Kobrin
Lithuania
Local time: 01:05
Member (2010)
English to Russian
+ ...
| | I send my business proposition | Jan 5 |
Dr Jérémy Anquetin wrote:
We are professional service providers, and we should present our service on a dedicated professional website and marketing material. Even when we are dealing with agencies, THEY are the clients and WE are the providers. We should stop considering the agencies as if they were our bosses. |
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Absolutely! I practically never send my CV for that simple reason that agencies actually don't need it (even when they ask for one). I send my business proposition including short description of my background, services I offer, payment options, rates, etc.
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Anton Konashenok
Czech Republic
Local time: 00:05
Russian to English
+ ...
| | Yes, but it's a "company CV" | Jan 5 |
I always send one, but it's not the kind of CV one would usually send with an employment application. It's a presentation of my services and capabilities rather than my work experience and education.
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Isabelle Brucher
Belgium
Local time: 00:05
Member (2011)
English to French
+ ...
| | Yes, always - but will be more careful in the future | Jan 5 |
JulianHolmes wrote:
In the past, I found that certain companies had been using my name in this manner to drum up new work from clients, saying that I'd be the person in charge of translating it. As expected, none of this work came my way. |
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Interesting. Will be more careful in the future!
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Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 17:05
Member
English to Spanish
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| ... We should stop considering the agencies as if they were our |
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Of course! We, translators, are the core of business. Perhaps we have been too much permissive.
| Of course, I provide a CV if it is really necessary, but I removed it from my ProZ page and from my Website, and I never send it to potential clients. |
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Why? I think promotion is a necessary measure.
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Rolf Kern
Switzerland
Local time: 00:05
Member (2008)
English to German
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 00:05
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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If someone/an agency approaches me saying "your online profile looks interesting", I am usually loathe to provide much more detail than whatever prompted their overture in the first place, as they may simply be "recruiting" speculatively.
I am also normally reluctant to provide a "full" or highly "updated" CV other than my current one-page effort, being already too busy translating etc to collate all that stuff - and as for "original" certificate or specific referees, hunt the snark would be more like it, as i am notoriously disorganised.
Usually by the time a prospective client has asked for a rates quote, I assume they have decided that price is their guiding criterion - formats and technical issues aside - and the rest is detail.
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Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
Local time: 15:05
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| | I send my résumé, not my CV | Jan 6 |
I'm talking about a one-page résume'. It's a quick way for prospective clients to see who I am. The same information is on my website, so anyone who is looking for information about me can find it. If it weren't for ProZ and my website, I wouldn't get new customers, including the most lucrative one I've ever had.
Getting new customers is healthy. Client turnaround gives us the freedom to walk away if we want to - which I recently did with one of my oldest ones.
The full CV is another story. I commented on that a couple of days ago. I never give that to clients.
I recommend that translators prepare both documents: a one-page résumé to send out, and the longer CV just to keep a record of what they've done in case it's ever needed. I don't like the "hybrid"--that several-page document that rambles on but doesn't have the brevity of a résumé or the accuracy or depth of the CV. It's important not to ramble: short and sweet is sweet, even if one doesn't have a long career to write about.
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