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| User | Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff Poll: Which is the most frequent reason why you turn down a job? |
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Yaotl Altan 
Mexico
Local time: 17:17
  Member
English to Spanish
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Low rates area red light in my case to start a relationship with a potential client.
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Rebecca Garber
United States
Local time: 18:17
Member (2005)
German to English
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| | Writeaway is correct | Jan 18 |
I reject jobs that are outside of my field.
I get lumped in with the legal translators because I translate patents. One of my agencies is very large, and they get new PMs all the time. And I get to educate all of them that yes, I translate technical patents, and no, they really, really don't want me translating a legal document for them.
The PMs who have been with the agency for a while, though, they are wonderful to work with as they find me lovely technical jobs.
I also get asked to translate medical docs because I have Latin. Again, you really, really don't want me applying my Virgil and Terence to your medical problem. It's just not a good match.
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Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 00:17
Member
Italian to English
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Generally, if I turn down a job it's because it's outside my field. In that case, I try to suggest other translators who are more suited. My main concern is to solve the client's problem.
The second most common reason is that the deadline is too short. Established customers can usually get away with it but I'm not going to take on a rush job from a client I don't know and who may turn out to be a slow payer (par for the course in Italy, I'm afraid, although there are many exceptions).
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Tina Vonhof
Canada
Local time: 16:17
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
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All of the above plus:
not my field
too tight deadline
mass e-mail
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Marlene Blanshay
Canada
Local time: 18:17
Member (2009)
French to English
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and can't take on any more jobs without risking quality.
Others include: subject matter that I don't know or have done but don't like; ridiculously low rates; previous bad experience with client, unreasonable deadline (i.e. getting same day rush job for a european client).
Most of the jobs I decline are from recurring clients, so they know my rates.
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Peter Craggs
Germany
Local time: 00:17
Member (2008)
German to English
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The most frequent reason I decline a translation job is price. But don't blame the translation agencies as they probably only got the job themselves because of the price.
Everone who orders translation work must be aware of the Common Law of Business Balance, usually attributed to John Ruskin (1819 - 1900) - it is quoted often enough.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Law_of_Business_Balance
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Bin Tiede
Germany
Local time: 00:17
Member (2008)
German to Chinese
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Peter Craggs wrote:
The most frequent reason I decline a translation job is price. But don't blame the translation agencies as they probably only got the job themselves because of the price.
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Neither do I. The employees of an agency normally have a certain profit margin to meet, which is made by the boss. It's not their fault, that the agency pays the translator peanuts.
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The translation workplace 
