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Large rush job due tomorrow (title had been "for a good hearty laugh")
Thread poster: NGK
Derek Gill Franßen
Derek Gill Franßen  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:26
German to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Laugh it up! Oct 5, 2004

Marcus Malabad wrote:

RobinB wrote:
Min. 100% surcharge.


And that\'s just exactly what I did...

I worked for about 7 hours, less than my normal daily working hours, and earning, in the process, enough to pay for my New Year vacation in Brazil plus some change left for lots o\' capirinhas. Who\'s laughing now?

Marcus


This kind of information is really helpful to get a \'feel\' for what is possible - thanks. Did you bid alone or together with a team? Nice action, have fun in Brazil!


 
Parrot
Parrot  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
No laughing matter, actually Oct 5, 2004

I know some people who do this all the time. They have one mailing list per combination, and on a bad day you get the SOS, along with 20 others, for a turnover of 24-48 hours.

In the beginning I thought it was crazy. But dividing the work gives each one his reasonable share, and I also made quite a few friends on those (closed) lists. They also served to compile terminology databases. In short, it can be fun.

The biggest headache occurs at the agency, when it's time to
... See more
I know some people who do this all the time. They have one mailing list per combination, and on a bad day you get the SOS, along with 20 others, for a turnover of 24-48 hours.

In the beginning I thought it was crazy. But dividing the work gives each one his reasonable share, and I also made quite a few friends on those (closed) lists. They also served to compile terminology databases. In short, it can be fun.

The biggest headache occurs at the agency, when it's time to paste it all together, but it seems they have it all calculated already.

But I can see a problem in cases when you don't have a translator database that big...

Such PMs seem to have one thing in common, though -- they're gluttons for punishment.
Collapse


 
Andy Bell
Andy Bell  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:26
Norwegian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Plug for Deja Vu Oct 5, 2004

Hope Deja Vu are paying you for the plug Marcus! It'd take a lot more than they could pay to get me to work through the night.

Best
Andy Bell


 
Brandis (X)
Brandis (X)
Local time: 09:26
English to German
+ ...
I guess the agency is checking Oct 5, 2004

RobinB wrote:

Derek Gill wrote:

Now that sounds a little more realistic (but still tough). What kind of rates are we looking at for a job like that?


Min. 100% surcharge. Basically, it's blank cheque time, Derek, even with today's "let's subsidise the customer" rates. What I want to know, though, is a) who told the end-customer this could be done in the first place; and b) which idiot at the end-customer suddenly decided they needed 40,000 words translated in a day?

Back in the glory days of the Neuer Markt, there were some companies that suddenly decided to come to market, and you'd get maybe four days to translate a 250+ print page offering prospectus. They'd be rewriting the German while you were translating and they'd deliver all the figures five minutes before submission to the stock exchange. Those were the jobs where they didn't even bother to ask for a quote, you just sent in your bill at the end. Halcyon days, never to return...

Nowadays, though, you still get asked to do these massive rush jobs. You give them a quote, and they come back a day later and say, how much would it cost for delivery next week, it isn't so urgent after all....

Robin
the readiness of translators, whoever would undergo such a condition, just for future ref.
Rgds,
Brandis


 
Edward Potter
Edward Potter  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:26
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
It is possible Oct 10, 2004

But I wouldn't recommend trying to get 40,000 translated in one day. You would need about 10-15 translators working on it all day. Obviously the agency is going to be smiling if they can get through it all without many hitches. I really wonder what their relationship with their client is and who they are.

How much do you suppose they are charging the end client?


 
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Large rush job due tomorrow (title had been "for a good hearty laugh")






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