Suggestions for job postings Thread poster: Viktoria Gimbe
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I would like to suggest a guideline for job postings. I have noticed that there are jobs being posted in languages that are not part of the language pairs of the job itself. There is currently a Connect job advertized - it requests French to English translators but the posting itself is in German. While it can be expected that a person who translates for a living knows several foreign languages, expecting all translators to know the languages of all potential clients is a bit too much. I might h... See more I would like to suggest a guideline for job postings. I have noticed that there are jobs being posted in languages that are not part of the language pairs of the job itself. There is currently a Connect job advertized - it requests French to English translators but the posting itself is in German. While it can be expected that a person who translates for a living knows several foreign languages, expecting all translators to know the languages of all potential clients is a bit too much. I might have been interested in the job in question, but I don't speak good enough German to understand what is expected of me. Figuring it out could be a waste of time...
Would it be possible to kindly ask job posters to make the effort of posting jobs in one of the languages of the contract's language pair(s)? If the agency doesn't speak the languages in the language pair, they can at least use MT... This could be easily incorporated in the job posting FAQ. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Steven Capsuto 
United States
Local time: 18:25
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
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| I don't see this as a problem | Feb 16, 2008 |
If an agency needs one of my language pairs but their PMs only know German, clearly I'm not the person for the job. And I want to know that up front so I don't bid on the project.
Clear communication with the PM is essential.
Many agencies work with dozens of languages, and their staff can't be expected to know even half of them.
| | | | Viktoria Gimbe
Canada
Local time: 18:25
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | If they don't speak any of the languages of the language pair, you may be right | Feb 16, 2008 |
I agree that it may be tricky to work with a PM who doesn't speak any of the languages you speak. But in the particular case I saw today, they were looking for a French to English translator, and if on top of that, the person also has to speak German just to be able to communicate with the PM, they may have trouble finding the right person because that greatly lessens their chances. But I sometimes get the feeling that it is really just because it was easier to just post in their own language an... See more I agree that it may be tricky to work with a PM who doesn't speak any of the languages you speak. But in the particular case I saw today, they were looking for a French to English translator, and if on top of that, the person also has to speak German just to be able to communicate with the PM, they may have trouble finding the right person because that greatly lessens their chances. But I sometimes get the feeling that it is really just because it was easier to just post in their own language and that the job poster doesn't realize that it is not because we are translators that we speak every language. We don't all have the same perception.
Maybe in the case of the particular job I mentioned, the PM does speak English or French - but the job was maybe posted by a secretary who speaks neither. I didn't quote - I don't understand the job posting. We might have been a perfect match...
[Edited at 2008-02-16 23:55] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Juan Perello
Chile
Local time: 18:25
Member (2005)
Japanese to Spanish
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| as long as it is only a guideline and not an obligation... | Feb 17, 2008 |
The thing is that by using a third language (English) I can get in touch with project managers who don't speak Japanese nor Spanish. If they had to post in either of them, they would probably go somewhere where they don't need to, and I would lose the chance to bid...so it depends...
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Viktoria Gimbe
Canada
Local time: 18:25
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | That is why I used the word 'guideline' | Feb 17, 2008 |
I don't think this should be a rule - there are many situations when it is justified to use a language that is not part of the language pair, and it would make no sense to force people into doing things differently when the way they work is already ideal for them. I thought it would just be nice if job posters were kindly asked to pay attention, because like I said, it seems that sometimes they just don't realize that it is not a good idea to post the job in another language and they don't reall... See more I don't think this should be a rule - there are many situations when it is justified to use a language that is not part of the language pair, and it would make no sense to force people into doing things differently when the way they work is already ideal for them. I thought it would just be nice if job posters were kindly asked to pay attention, because like I said, it seems that sometimes they just don't realize that it is not a good idea to post the job in another language and they don't really have a reason not to. Basically, a friendly reminder to use one of the languages in the language pair, to the extent possible. That's why I proposed a guideline rather than a rule, maybe in the form of a line added in the jobs system FAQ. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Margreet Logmans (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 00:25
English to Dutch
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| You've got to be kidding | Feb 18, 2008 |
Viktoria Gimbe wrote:
If the agency doesn't speak the languages in the language pair, they can at least use MT...
Whenever I suspect the use of machine translation, I'm out.
I wouldn't trust guidelines received through MT. You've got to be kidding.
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