| User | Thread poster: Alberto Sala Asking ProZ.com to create templates of translation agency forms |
|---|
Alberto Sala 
Italy
English to Italian
+ ...
|
As a freelance translator I regularly face requests to enter in "company proprietary forms" always the same information about myself, my experience and so.
What about asking proz.com to create a template where all the necessary information can be available and that the agencies can simply download w/out bothering us with time consuming and repetitive tasks?
Kind Regards
Alberto Sala
[Título editado por el personal o un moderador 2008-06-12 10:56]
[Edited at 2008-06-12 11:01]
| | | |
Chiara Comini
Italy
English to Italian
+ ...
|
I think it would be a good idea.
| | | |
Niels Stephan
Germany
English to German
| | The idea behind it | Jun 12 |
You suggest that instead of you doing the work let them do it.
I see the point, but why do you think they would like that?
What do you think why they ask you to fill stupid forms instead of extracting all said information from your CV?
Oh and btw, I never got a single job or even a contact from "pls fill our form" agencies ....
| | | |
Henry D
United States
 Member
SITE FOUNDER |
Alberto Sala wrote:
As a freelance translator I regularly face requests to enter in "company proprietary forms" always the same information about myself, my experience and so.
What about asking proz.com to create a template where all the necessary information can be available and that the agencies can simply download w/out bothering us with time consuming and repetitive tasks?
Kind Regards
Alberto Sala |
|
Thanks, Alberto. We have proposed exactly this sort of thing, ie. a standardized was to represent and transfer the data in profiles.
The thing is, agencies and vendors would have to adapt to the format for what you imagine to work. Therefore, we have made our proposed format available to anyone interested in doing so. See: http://www.proz.com/tpxinfo/
Interesting agencies and vendors may consider participating in the TPX working group that is mentioned. Contact details are in there.
| | | |
Kevin Lossner
Germany
Member (2003)
German to English
| | Henry, this is great! | Jun 12 |
Henry D wrote:
... we have made our proposed format available to anyone interested in doing so. See: http://www.proz.com/tpxinfo/
Interesting agencies and vendors may consider participating in the TPX working group that is mentioned. Contact details are in there. |
|
Nice project. I suppose you have plans to add a button to profiles to allow agencies or data owners (translators) to download the data as TPX. You might consider allowing translators to autogenerate an HTML or PDF version of the information online or provide an XSL template file to do so (which could be adapted to individual tastes - maybe we could even attach a custom XSL to our profiles to create a downloadable view).
| | | |
Jabberwock
Poland
Member (2004)
English to Polish
|
This initiative certainly needs promotion, as I had not idea about it, although I visit ProZ.com quite frequently...
One way to promote this would be to provide an online form which would allow translators to enter their data and save it in TPX format. It should also allow to load and edit one's own TPX file.
While this might be controversial, adding a separate field in the profile would certainly make the initiative more visible. I do not think though that it should be "encouraged", even less "required". On the other hand, lottery awards for filled TPX profiles couldn't hurt 
In the long run ProZ.com profile information and TPX data might be linked (i.e. editing one would automatically change the other), but I am not sure how compatible they are.
My reasoning is that if outsourcers see that more and more translators have their data in TPX format, they might adapt it for their own purposes, too - after all, it would save them some work as well.
| | | |
|
|
Brandis
Germany
Member (2003)
English to German
+ ...
| | I do not think it is possible... | Jun 12 |
Hi! these forms are mostly agency specific to the given project. For example I see a very complicated 10 page form from an agency in brussels and another only one page from USA. From germany you have mostly no forms they concentrate on the given task. Brandis
| | | |
shyamal
France
Member (2006)
French to English
+ ...
| | It is possible and a good idea | Jun 13 |
One of the reasons that I dislike filling in forms is that all relevant information is actually available in my ProZ.com profile. And it is such a waste of time. Moreover, the forms have nothing to do with the project.
And one of the things I really abhor is the "reference" part. Why would I give my clients' name out? This is confidential information and I don't think any business entity will provide this information to another competing business (in some cases).
Moreover, if the agencies wanted to vet my abilities then my project history and credentials are a much better indication of this detail.
Most of the times agencies, too, have standard forms and these are not at all project-specific. And seriously, why do they need references when they can actually check the quality of our work by conducting a small test? And what is the need to fill in all those details when they can be actually seen in my profile that I update more often than my CV!!!
I think it is a great idea that they can actually retrieve this data from ProZ.com itself. At the same time, I hope that the my clients' names will remain confidential even if they can actually retrieve their remarks about my work.
BTW when will the agencies learn that we are not actually looking for a full-time job and stop making us fill the sort of forms that big organizations reserve for their employees?
I am a vendor of a major IT organisation based in India and I didn't have to fill any forms. They just took my details from internet and gave me a vendor ID and password. I simply look in their intranet site for vendors and bid on the projects that interest me. They never asked for references or tests. Of course, my first job with them was a very small one but I was paid for it. And bigger jobs followed. And there's no blanket rate either. I can change my rate depending on the type of document.
So why do agencies need us to fill forms and references?
[Edited at 2008-06-13 05:16]
 
| | | |
Dany Caputo
Italy
Member (Jul 2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
|
I think this is a great idea, we have to fill a number of forms when all agencies ask almost the same things about us.... even if we completed our profile on ProZ.com and thus all the information they need is already online!
I didn't know about the translator profile exchange but I hope ProZ.com will publicize it a bit more when it'll become available to every member, it'd be a great way to save our time!
| | | |
Jason Young
China
Member (Apr 2008)
English to Chinese
+ ...
|
Hi all,
This is a great idea, to be sure, but companies may not think so. They create their own forms probably because they want us to provide our information in a way or format that is familiar to themseves, ie, for easier browsing. Regarding the new feature in http://www.proz.com/tpxinfo/, it's a great idea, but it seems somewhat complicated, at least to me. I'm not sure whether a regular button or interface has been created for companies/outsourcers so that they can do this easily.
Another problem I experienced (I guess many ProZ.com users did) is that most outsourcers just love to type in "please send us your CV ... when bidding" when they post jobs no matter they ask us to "Submit quote" or "Contact directly". This is annoying because my CV is there already and free to be browsed. And the real problem is, if I "Submit quote", there's no option for me to include my CV, does this mean that I have to send another direct email to complete the quote? So, I'm wondering whether a URL that links directly to our CV can be automatically displayed to outsourcers when we quote? This would reduce work on both sides.
Regards,
Jason
| | | |
The translation workplace 
