Poll: Work-wise, which months are typically your "slowest"? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Work-wise, which months are typically your "slowest"?".
This poll was originally submitted by Dusica Cook. View the poll results »
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It used to be July-September (mostly August), but I'm having an extremely busy July!
| | | | Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 00:15
Member (2006)
German to English
| Mostly the same | Jul 29, 2012 |
and happy about it
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 07:15
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| They are all different | Jul 29, 2012 |
Which could have been another option
Different customers call at different times of the week/month about different types and volumes of work or all at the same time. So, in my case, no gross generalization applies.
Fortunately, I can say that work is picking up and showing a steady upward trend.
For the benefit of Prozians with Japanese customers...
In Japan, most people say that work is typically slack on the "san-pachi" months of the year, or March ... See more Which could have been another option
Different customers call at different times of the week/month about different types and volumes of work or all at the same time. So, in my case, no gross generalization applies.
Fortunately, I can say that work is picking up and showing a steady upward trend.
For the benefit of Prozians with Japanese customers...
In Japan, most people say that work is typically slack on the "san-pachi" months of the year, or March (san) and August (hachi), around the time of the Festival of the Dead.
So, if work from your Japanese customers slackens off during these periods, blame it on this and not seasonal migration. ▲ Collapse
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Natalia Pedrosa
Spain
Local time: 00:15
Member (2012)
English to Spanish
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Christmas seems to slow everything down.
I wouldn't say it lasts until March, but January is definitely the slowest.
Happy Sunday!
N.
| | | | | January and February | Jul 29, 2012 |
In the last three years at least, whereas the months from March to December bring more than I can handle.
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Based on 6 years of results, my first and third quarters are right on the average. The 2nd quarter is 80% of the average and the 4th quarter is 120%.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 00:15
Spanish to English
+ ...
July and August can be slow because that's when a lot of people take holidays. January is usually a bit slower than other months around here as the year kicks in. A few years ago I had a quiet January AND February, probably due to a sort of generalised "crisis psychosis"... but then things went back to normal.
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| All the same: random! | Jul 29, 2012 |
My client base used to span from West Australia all the way East to Turkey or Israel. This month I had my first client in Singapore.
Furthermore, my projects are so wide and varied in nature that I wouldn't be able to pinpoint any low or high trend that repeats every year. Last week I successively hopped from the sworn translation of a divorce decree to a video on water supply, and from there to a digital camera system catalog.
After having spent some 20 years over whi... See more My client base used to span from West Australia all the way East to Turkey or Israel. This month I had my first client in Singapore.
Furthermore, my projects are so wide and varied in nature that I wouldn't be able to pinpoint any low or high trend that repeats every year. Last week I successively hopped from the sworn translation of a divorce decree to a video on water supply, and from there to a digital camera system catalog.
After having spent some 20 years over which about 70% of my income came from one single client, and their demand having dropped suddenly, I learned to spread my client base thin.
Like any airline, it's good to meet the frequent flyers all the time, however the planes should take off carrying their full capacity as often as possible. ▲ Collapse
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September only here, don't really know the reason why
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 16:15
English to Spanish
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In memoriam | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 18:15
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Just slow months? Try slow days or weeks. | Jul 29, 2012 |
When I was in college, in Córdoba (Argentina), the slow period for business ran from late December through late February because of the hottest days of summer coinciding with vacation time for almost every economic activity in that country. This still happens in today's Argentina...along with the very inefficient 4-hour break from 12 noon till 4 p.m. during the summer months.
After I established my practice as a translator (in the U.S.A.), I would have slow weeks towards the end of... See more When I was in college, in Córdoba (Argentina), the slow period for business ran from late December through late February because of the hottest days of summer coinciding with vacation time for almost every economic activity in that country. This still happens in today's Argentina...along with the very inefficient 4-hour break from 12 noon till 4 p.m. during the summer months.
After I established my practice as a translator (in the U.S.A.), I would have slow weeks towards the end of the year, or at the beginning of the year. The last time I had a slow period was back in last December, which lasted for 5 weeks. Then work picked up and hasn't slowed down!
In light of this happy reality, I make my own slow days, which usually coincide with some Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Even Mondays. ▲ Collapse
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Chun Un
Macau
Member (2007)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| January to March | Jul 29, 2012 |
From what I can recall, this has been true for the past three years at least. January and February are usually the slowest, which is actually good for me because each year Chinese New Year falls into either month. Then things pick up from March onwards... And autumn is always the busiest. Christmas doesn't seem to have much impact on me - I remember having to turn down lots of jobs in one December!
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 07:15
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| To put a positive spin on things | Jul 29, 2012 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
Just slow months? Try slow days or weeks.
In light of this happy reality, I make my own slow days, which usually coincide with some Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Even Mondays.
I think I shall call this the "Translation siesta." 
| | | | mystymy
Local time: 18:15
Spanish to English
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| Jan and August-forced vacations | Jul 31, 2012 |
For myself it is usually January and August. Most likely because clients have not worked out the budgets in January and in August everyone is on vacation. Luckily it is not 2 or 3 months in a row as the poll asks. I call them forced vacations. I would rather vacation in Spring, but I am quite busy then and have to vacation either at the start of the year or in August.
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