| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | How NOT to apply to Baldwin Linguas Thread poster: Anthony Baldwin
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Anthony Baldwin 
United States
Local time: 18:50
Portuguese to English
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I get a lot of letters like this:
Dear Sirs/To whom it concerns:
I am a native (Language X) speaker. I am available for any potential project you have.
My resume is attached.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
(name).
These letters are NOT effective.
I delete lots of them, sadly.
As I also do for those who give me a rambling, 3 page life story, but include little of relevance.
On the whole, I rath... See more I get a lot of letters like this:
Dear Sirs/To whom it concerns:
I am a native (Language X) speaker. I am available for any potential project you have.
My resume is attached.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
(name).
These letters are NOT effective.
I delete lots of them, sadly.
As I also do for those who give me a rambling, 3 page life story, but include little of relevance.
On the whole, I rather enjoy ¨meeting¨ new providers, colleagues in the field (as I am a translator).
I particularly enjoy the various consummate professionals with whom I already work. They are
intelligent, fascinating people.
Their letters of application reflected those qualities. They were concise, but thorough enough to capture my attention. The letter itself must get my attention. I won´t open an attachment if the letter doesn´t give me a reason to do so. On the whole, I´d rather not receive attachments, anyway. I´d much rather receive a link to your proz profile (be sure it is complete and up to date).
They also took the time to see if their language pairs and/or expertise meet my currently expressed needs. (ie., if I have announced I am seeking translators working ONLY in EN, FR, PT, ES, IT and German, why do you write me telling me you work in Pali, Lithuanian and Navajo?)
What I really want to see in a letter of application is more like:
Prezado Sr. Baldwin,
I am an experienced translator of Language X & Y to Language Z.
I have experience in the translation of documents pertaining to (area of expertise), having worked for Company H...I have provided interpretation for jkl...
[ie. insert a brief description of experience.]
I acquired a BA in (field, ie. electrical engineering and/or language X, translation, etc.) at University de Fulano Tal in Cidade Bela in 1992, going on to complete a MA in Translation Studies at Cerebro College...
[ie., a brief description of academic background.]
I work with Openoffice.org, Omega T and other open source tools, having the capacity to work with all major MSOffice document formats, .pdf, and .html files. [ie., description of technological capacity.]
My rates for translation are US$0.xx/word, and I can translate a volume of n words per day.
I accept payment via paypal/moneybookers (very key to Baldwin Linguas).
You may learn more about me and my services on my proz profile (insert link).
I look forward to working with you.
Thank you for your time.
Atenciosamente,
Name
Ie. Get my attention; tell me what I need to know; and tell me no more.
[Edited at 2007-04-29 12:23]
[Edited at 2007-04-29 21:29] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Galina F
United States
Local time: 18:50
English to Russian
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| Thank you, Anthony | Apr 29, 2007 |
Very appreciated.
| | | | | Good points, thanks Anthony! | Apr 29, 2007 |
Pleased to see that my message of this kind is almost exactly like the one you've described above.
| | | | Indra Sofyar
Indonesia
Local time: 05:50
English to Indonesian
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| Thanks a lot Anthony! | Apr 29, 2007 |
What a valuable input!
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John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 00:50
Spanish to English
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I've copied and pasted your example and will probably follow it as a type of template in the future. Thanks!
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I find it sad that, in this day and age, and particularly in our field, such information still needs to be provided for people to know how to approach a client. To me, all of this is common sense.
One of my good clients complained to me a while ago of having difficulties finding people to work on their contracts because they constantly got e-mails with typos (?!?), missing details and most of them couldn't even say "Dear Sir/Madam" and "Kind regards". I didn't know what to say, espe... See more I find it sad that, in this day and age, and particularly in our field, such information still needs to be provided for people to know how to approach a client. To me, all of this is common sense.
One of my good clients complained to me a while ago of having difficulties finding people to work on their contracts because they constantly got e-mails with typos (?!?), missing details and most of them couldn't even say "Dear Sir/Madam" and "Kind regards". I didn't know what to say, especially since that client was at the same time actually complimenting me on the way I approached them (as if the way to say hi deserved a compliment). My reaction was to say that I didn't know there were other ways than my simple introduction to approach a client. It is just a matter of showing interest, giving the potential client the information they need and helping them see where I fit into their activities. It isn't even something that people need to learn from somewhere - it is plain simple common sense!
My sincere sympathies, Anthony! I just identified another reason why I am completely disinterested in outsourcing. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 18:50
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Viktoria Gimbe wrote: I find it sad that, in this day and age, and particularly in our field, such information still needs to be provided for people to know how to approach a client. To me, all of this is common sense. My sincere sympathies, Anthony! I just identified another reason why I am completely disinterested in outsourcing.
I agree...very sad indeed.
In a profession of ¨langugae professionals¨ one would expect said ¨professionals¨ to be able to compose a professional letter, by all means.
| | | | Allen Harris
United States
Local time: 17:50
French to English
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| Thank you very much | Apr 29, 2007 |
Your guidance is very helpful and greatly appreciated.
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Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 18:50
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER | I have a name | Jul 23, 2008 |
Viktoria Gimbe wrote:
I find it sad that... most of them couldn't even say "Dear Sir/Madam".
To tell the truth, I don't even like "Dear Sir/Madam:".
I have a name, and it is clearly evident on the page on our site that clearly spells out precisely what we are looking for when people apply.
"Dear Mr. Baldwin", "Dear Anthony"...even, "Dear Tony" works just fine for me.
I'm aware, of course, that many company's (much larger ones, with turn over the HR dept., especially) don't post the name of the relevant contact person, in which cases "Dear Sir/Madam:" is appropriate, but, I like to know someone has taken a minute to get to know us before applying.
I think if someone hasn't the wherewithall to take the whole 3 minutes it takes to look at our site, identify the clearly labeled "Work with us" link, and read the relevant linked page, they lack the professionalism we require.
I wouldn't dream of applying to work with any company without doing a little digging to understand what their needs are and how, precisely, I can meet them.
If nothing else, one might want to know a little about the company's reputation with other professionals, too.
Our application page clearly links to our blueboard record.
People like working with us, and that makes us proud.
We love working with true professionals, and strive to let them know they are appreciated.
| | | | rozakia
Romania
Local time: 01:50
Romanian to English
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| Bit of laziness as well maybe.. | Jul 30, 2008 |
I did it myself..even today..if only you can imagine..And indeed after I wrote myself those kind of emails, and I realised I did not even write "Yours sincerely," in the bottom, I did feel ashamed..I wrote them "Greetings"..
(maybe they will read my message here too..lol..if they have time to read through the forum postings..
I am not even native speaker of English.. and I did feel some sort of compassion for me today after typing those emails..:) But I felt so so lazy.... See more I did it myself..even today..if only you can imagine..And indeed after I wrote myself those kind of emails, and I realised I did not even write "Yours sincerely," in the bottom, I did feel ashamed..I wrote them "Greetings"..
(maybe they will read my message here too..lol..if they have time to read through the forum postings..
I am not even native speaker of English.. and I did feel some sort of compassion for me today after typing those emails..:) But I felt so so lazy.. Anyway I will try changing my attitude again..:)
Greetings,
from Iasi, Romania. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 18:50
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER
rozakia wrote:
I did it myself..even today..if only you can imagine..And indeed after I wrote myself those kind of emails, and I realised I did not even write "Yours sincerely," in the bottom, I did feel ashamed..I wrote them "Greetings"..
(maybe they will read my message here too..lol..if they have time to read through the forum postings..
I am not even native speaker of English.. and I did feel some sort of compassion for me today after typing those emails..:) But I felt so so lazy.. Anyway I will try changing my attitude again..:)
Greetings,
from Iasi, Romania.
Do you mean you tried to apply to Baldwin Linguas?
Clearly you didn't take the time to read the "work with us" link on our site, then.
We don't work with Romanian....
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Oleg Rudavin
Ukraine
Local time: 01:50
Member (2003)
English to Ukrainian
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| Obvious things that many people seem not to understand... | Aug 6, 2008 |
To Anthony: great post, indeed!
To Victoria: sad but true...
To rozakia:
rozakia wrote: I did it myself..
But I felt so so lazy..
No name, even in the CV. No photo (Mr.? Mrs.?) Prifile almost empty, with lots of mistakes which have nothing to do with your knowledge of English (thesecond, highschool, Lathin) - rather, with laziness.
Why bother doing it, rozakia? If you are too lazy to give a look at your profile, do you expect potential clients to treat you seriously?
| | | | rozakia
Romania
Local time: 01:50
Romanian to English
+ ...
Hello, Mr. Anthony Baldwin, Mr. Oleg Rudavin, & everyone reading this post.
Dear Mr. Anthony Baldwin, I am sorry you are not working with Romanians. I hope it is not because of me... I do not remember to have applied to your company, although in my opinion you have a stunning company profile. Linux translation software...I am new, but it is pity the programmers do not include such software in the official Ubuntu distros.
Mr. Oleg Rudavin, thank you very much for sharin... See more Hello, Mr. Anthony Baldwin, Mr. Oleg Rudavin, & everyone reading this post.
Dear Mr. Anthony Baldwin, I am sorry you are not working with Romanians. I hope it is not because of me... I do not remember to have applied to your company, although in my opinion you have a stunning company profile. Linux translation software...I am new, but it is pity the programmers do not include such software in the official Ubuntu distros.
Mr. Oleg Rudavin, thank you very much for sharing opinion about my profile, and giving advice. You are right, and I also think it is in my benefit to be professional, though I have something to add. In the past, I used to display real information of my name in my email address details. Someone called me without previously asking for my phonenumber, and was behaving rudely to me...
I remember to have applied to some companies, and being short, and not very professional, I think. But indeed at least I think I did not write "feel free to contact me..."...I do believe an employer is an employer after all...:)
Greetings,
from Iasi, Romania..
[Editat la 2008-09-06 13:46]
[Editat la 2008-09-06 13:47] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 18:50
Portuguese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Why we only work with EN, ES, FR & PT | Sep 8, 2008 |
rozakia wrote:
Hello, Mr. Anthony Baldwin, Mr. Oleg Rudavin, & everyone reading this post.
Dear Mr. Anthony Baldwin, I am sorry you are not working with Romanians. I hope it is not because of me...
Oh no..it has nothing to do with anyone but myself.
I can't read Romanian...It's not on my language list.
I won't work with any language wherein I, personally, can't read the text and guarantee the quality of the final product.
Call me paranoid, if you wish, but my company's reputation is important to me.
I do not remember to have applied to your company, although in my opinion you have a stunning company profile. Linux translation software...I am new, but it is pity the programmers do not include such software in the official Ubuntu distros.
I certainly enjoy using and creating Free/Open Source Software.
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