Since I had two translation projects for a third party and offer agency services, I receive many applications. At the beginning it was nice and I answered each and every mail.

When I had a pool of translators, willing to work for me, I provided in each and every profile and the websites that I am currently not looking for translators and/or agencies and wrote clearly: Please do not apply! – Does it work? No. They only seem to see the word 'agency' and apply. I delete every mail without answering.

Also: Some applications are professional others are a good laugh or make me wonder, if this person is aware to run a business. For example:

• An Italian-German-Italian translator writes to me in English, enclosing her Italian CV. – That was a good laugh, and got deleted immediately.

• A German translator currently living in England, applies in English, telling me, how good he is. Why not telling me in German? I asked him and received only the question, if I am not able to read English. It made me raise my eyebrows and delete the mail.

• Another German translator, living in Germany, also applies in English. That made me raising my eyebrows, too. But the best was yet to come. “My name is Claudia (name changed).”Aha, and? For what position do you apply? To be the nurse Claudia? Or the waitress Claudia?

• Once I received a mail from a young woman who just finished her language studies. I took the time to inform her about all the things she should take care about when she applies to give her application a professional approach. She was glad I gave her these hints and tips.


I did not know all these (following) things from the beginning. I am a bilingual secretary and I know how to write business letters and address in a correct way to the person I am writing to. The translating jobs within my working fields were also not so different from what I offer as a freelancer.


But writing application letters as a freelance translator is a completely different thing what I had to do in the past 20+ years of bilingual work experience.


Here are the main tips I have learnt:

• Answer in the language of the job offer (when you submit a quote).

• Apply in the language of the agency. It is fine to apply in English, if you cannot speak the language. But if you claim to speak (e.g.) German and you apply to a German agency: Use German.

• Check first, if the agency is looking for new translators. Don’t apply if they don’t look for new translators – or do not be surprised never to hear anything from them. (http://www.proz.com/blueboard/?sp_mode=applications)

• Be polite: If you do not know this person, call the addressee as Mr. or Mrs. (even when they just mention their first name, which would be Mrs. Anna or Dear Madam).

• Be precise and keep yourself short: Don’t write long stories. None will have the time to read them – or be willing to do so. 1-2 sentences at the beginning (introduction) and at the end (referring to references or other) of the application mail is just fine.

Use bullet points for the rest.

• Be aware of quality – even in your application. If you do not care about that, one cannot expect you to pay attention when you work on a project. This counts for spelling, grammar, and formatting.

• Don’t send one application to all possible requests, job offers. Each job/project is different. Your application should be different, too. ‘Once and for all’ applications will be deleted. It is a very strong marketing tool. It’s worth to take your time for it.

• What shall be stated in the application for a job offer?

o Subject line: Exact offer description & ref. no. (Proz.com job number)

o Address: Correct name (triple check)

o Short introduction:

- Your experience / why you / competence

- Delivery deadline: Date and time (inclusive yours or the customers Time Zone – be aware of possible time discrepancy when the delivery deadline is mention in the customers time zone - http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html)
(You can just repeat what is mentioned in the job offer. But it shows that you are aware what they want. If you say, you will deliver earlier, it must be earlier!)

- Your value for this project.

- Format: e.g. British or American English, Swiss German, Austrian German…

- File Format: Which file format will the target text be.
Normally the job offers only mention Microsoft Word. Fine, will you be able to also deliver .docx files or only .doc files? That needs to be clarified with the customer when it gets into negotiations or you take over this project. To mention it at the beginning will be helpful for the customer to see, if they can send you .docx files or not. Sometimes they do not imagine one does not work with Office 2007 or 2010.

- Pricing: Exact price – don’t mention a rating from e.g. 0,10-0,20 EUR/word. Be precise!

- Term of payment: Mention your term of payment. If the customer has another term of payment, he will inform you.

- Full contact information: Your full name, telephone number (if you want to), Time Zone, availability, websites, references


I hope this will help you to get your application be seen and read, and provide you projects!


Please also refer to this article:
A few marketing tips for online freelance translators from a customer view point (http://www.proz.com/translation-articles/articles/627/1)


Watch (buy) this video:
Quote to Win : How to win projects on the freelance marketplace (http://www.proz.com/translator-training/course/4096-quote_to_win_%3A_how_to_win_projects_on_the_freelance_marketplace)