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Is there such a thing as a "weekends only" translator?
Thread poster: Tom in London
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Oct 11, 2015

I don't know what it's like in other language pairs, but in mine, every weekend, without fail, always the same people jump in with a bunch of terminology questions restricted to a couple of very specific fields.

This has been going on for such a long time that I've come to the conclusion that there are certain people who only translate on the weekend, and do something else during the week.

Does anyone else have the same impression?


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:04
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Not in my language pairs... Oct 11, 2015

But, to be truthful, I must say that a good few years ago I was working two jobs (1 full-time, 1 part-time), so my weekends were extremely busy. If by then Proz existed I would have jumped in with a bunch of terminology questions…

 
Natalie Soper
Natalie Soper  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
French to English
+ ...
Same Oct 11, 2015

My Kudoz is looking the same! Maybe there's only a select group of people who do large volumes of urgent weekend work? Is asking in Kudoz faster than researching a more obscure term? Who knows...

 
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)  Identity Verified
Thailand
Local time: 06:04
English to Thai
+ ...
My Kudoz replies Oct 11, 2015

Natalie Soper wrote:

My Kudoz is looking the same! Maybe there's only a select group of people who do large volumes of urgent weekend work? Is asking in Kudoz faster than researching a more obscure term? Who knows...


I concentrated to reply to Kudoz on Mondays since most questions came during weekends. I realized that some translators have translation job as a side business and never took serious about the job outputs the client were expecting.
This is an escalating trend when economic recession spreads to many regions, I am convinced.

Soonthon L.


 
Georgia Morg (X)
Georgia Morg (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
Portuguese to English
not through choice Oct 11, 2015

I tend to work more at weekends than during the week, and yes, I do sometimes ask questions then, but it's not because I have another job, it just happens like that. It may be because I prefer a slightly more relaxed deadline and jobs given out on Thursdays will often let me hand the translation in on Monday morning, if I ask, so I prefer them.

 
Lori Cirefice
Lori Cirefice  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 00:04
French to English
I used to be one Oct 11, 2015

Back when I still had a full time job, before I took the plunge and went freelance... but these days I avoid weekend work like the plague!

 
Kristina Cosumano (X)
Kristina Cosumano (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:04
German to English
I actually prefer weekends Oct 11, 2015

... although I work through the week as well. I like the idea that I can take the weekend shift that other people don't want, since my hours are so irregular anyway.

 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:04
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
When you are own boss, you don't have a (real) weekend Oct 11, 2015

At least that is my experience. I do have weekends, but they can fall on any days of the week.

 
Richard Foulkes (X)
Richard Foulkes (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
German to English
+ ...
Highly likely Oct 12, 2015

Translation is often cited as a thing to do to make a sideline income. Since there are no barriers to entry and it's a free market, it's pretty likely less experienced people take work over the weekend and hammer Kudoz for answers.

 
Maria S. Loose, LL.M.
Maria S. Loose, LL.M.  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 00:04
German to English
+ ...
I am one of them Oct 12, 2015

at the moment, but I used to be a full-time in-house translator for 25 years before I moved into public procurement. I also have a Master's degree in translation studies, so I don't consider myself to be inexperienced. However, I never ask Kudoz questions, because I prefer to rely on my own research.

 
XXXphxxx (X)
XXXphxxx (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Weekend surcharges Oct 12, 2015

Nobody appears to have mentioned the fact that an experienced translator would charge a surcharge for weekend work. These days, most agencies run a mile when you mention that as they know they'll find someone else to do the job for less (while pocketing the weekend surcharge they have imposed on their own client).

 
Gabriele Demuth
Gabriele Demuth  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
English to German
To ease the deadlines Oct 12, 2015

I work weekends when I can to ease deadlines and get things done, but I expect my deadlines to exclude weekends, it will have to be doable in normal working hours or a surcharge applies.

When I actually do the job is up to me really.

There is something else I wondered about: do you do firm job bookings, as you woud with a plumber or anywhere else? At the moment there are several clients asking me about la
... See more
I work weekends when I can to ease deadlines and get things done, but I expect my deadlines to exclude weekends, it will have to be doable in normal working hours or a surcharge applies.

When I actually do the job is up to me really.

There is something else I wondered about: do you do firm job bookings, as you woud with a plumber or anywhere else? At the moment there are several clients asking me about larger jobs in the not to distant future and I said yes, sure. However, one has arrived and now I am panicking that they all come at the same time!? Maybe communication would be the answer now but I just wondered?
Collapse


 
Helena Chavarria
Helena Chavarria  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 00:04
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
+ ...
There are no interruptions Oct 12, 2015

Georgia Morgan wrote:

It may be because I prefer a slightly more relaxed deadline and jobs given out on Thursdays will often let me hand the translation in on Monday morning, if I ask, so I prefer them.


Everyone else is enjoying their weekend, which means there are:

- no phone calls
- hardly any text messages
- hardly any emails


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Yes, but Oct 13, 2015

Helena Chavarria wrote:

Georgia Morgan wrote:

It may be because I prefer a slightly more relaxed deadline and jobs given out on Thursdays will often let me hand the translation in on Monday morning, if I ask, so I prefer them.


Everyone else is enjoying their weekend, which means there are:

- no phone calls
- hardly any text messages
- hardly any emails


Yes, but there are all those annoying Kudoz questions (see my original post) that ONLY come on weekends.


 
Helena Chavarria
Helena Chavarria  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 00:04
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
+ ...
You can choose whether or not you want to answer Oct 13, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

Yes, but there are all those annoying Kudoz questions (see my original post) that ONLY come on weekends.


Yes, but at least you have time to answer them and earn a few points

Though in my language pairs I don't think there are more questions at the weekend.


 
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Is there such a thing as a "weekends only" translator?







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