| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Difficulty understanding accents in an itnerview..What to do? Thread poster: Sara Senft
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| Run Sara Run because they're trying to rip you off | Sep 18, 2008 |
Srta Sara wrote:
Roxanna:
Actually, it's a lot longer. The audio file is 45 minutes long. The rate of pay is 40 cents per audio minute, for a total of $24 per hour.
They're trying to rip you off!!!!
That rate is absolutely insulting; every audio minute can take anywhere from 2-6 minutes to be transcribed, even more. Say, in the BEST case scenario (you have the proper equipment and you don't need to rewind the recording even once), every audio minute takes only 3 minutes to be transcribed.
45 minutes x 3 = 135 minutes (2.25 hours)
Apply the already very low rate of $24.00: 2.25 x 24 = $54.00
Transcriptions are usually paid not by the length of the audio, but by the length of the transcription, the time it takes the transcriber to write it down.
This agency is clearly taking advantage of you. I don't know if you signed something or not, but if I were you, I'd just write them off. The attitude of the agency is highly unethical.
| | | | Sara Senft 
United States
Local time: 14:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Since then.... (mainly to L-L) | Sep 18, 2008 |
I posted separately that the PM seemed fine with the fact that I am trying to find someone who could do this. (See my post 'A partial update to my dilemma.')
Maybe my reputation isn't all that damaged after all. I just got a response, and she (the PM) asked if I would be interested in transcribing some interviews with better sound quality. I told her that I would need some more information before I make a decision. I've quickly learned that one of the worst things I can do is ... See more I posted separately that the PM seemed fine with the fact that I am trying to find someone who could do this. (See my post 'A partial update to my dilemma.')
Maybe my reputation isn't all that damaged after all. I just got a response, and she (the PM) asked if I would be interested in transcribing some interviews with better sound quality. I told her that I would need some more information before I make a decision. I've quickly learned that one of the worst things I can do is only consider the amount of money I would earn.
Lawyer-Linguist wrote: Jack Doughty wrote:
Srta may answer this herself, but I understood her to mean not that she was posting the job on ProZ but that she was posting an appeal for a British proofreader on ProZ. Hi Jack, I also wasn't sure initially what was meant and checked the job postings - the job is actually posted. Take care Debs Hi Sara Nobody is disputing your intentions - it's clear you acted in good faith - and you are quite right, nobody is perfect, but what you did is unprofessional. Understandable perhaps, as you're still learning the ropes but if you find yourself in a situation like that again, the correct course of action - in my view - is to immediately come clean with the agency/client. Better still, learn to vet your jobs properly from the outset. It's far better to concentrate on that for now than take jobs you can't handle, like this one and the legal one a couple of weeks back when you couldn't meet the deadline. All the while you are looking to solve the problem - with no way incidentally of knowing what type of job somebody else will do - the clock is ticking. The agency is supposedly in the business of sourcing the right person for the job (although why they gave this particular job to someone from the States is beyond me) and so the time would (normally) be far better spent if they do what they do best and are getting paid for, i.e. project management. Serious agencies generally appreciate being told at the earliest possible opportunity if there is a problem. In any event, I wouldn't actually go ahead and outsource the job until you've cleared your actions with the agency. We all started out, we all made mistakes and continue to make mistakes. My criticism is not personal, it is meant to be constructive. My apologies if it didn't come across that way. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | best of luck... | Sep 18, 2008 |
Things happen, people scerw up... I'd not blame Srta Sara for trying to find someone to assist her in this job and telling the agency about it.
If this is some really heavy irish/scottish/northern english accent, the agency should have told her beforehand or at least understand the situation.
Also, 18 USD for 45 min sounds like highway robbery to me, and I don't usually mind working relatively cheap. It's bound to take 2 hours at least, I'd think, and possibly a lot mor... See more Things happen, people scerw up... I'd not blame Srta Sara for trying to find someone to assist her in this job and telling the agency about it.
If this is some really heavy irish/scottish/northern english accent, the agency should have told her beforehand or at least understand the situation.
Also, 18 USD for 45 min sounds like highway robbery to me, and I don't usually mind working relatively cheap. It's bound to take 2 hours at least, I'd think, and possibly a lot more with heavy accents to complicate things.
To those who use speech recognition: would any speech recognition system have a chance of getting at least a portion of the material right if you just fed it the original audio file (supposing it's nice and clear and not too fast)? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:50
English to Arabic
+ ...
Claudia Alvis wrote:
They're trying to rip you off!!!!
My experience is that it takes on average an hour to transcribe 15 minutes of tape, i.e. 45 minutes should take around 3 hours to transcribe.
This means that you'd be charging $6 per hour, Sara.
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| Can't see that post ... | Sep 18, 2008 |
Srta Sara wrote:
I posted separately that the PM seemed fine with the fact that I am trying to find someone who could do this. (See my post 'A partial update to my dilemma.')
Maybe my reputation isn't all that damaged after all. I just got a response, and she (the PM) asked if I would be interested in transcribing some interviews with better sound quality. I told her that I would need some more information before I make a decision. I've quickly learned that one of the worst things I can do is only consider the amount of money I would earn.
..., all I can see is that the PM had not got back to you, but maybe it's just my PC, has been rather 'temperamental' all day.
Sara, if the agency is happy for you to be doing their work - i.e. finding the right person for the job, when you've admitted you are not that person - I'd be very cautious. A professional PM would immediately take a hands-on approach and sort it out her/himself, with or without your recommendations of someone to take over.
Add that to what Claudia says, and I'd be very wary.
That said, your request for more information is certainly on the right track on how to deal with future job queries.
Best of luck - it all gets easier with time!
Debs
PS: OK, see now you've opened a different thread entitled 'A partial update to my dilemma'. You reference to 'post' made me think you were referring to a post in this thread.
[Edited at 2008-09-18 20:40]
| | | | Sara Senft
United States
Local time: 14:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I'm learning a lot | Sep 18, 2008 |
I've been learning a lot lately. This will end up benefiting me because I will learn more about what works for me and what doesn't work.
To Lawyer-Linguist: Your comments were part of that process, too.
Lawyer-Linguist wrote: Srta Sara wrote:
I posted separately that the PM seemed fine with the fact that I am trying to find someone who could do this. (See my post 'A partial update to my dilemma.')
Maybe my reputation isn't all that damaged after all. I just got a response, and she (the PM) asked if I would be interested in transcribing some interviews with better sound quality. I told her that I would need some more information before I make a decision. I've quickly learned that one of the worst things I can do is only consider the amount of money I would earn.
..., all I can see is that the PM had not got back to you, but maybe it's just my PC, has been rather 'temperamental' all day. Sara, if the agency is happy for you to be doing their work - i.e. finding the right person for the job, when you've admitted you are not that person - I'd be very cautious. A professional PM would immediately take a hands-on approach and sort it out her/himself, with or without your recommendations of someone to take over. Add that to what Claudia says, and I'd be very wary. That said, your request for more information is certainly on the right track on how to deal with future job queries. Best of luck - it all gets easier with time! Debs PS: OK, see now you've opened a different thread entitled 'A partial update to my dilemma'. You reference to 'post' made me think you were referring to a post in this thread. [Edited at 2008-09-18 20:40]
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 12:50
Dutch to English
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| More than you can handle | Sep 18, 2008 |
Srta Sara wrote:
I'm working on my first project for an agency. It's transcribing an interview, and it's in British English. The accents are making it difficult for me to understand what is being said half the time.
Earlier today, I asked the Project Manager what to do if something is inaudible or unintelligible. She told me to put the appropriate adjective in brackets and put a time stamp in the spot. The problem is that I would rather not load up my transcript with this. I don't want to give up on the project either.
Now what?
A few weeks ago you posted a problem with meeting a deadline. Now you have taken on a job that is too difficult for you (UK English no less!). You have badly misjudged the time it would take and as a result you are also being grossly underpaid (did you not listen to the tapes before you accepted?). In both cases, instead of gaining the trust of the agency you are probably going to lose them. I know you are just starting out but all the more reason to be careful. My advice would be not to push yourself too hard, not to want too much too soon, and to take on only jobs that you feel completely comfortable with in terms of content, deadline, and payment.
As for your current situation, I agree with what others have said. Re-posting the job is unprofessional. If you can find a native UK speaker on short notice to help you, that would be ok. But otherwise you need to be honest with the agency. Maybe it is not too late for them to assign the job to another translator.
| | | | Juliana Brown
Israel
Local time: 14:50
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Just one comment- no matter how "new" you are to this, and how desperate you are for experience and/or new clients, never undersell your services. Apart from the fact that it undervalues your (and OUR) work and messes with the market, YOU surely must believe that your effort is worth more than $6 an hour?!? This subject has come up millions of times, but really- you'd have made more working at McDonalds...
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Sara Senft
United States
Local time: 14:50
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
The more I think about it, the more I think I would be better off NOT transcribing for this agency. Part of me thinks the rates for translation would be better, but I'm also skeptical. The transcription rates are giving me a preview of what their other rates would be.
I'm going to send a message to the project manager and refuse the assignment.
--Sara
Juliana Starkman wrote:
Just one comment- no matter how "new" you are to this, and how desperate you are for experience and/or new clients, never undersell your services. Apart from the fact that it undervalues your (and OUR) work and messes with the market, YOU surely must believe that your effort is worth more than $6 an hour?!? This subject has come up millions of times, but really- you'd have made more working at McDonalds...
| | | | | know the market | Sep 18, 2008 |
I remember seeing that job posted, and I was thinking, gosh, I hope that $20 for each of the 10-minute files, and not $20 for all three! I see I was mistaken. I'm curious if you did get any legit responses at that rate.
Sara, one thing that you might take away from this general experience (beyond "stay the heck away from transcription!") is to know the market rate for the service you're purporting to provide. It doesn't take more than 15 minutes of googling "transcription rates" to ... See more I remember seeing that job posted, and I was thinking, gosh, I hope that $20 for each of the 10-minute files, and not $20 for all three! I see I was mistaken. I'm curious if you did get any legit responses at that rate.
Sara, one thing that you might take away from this general experience (beyond "stay the heck away from transcription!") is to know the market rate for the service you're purporting to provide. It doesn't take more than 15 minutes of googling "transcription rates" to see that rates for transcribers *start* at around $1.00/audio minute (and in that same process you'll learn that you shouldn't quote a rate based on audio minute unless you've had a chance to judge whether it's "class I," "class II" etc. audio).
Now maybe, just maybe, you might justify selling your services a little bit lower because you don't have experience. But as other have pointed out, charging less than half of a reasonable rate means that *everyone* is going to be unhappy with the end result.
The good news is, that you're better off losing this client. You can't even outsource transcription work to India for $.40/audio minute. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sara Senft
United States
Local time: 14:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I turned it down | Sep 19, 2008 |
I just sent a message to the project manager and declined the multiple offers she gave me.
This experience was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I felt bad about making these mistakes. The positive part is that I learned some important lessons from this.
| | | | | Next post about payment? | Sep 19, 2008 |
I wonder if I'm the only one waiting to see if your next post will be about whether the agency can refuse to pay you the $18 because you did not complete your portion, or whether you can get paid for the partial work you did.
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Sara Senft
United States
Local time: 14:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I'm not going to try | Sep 19, 2008 |
This time, I won't try to get any payment for this project. It's not worth it.
Michele Johnson wrote:
I wonder if I'm the only one waiting to see if your next post will be about whether the agency can refuse to pay you the $18 because you did not complete your portion, or whether you can get paid for the partial work you did.
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