| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Would you work for this rate? Thread poster: Marian Popa (X)
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I wouldn't even start up my computer for that money...
| | | | | Not even worth an answer... | Mar 9, 2012 |
In my opinion this is not even worth answering, but you could suggest something:
I recently had an agency asking me for a translation for about 3 cents per word. I told them at this rate i would copy/paste the text into google translate and return without any further editing, because that is the quality to expect at that rate....well, i didnt hear back from them, so either they have found someone who really accepts that low rates or they googled it....but the point is, if they get a... See more In my opinion this is not even worth answering, but you could suggest something:
I recently had an agency asking me for a translation for about 3 cents per word. I told them at this rate i would copy/paste the text into google translate and return without any further editing, because that is the quality to expect at that rate....well, i didnt hear back from them, so either they have found someone who really accepts that low rates or they googled it....but the point is, if they get answers like this often enough, maybe they start thinking? Or maybe it´s just me being too blonde... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vladimír Hoffman 
Slovakia
Local time: 16:58
Member (2009)
English to Slovak
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| Let's calculate | Mar 9, 2012 |
Average hourly capacity could be about 500 words. At price of 0,008 per word, it would mean that you would earn as "much" as USD 4 per hour. I think that even McDonald or Wallmarkt pays more:-)
Just a question - It was Romanian agency that had contacted with the offer, wasn't it? Some Slovak agencies have similar attitudes (although not at such terribly low level).
Marian Popa wrote: Marina Steinbach wrote: Marian Popa wrote:
I received an offer to work, potentially long term (unsubstantiated) for an outsourcer who wants to pay me USD 0.008 per source-word. yes, this is LESS THAN ONE US CENT per source-word. Would you agree to this job?
Thank you Hi Marian, I looked at your profile and discovered that you have a bachelor's degree and 15 years of experience. I'm astonished that you have only been offered USD 0.008 per source word. Therefore, I assume that this has been offered to you for repetitions, right? Kind regards, Marina For repetitions they want to reduce it by 30%, and again i am NOT kidding. I thought i am going crazy and maybe the market dropped and I was not aware of it.... I did not post this as a prank either, but if you guys are amused, then at least i made you smile. Thank you all for your input.
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I would not agree to such a thing.
Keep in mind: You must live from your work. And you must continue learning to do your work in best quality, which also costs time and money.
Don't take this job.
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Suzan Hamer
Netherlands
Local time: 16:58
English
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| | No, you do it. | Mar 9, 2012 |
Marian Popa wrote:
You do the math
Here's a wild idea - why don't you "do the math"
If you accept work from these people, how much will you earn per hour, or per day, or per month, or whatever yardstick you use to measure whether any given effort offers appropriate financial reward? Is that amount enough to cover your outgoings? (plus margin, plus future investment, plus whatever else you need to consider....)
That alone should be your guide. Now, it seems unlikely to me that under 1c per word would provide a decent income but I won't prejudge and make assumptions. Only you can know that. And it means that you have to "do the math". not us.
| | | | Marian Popa (X)
United States
Local time: 10:58
Romanian to English
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TOPIC STARTER | I declined, of course | Mar 9, 2012 |
Thank you all for your input
D. L. Staude wrote:
I would not agree to such a thing.
Keep in mind: You must live from your work. And you must continue learning to do your work in best quality, which also costs time and money.
Don't take this job.
| | | | Roy OConnor (X)
Local time: 16:58
German to English
| Right decision! | Mar 9, 2012 |
You did the right thing there, Marian,
They would probably also want a discount for volume as well!
Roy
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Gina W
United States
Local time: 10:58
Member (2003)
French to English
| Potentially long-term? | Mar 9, 2012 |
First of all, many times when they say "potentially long-term", they're using that as a type of lure to get you to accept a lower rate. The message is that well, they can't pay you a higher rate but they can promise you more work on an ongoing basis. Often then if you do one job for such an agency, you either never hear from them again or they will expect you to do every job they offer at the same low rate.
But even if this were to turn into something long-term, would you really w... See more First of all, many times when they say "potentially long-term", they're using that as a type of lure to get you to accept a lower rate. The message is that well, they can't pay you a higher rate but they can promise you more work on an ongoing basis. Often then if you do one job for such an agency, you either never hear from them again or they will expect you to do every job they offer at the same low rate.
But even if this were to turn into something long-term, would you really want that? Even if they gave you tons of work - do you realize that you'd have to do 10 times as much volume just to get 8 cents, which is still not considered a good rate? And then you'd get caught up in their projects and miss out on better-paying projects. So your "potentially long-term" outlook would be sleepless and broke (ever heard of Mox?). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alex Lago
Spain
Local time: 16:58
English to Spanish
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| Are you serious? | Mar 9, 2012 |
Did you seriously need to ask other people's opinion to turn this job down or did you just let us know about it in a "roundabout" way?
| | | | Marian Popa (X)
United States
Local time: 10:58
Romanian to English
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TOPIC STARTER | To Alex lago (and everybody else) | Mar 9, 2012 |
I am serious, did not entertain the idea of working for this price at all, but I needed to hear the community's input. I also wanted to let the community know about how low can some firms go. As I can see this is probably the lowest one ever heard of.
| | | | Alex Lago
Spain
Local time: 16:58
English to Spanish
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| Glad to hear that | Mar 9, 2012 |
Marian Popa wrote:
I am serious, did not entertain the idea of working for this price at all
To avoid doubts if this happens again in the future you should maybe just post it as "look at this ridiculous offer I got" instead of as "should I take this offer?"
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| Very honest rate for 1712 ... not 2012 ! | Mar 12, 2012 |
Look, I am not even going to address this much as I wish to avoid any insults that may get me in trouble (regarding the agency)
Honestly speaking try to calculate your earnings.
At even 1,000 words per hour, if you used an automatic translator, you would earn 64 dollars on an 8 hour workday (no lunch or breaks).
64 x 6 days = 384 dollars x 4 weeks =1536 dollars for a total of 192,000 words.
... See more
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 16:58
Spanish to English
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| Ask them if THEY'VE done the math | Mar 12, 2012 |
I couldn't even pay my mandatory SS with that.
But basically, the message to get across is that outsourcers ALSO have to be competitive. I mean, if that's a long term arrangement, people will be running away from them.
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