| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: After planning a weekend off a regular client asks you to work on an urgent project (+/- 2 days) Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "After planning a weekend off a regular client asks you to work on an urgent project (+/- 2 days)".
This poll was originally submitted by Jerome Duquene. View the poll results »
| | | | | Really depends on what I have planed | Feb 21, 2011 |
If it is something I can easily reschedule I will accept the job - after all regular clients are my greatest asset. However if I planned something really special like a trip than most likely I'll decline.
| | | | Nicole Schnell 
United States
Local time: 23:24
English to German
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In memoriam | With a price increase of 50 percent | Feb 21, 2011 |
I like working on weekends - I get a lot more work done when the telephone is quiet.
However, if a project is actually scheduled for a weekend and my agenda is being manipulated, then it will cost.
Amazing effect: All of the sudden plenty o'projects turn out to be not so urgent after all and miraculously can wait until Monday.
Other than that, if I really had any plans such as going to the beach, or an invitation, I will decline.
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recommending a colleague or not, depending on the client.
I do work on weekends, at no extra cost, but that's when I have decided to, not when customers require it.
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Adnan Özdemir
Türkiye
Local time: 09:24
Member (2007)
German to Turkish
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| I take the job but with an increase in the pricing | Feb 21, 2011 |
I take the job but with an increase in the pricing.
Saludos desde Anatolia
Anadolu'dan selamlar
| | | | | It depends... | Feb 21, 2011 |
I would tell the client I HAD planned a weekend off.
I am on that kind of terms with all my regular clients.
Depending on what kind of job it was, and bearing in mind that some urgent jobs are URGENT, and some kan be negotiated, I would take it from there. Maybe I could manage half the weekend and they could stretch the deadline...
If I was planning a once in a lifetime thing like my father's 90th birthday, which we celebrated recently, I would recommend a colleag... See more I would tell the client I HAD planned a weekend off.
I am on that kind of terms with all my regular clients.
Depending on what kind of job it was, and bearing in mind that some urgent jobs are URGENT, and some kan be negotiated, I would take it from there. Maybe I could manage half the weekend and they could stretch the deadline...
If I was planning a once in a lifetime thing like my father's 90th birthday, which we celebrated recently, I would recommend a colleague or let the agency sort it out themselves.
Ditto, if I had planned the weekend off because I had just worked two weeks without a break already... I get unreliable and subject to migraine attacks without a minimum of time off.
If my plans were 'movable', like cleaning the house, then I would take the job and take a couple of days off midweek instead.
Several of my clients would offer to pay extra without being prompted. One refused as recently as last Friday, but it was a small job that in theory I could have done on Friday afternoon. They did extend the deadline from 9 am Monday to 10.30 Monday.
I was just fairly booked and had another job coming in, so I ended up working half the weekend anyway.
Freelancing means taking that sort of thing in your stride. You have to do your best for good clients, but you have a right to a life too, and they must accept it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 08:24
Member (2006)
German to English
Christine Andersen wrote:
I would tell the client I HAD planned a weekend off.
I am on that kind of terms with all my regular clients.
Depending on what kind of job it was, and bearing in mind that some urgent jobs are URGENT, and some kan be negotiated, I would take it from there. Maybe I could manage half the weekend and they could stretch the deadline...
Freelancing means taking that sort of thing in your stride. You have to do your best for good clients, but you have a right to a life too, and they must accept it.
can only agree
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 08:24
English to French
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My regular clients know better than that!
I tell them ahead of time when I will not be available (weekend or not, whatever the reason). They also know I can seldom fit in an "urgent job" without jeopardising another job's deadline.
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| Happens too often when it's not the weekend... | Feb 21, 2011 |
I am on the lists of several agencies who sometimes ask me to translate documents with delivery that requires me to start work immediately - and sometimes to work 48 hour days (ie far too much volume for the time available).
If they catch me when I have slack time then I will help out, but more generally I offer a feasible delivery date - it is my policy to never miss a deadline, so I am very realistic about how much time a job will take and how much time I have available. Some of ... See more I am on the lists of several agencies who sometimes ask me to translate documents with delivery that requires me to start work immediately - and sometimes to work 48 hour days (ie far too much volume for the time available).
If they catch me when I have slack time then I will help out, but more generally I offer a feasible delivery date - it is my policy to never miss a deadline, so I am very realistic about how much time a job will take and how much time I have available. Some of the time my proposed date is fine. Sometimes I will eat in to my weekends to be able to help out a client, but rarely the whole weekend.
It seems that some agencies offer or accept very tight deadlines to win projects and then pass that on to freelancers. I guess it is a sign of how competitive the market is. It must be very stressful being a project manager for agencies that do this.
Generally I'm on a database of freelancers which the agency works through so it's not my role to find an alternative translator. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:24
Spanish to English
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I like working and often work weekends. I don't tend to PLAN taking weekends off, since I don't have a 9-5 Mon-Fri job anyway. However, if I did, unless it was for a wedding, funeral, special party or similar I still might give up my weekend plans depending on the client, price, interest level... etc.
Nor am I averse to working while on "holiday", as long as it doesn't take up an inordinate amount of my time...
If you don't work 9-5, I think weekends are over-rated.... the pubs, res... See more I like working and often work weekends. I don't tend to PLAN taking weekends off, since I don't have a 9-5 Mon-Fri job anyway. However, if I did, unless it was for a wedding, funeral, special party or similar I still might give up my weekend plans depending on the client, price, interest level... etc.
Nor am I averse to working while on "holiday", as long as it doesn't take up an inordinate amount of my time...
If you don't work 9-5, I think weekends are over-rated.... the pubs, restaurants and cinemas etc are chock full, ditto the shopping malls. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anna Katikhina
United States
Local time: 23:24
English to Russian
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I accept and ask a reliable colleague to translate it for me, then proofread it.
| | | | John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 08:24
Spanish to English
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It would, as others have mentioned, depend on the plans I had made. If I had planned on going to the beach (half an hour away) I’d probably change my mind and stay home and work if it was a regular client asking for something. If, on the other hand, I had plane tickets and a hotel room reserved, I’d politely decline.
I wouldn’t take the option of charging more, simply because it’s my choice as to whether I want to work or not. Personally, I believe that working weekends is a... See more It would, as others have mentioned, depend on the plans I had made. If I had planned on going to the beach (half an hour away) I’d probably change my mind and stay home and work if it was a regular client asking for something. If, on the other hand, I had plane tickets and a hotel room reserved, I’d politely decline.
I wouldn’t take the option of charging more, simply because it’s my choice as to whether I want to work or not. Personally, I believe that working weekends is a normal part of being a freelancer. I’m free to work (or not to) on a Saturday or Sunday in the same way I’m free to take a weekday off and do whatever I want. I’m also free to say no to any job I don’t want and the client is free to find someone else to do it.
P.S. This is written by someone whose wife understands the ins and outs and ups and downs of a freelancer and whose children are old enough to not require (or even desire) much attention from Dad. I might have a different opinion if I had small children. ▲ Collapse
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 02:24
Spanish to English
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Depends on a number of important factors:
-How burnt out I am in the wake of previous work.
-How needy I am of money at the time of the offer.
-How difficult the project will be to do.
-How "regular" the client is and what my general feelings are about the client.
-How urgently the project has been presented (i.e., did the request come on Wedensday morning or Friday afternoon. Big difference).
My general thought is that urgently requested weekend work d... See more Depends on a number of important factors:
-How burnt out I am in the wake of previous work.
-How needy I am of money at the time of the offer.
-How difficult the project will be to do.
-How "regular" the client is and what my general feelings are about the client.
-How urgently the project has been presented (i.e., did the request come on Wedensday morning or Friday afternoon. Big difference).
My general thought is that urgently requested weekend work deserves to be treated as rush work, and therefore demands a significant premium. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | politely decline | Feb 21, 2011 |
but it depends! if i have something really SPECIAL planned, or would be out of town, or it's a definite event, that's that. But usually I don't mind working weekends and as long as it doesn't swallow up the entire weekend and I can still get out, I'm ok with it. I often work weekends and as we all know, we can take monday off if we want to.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| I have no such clients | Feb 21, 2011 |
If such a message would arrive I would not answer it before Monday morning.
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