Poll: I consider most fellow translators to be:
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
May 12, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "I consider most fellow translators to be:".

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Mirja Maletzki
Mirja Maletzki  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 15:14
Korean to German
+ ...
Potentially Friends May 12, 2018

I've never met a translator "in the wild"... In a social situation where it goes "So, what do you do for a living?".

Considering how excited I get when someone says "I'm a freelancer and I work from home", I'm sure I would instantly feel a connection when I meet a fellow translator... so I picked "Potentially a friend"


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 06:14
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Colleagues May 12, 2018

Call me naive if you will, but I don’t see my fellow translators as competitors, even of the same language pairs and specializations, because networking is an essential part of a freelance translator’s professional life. As a result of good relationships I've built with other translators (some are Prozians), I’ve been recommended by colleagues who are either too busy to accept a job, or for projects outside their area of expertise but falling in mine. I find recommendations of colleagues h... See more
Call me naive if you will, but I don’t see my fellow translators as competitors, even of the same language pairs and specializations, because networking is an essential part of a freelance translator’s professional life. As a result of good relationships I've built with other translators (some are Prozians), I’ve been recommended by colleagues who are either too busy to accept a job, or for projects outside their area of expertise but falling in mine. I find recommendations of colleagues highly motivating and rewarding: it warms my heart and heals my soul. I’ve also passed on work to a few colleagues when I’m busy and recommended colleagues for language pairs and services I don’t cover. I can't imagine not doing so.Collapse


 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 07:14
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Colleagues May 12, 2018

I consider anything else narrow-minded and not to the benefit of anyone.

I don't care if we are in the same language combination, so what? There's enough work for all of us.
When I've met other Prozians it turned out that we mostly have different clients. They don't know mine and I don't know theirs.

Most of my clients find me on Proz.com or TC and I always have plenty of work.

Another point: I see a trend of big agencies trying to take over others
... See more
I consider anything else narrow-minded and not to the benefit of anyone.

I don't care if we are in the same language combination, so what? There's enough work for all of us.
When I've met other Prozians it turned out that we mostly have different clients. They don't know mine and I don't know theirs.

Most of my clients find me on Proz.com or TC and I always have plenty of work.

Another point: I see a trend of big agencies trying to take over others and thus dominating the market and pressing the prices down in the name of gathering more expertise, becoming more efficient and competitive. It actually happened to two of my main clients.

The translators are the losers in that game: More bureaucracy, new vendor portals with instructions/tutorials, pass words (that must be renewed regularly), extra QA procedures, longer payment terms etc.... And on top of all of that: 'Encouraging me' to lower my rates, "so that the PMs will want to chose me over other cheaper translators".

I just say forget it! I have even increased my standard prices with 1 cent to compensate for all the extra time involved. There!

So, Colleagues: Let's not give in to this kind of pressure, we are professionals (in my country other professionals have much higher hourly rates) and should not be treated like garbage.

[Edited at 2018-05-12 09:50 GMT]
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Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Mugs or chancers May 12, 2018

Just my impression

 
Julio Madrid
Julio Madrid  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 23:14
Member (2018)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Hear, hear! May 12, 2018

Yetta J Bogarde wrote:

I consider anything else narrow-minded and not to the benefit of anyone.

I don't care if we are in the same language combination, so what? There's enough work for all of us.
When I've met other Prozians it turned out that we mostly have different clients. They don't know mine and I don't know theirs.

Most of my clients find me on Proz.com or TC and I always have plenty of work.

Another point: I see a trend of big agencies trying to take over others and thus dominating the market and pressing the prices down in the name of gathering more expertise, becoming more efficient and competitive. It actually happened to two of my main clients.

The translators are the losers in that game: More bureaucracy, new vendor portals with instructions/tutorials, pass words (that must be renewed regularly), extra QA procedures, longer payment terms etc.... And on top of all of that: 'Encouraging me' to lower my rates, "so that the PMs will want to chose me over other cheaper translators".

I just say forget it! I have even increased my standard prices with 1 cent to compensate for all the extra time involved. There!

So, Colleagues: Let's not give in to this kind of pressure, we are professionals (in my country other professionals have much higher hourly rates) and should not be treated like garbage.

[Edited at 2018-05-12 09:50 GMT]


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 07:14
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Where's the like button? May 12, 2018

Chris S wrote:

Just my impression


Join the club! But from the selection available I voted colleagues.
Like others above, I see far more advantages in collaborating than in competing. There seems to be plenty of work to go round in Scandinavian languages to English.

If one of my clients wants a translation I can't do for one reason or another, I can recommend - a colleague. Other translators in the same situation have sent clients to me, often Danes who do not translate into English, but also colleagues who don't have time or think I know more about the subject than they do.

We need to stand together on rates as far as we can. I have received an enormous amount of help from colleagues over the years. We exchange advice on all sorts of things on this site and in other forums. We meet at powwows and other translation events as friends and colleagues, and freely exchange good advice and experience.

I believe we all benefit enormously, and nobody loses out. It would be very lonely regarding other translators as competitors and trying to guard my trade secrets... instead of enjoying the generous help of colleagues and hoping others can use my contributions.

I sometimes draw attention to good translations I come across -- it is not always obvious that they are translations at all, unless I happen to know the original. That gives me a chance to pay tribute to a colleague and 'advertise' a little for the profession.


 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 07:14
English to Italian
Combination May 12, 2018

Some are colleagues,
some are competitors,
some are colleagues who have also become a sort of friends,
some have taught me a lot
some are simply people who do this job as a hobby and so are just "people"


 
Anna Herbst
Anna Herbst  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 17:14
English to Swedish
+ ...

MODERATOR
SITE LOCALIZER
Colleagues May 12, 2018

Teresa, Yetta and Christine have all expressed pretty much my own views.
We are professional colleagues who collaborate rather than compete, who celebrate each other's successes and who support each other.


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 03:14
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Colleagues above all May 12, 2018

I consider all other translators colleagues. We share many things in common, and one's experiences are always helpful to the others.
I consider some colleagues potential friends as well. The possibility of meeting some of them is considerable. Becoming actual friends is a lot harder, due to the distance. But virtual friends, for sure.
I no longer consider them as competitors. Our market is just too diversified, and our working standards as well. There is a place for everyone. Conside
... See more
I consider all other translators colleagues. We share many things in common, and one's experiences are always helpful to the others.
I consider some colleagues potential friends as well. The possibility of meeting some of them is considerable. Becoming actual friends is a lot harder, due to the distance. But virtual friends, for sure.
I no longer consider them as competitors. Our market is just too diversified, and our working standards as well. There is a place for everyone. Considering people as one's competitors makes relations a lot worse. It's not adviseable.
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Poll: I consider most fellow translators to be:






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