How does one get an answer to bids, is there a secret? Thread poster: GRI BUONGIORNE
|
|---|
GRI BUONGIORNE 
United States
Local time: 08:19
English to Spanish
+ ...
This is a new comer question I am sure. Bear with me. I am not sure what the procedure is after one has bid on a job and sent the bid via the "bid email" tab. Sometimes it's NOT there and one has to contact directly via the email the poster has left.
I pretty much had a job which nobody else seemed interested in, an obscure translation from Hindu to English to Spanish. I was bidding ont he Spanish part and bid on that job, with a convervative amount IMHO..
The English... See more This is a new comer question I am sure. Bear with me. I am not sure what the procedure is after one has bid on a job and sent the bid via the "bid email" tab. Sometimes it's NOT there and one has to contact directly via the email the poster has left.
I pretty much had a job which nobody else seemed interested in, an obscure translation from Hindu to English to Spanish. I was bidding ont he Spanish part and bid on that job, with a convervative amount IMHO..
The English was rather poor so I know it was either done by a machine or a below average translator...still...just wondering why they never got back to me even though there was nobody else interested and now it's closed.
What does that mean?
- will they open it again?
- did they get somebody else?
- do posts have a time limit (like on ebay )
How long does one wait to get an answer before bidding for more jobs?
Any comments are welcome. Thanks
Gri ▲ Collapse
| | | |
| It could mean several things! | Feb 15, 2013 |
1) The jobs posted are posted by individuals fishing out colleagues' rates.
2) Agencies have interns with time to kill so they have them practice posting jobs.
3) Sometimes outsourcers have no manners and no conscience about making you waste your time submitting a proposal.
Do your research, use the Blueboard to see their ratings. If you see a negative mark (1-3) take that as a major flag not to waste your time bidding!
Good luck!
... See more 1) The jobs posted are posted by individuals fishing out colleagues' rates.
2) Agencies have interns with time to kill so they have them practice posting jobs.
3) Sometimes outsourcers have no manners and no conscience about making you waste your time submitting a proposal.
Do your research, use the Blueboard to see their ratings. If you see a negative mark (1-3) take that as a major flag not to waste your time bidding!
Good luck!
Michelle ▲ Collapse
| | | |
| Other places as well | Feb 15, 2013 |
Proz is not the only place to post a job. A lot of jobs are posted elswhere and we cannot see how many translators did respond of course.
Some jobposters get scared when seeing how much a translation is going to cost at the end.
| | | |
| No reply is not unusual | Feb 15, 2013 |
Unfortunately, it is not unusual to receive no reply to bids for jobs advertised on Proz. You'll hear from the potential client soon enough if your bid is accepted.
In the meantime, it's best not to wait for an answer, not to assume you'll get the job and to continue bidding for other jobs.
When replying to enquiries about my availability for work, I usually say something like "Thank you for your enquiry. As my work load stands at the moment, I could accept your offer for deli... See more Unfortunately, it is not unusual to receive no reply to bids for jobs advertised on Proz. You'll hear from the potential client soon enough if your bid is accepted.
In the meantime, it's best not to wait for an answer, not to assume you'll get the job and to continue bidding for other jobs.
When replying to enquiries about my availability for work, I usually say something like "Thank you for your enquiry. As my work load stands at the moment, I could accept your offer for delivery by [date] at the rate of [rate]".
Best wishes
Jenny ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 18:19
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
S GRISELDA H BUONGIORNE wrote:
I am not sure what the procedure is after one has bid on a job...
You are not expected to keep your diary clear for the period of time that the job you bid on would normally take to complete. Until the bid is accepted and you have agreed on the details of the job with the client via e-mail, you are under no obligation to stay available for the job until the client turns down your bid.
The bid is simply a statement by you that (if no other work comes in) you would be willing to do the client's job by the stated deadline for the stated price. Any information about your availability that you give to any client (be it via ProZ.com or via e-mail) is only valid at the time that you gave that information. Clients know that freelancers can get jobs at any time, and that the freelancer's availability may have changed in the mean time.
So, do not wait for the client to respond before you start looking for more work elsewhere.
| | | |
Tom Pesch
Finland
Local time: 19:19
English to Finnish
| Blue board is corrupt | Feb 15, 2013 |
Michelle Kusuda wrote:
Do your research, use the Blueboard to see their ratings. If you see a negative mark (1-3) take that as a major flag not to waste your time bidding!
The problem is that people give 5 star ratings even to agencies that conduct very bad business in the hope of landing jobs in the future. The Blue board entires should be anonymous.
| | | |
| Agree with most | Feb 15, 2013 |
of what people have been saying. When I started out I wondered the same but eventually realized that you get an answer on perhaps 1 out of 10 bids. Perhaps the agency in question was just fishing for people with an unusual language combination just in case...
I was wondering about the statement by Tom: "The problem is that people give 5 star ratings even to agencies that conduct very bad business in the hope of landing jobs in the future. The Blue board entires should be anonymous. ... See more of what people have been saying. When I started out I wondered the same but eventually realized that you get an answer on perhaps 1 out of 10 bids. Perhaps the agency in question was just fishing for people with an unusual language combination just in case...
I was wondering about the statement by Tom: "The problem is that people give 5 star ratings even to agencies that conduct very bad business in the hope of landing jobs in the future. The Blue board entires should be anonymous. "
why on earth would anyone hope to land jobs in the future with agencies that conduct very bad business?
If I'm happy with an agency, I give them a 5 and if not, I won't. First of all, agencies have to learn that if they are not good at paying or generally cooperating with their translators, they will eventually have fewer translators wanting to work with them as a result of rubbish blue board ratings, and secondly, the good agencies need to be encouraged to keep up the good work. ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Tom Pesch
Finland
Local time: 19:19
English to Finnish
| out of desperation | Feb 15, 2013 |
Marie-Helene Dubois wrote:
why on earth would anyone hope to land jobs in the future with agencies that conduct very bad business?
If I'm happy with an agency, I give them a 5 and if not, I won't. First of all, agencies have to learn that if they are not good at paying or generally cooperating with their translators, they will eventually have fewer translators wanting to work with them as a result of rubbish blue board ratings, and secondly, the good agencies need to be encouraged to keep up the good work.
There are some very desperate job-seekers out there who will do almost anything to get the next job, even if the outsourcer is an absolute slave master.
You are saying that you only give 5 stars? What is the point in that? There are 5 steps in the scoring system, shouldn't we be using them all?
| | |
|
|
|
that some people withdraw their bad ratings after a short while (probably out of fear that a "1" might make them look bad themselves). This is one reason why you cannot rely too much on the BB rankings.
Gudrun
[Bearbeitet am 2013-02-15 09:43 GMT]
| | | |
You are saying that you only give 5 stars? What is the point in that? There are 5 steps in the scoring system, shouldn't we be using them all?
No. I am not saying that I only give 5 stars. I wasn't very clear. I give 5 stars if I'm happy with the agency overall and if not, I don't. I then decide based on their payment practices and general helpfulness what the lower rating will be but I always make sure that my colleagues know via the blue board if an agency has paid late etc.
I think that it is our responsibility to do so and it's also the only useful way in which we can contribute to trying to eradicate bad agencies from the market.
| | | |
| Thanks for input. | Feb 15, 2013 |
Thanks Tom for pointing that out. Also Blue Board entries should be allowed every 3 months or even better: per job! listing job number. Should we put it as an idea and see how many votes we get? A colleague told me that you can only post an entry once a year.
Marie-Helene Dubois wrote: You are saying that you only give 5 stars? What is the point in that? There are 5 steps in the scoring system, shouldn't we be using them all? No. I am not saying that I only give 5 stars. I wasn't very clear. I give 5 stars if I'm happy with the agency overall and if not, I don't. I then decide based on their payment practices and general helpfulness what the lower rating will be but I always make sure that my colleagues know via the blue board if an agency has paid late etc. I think that it is our responsibility to do so and it's also the only useful way in which we can contribute to trying to eradicate bad agencies from the market.
| | | |
Jane Proctor (X)
France
Local time: 18:19
French to English
| Job posting system needs rethink - where is the respect for bidders? | Mar 13, 2013 |
I am a recent Proz member. Initially, naively, I was quite excited about bidding for jobs using a trusted source. Now I'm not so sure. It seems to me, that somewhere along the way, respect for "service providers" has gone out of the window.
Out of 8 "jobs" applied for, only one outsourcer acknowledged my bid. Otherwise, no feedback, no thanks for your interest, nothing.
Proz is a fantastic resource, but it does, unwittingly, provide a platform for bargain basement hunt... See more I am a recent Proz member. Initially, naively, I was quite excited about bidding for jobs using a trusted source. Now I'm not so sure. It seems to me, that somewhere along the way, respect for "service providers" has gone out of the window.
Out of 8 "jobs" applied for, only one outsourcer acknowledged my bid. Otherwise, no feedback, no thanks for your interest, nothing.
Proz is a fantastic resource, but it does, unwittingly, provide a platform for bargain basement hunters, preying on the weak. I'm sure there are some decent companies in and amongst, but what calibre of candidate are they attracting? I certainly won't be wasting any more time applying for jobs this way! ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Login to reply/comment 
