ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | Any large project... well...

Mario Freitas — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 05:27:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Mario Freitas
Post title: Any large project... well...

Not "any", but any large project well paid and in my areas of expertise, of course. There are large projects that are real tortures: university student papers, papers written by pedantic accademics, Chinglish or very poor English... all these, in any area, are quite undesirable. So being large and well paid is not an absolute criterion whatsoever.

[Edited at 2018-03-18 05:29 GMT]

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | High-level international organizations

Muriel Vasconcellos (X) — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 08:42:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Muriel Vasconcellos (X)
Post title: High-level international organizations

This description fits my main clients, and I am living my dream. The texts are interesting and well written. I enjoy the topics. The organizations pay well. What more could I ask?

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | A combination

Nikki Scott-Despaigne — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 08:07:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Post title: A combination

After more than 20 years of translation, the "dream" is multifaceted. There is no one single dream project. An ideal project includes a number of things. It is :
- on a subject matter, I know something about
- well-written
- the client is accessible directly if necessary
- the terms and conditions are clearly stated
- the payment is made swiftly after delivery

The plague project would be
- a text on something I know nothing about
- badly-written
- from a client who does not reply to questions
- who fusses over terms and conditions
- who needs to be chased for payment

Even with good clients, things can sometimes go a little awry. A one-off mishap is not a major problem, but if getting paid starts to become difficult, no matter how interesting the work was, the lack of professionalism and lack of respect spurs me into action to recover payment. It's necessary in any bussiness. Over the years, you get better at avoiding those clients, and better at identifying the early warning signs. They are actually fairly obvious. I did finally get sick of clients expecting me to be their banker and as my management skills improved, I was sometimes almost amused at how surprised some clients were when I pushed for payment that was overdue... as if I was the one offending them by claiming my due!

In one of my main fields, changes in the industry were reflected in the way the work was being proposed and the chain of payment became much longer. The longer the chain, the greater the risk of payment problems. Whilst operating a number of changes, including a shift of emphasis away from the field concerned, I finally decided to reduce my translation and interpreting activity to a secondary activity and returned to full-time study to make a career change. It's not been easy, as it has taken a couple of years more than I had calculated. Financially it's been tough. I'm nearly there and although I will always translate and interpret, I have not regretted having made the career change.

[Edited at 2018-03-11 08:12 GMT]

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | other

Gianluca Marras — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 07:11:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Gianluca Marras
Post title: other

I have worked in several fields, now I translate mainly technical texts.

I'd like to have a large tourist guide and/or a good book.

I wouldn't call it my "dream project", it would just be a good alternative project.

The dream project is something huge, well paid, paid quickly and interesting... uhm too many things, right?

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | Well-paid - full stop!

Sheila Wilson — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 23:55:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Sheila Wilson
Post title: Well-paid - full stop!

I don't really like working on projects that I can't identify with at all, so I'm not rushing to do a second spiritualism novel but would love to do another science fiction one. On the other hand, most of my work concerns subjects that neither fascinate nor repel me - concrete, skiing, MBAs, regattas ... so being well-paid is just fine.

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | I used to think a book was the ideal project ....

Samantha Payn — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 12:13:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Samantha Payn
Post title: I used to think a book was the ideal project ....

... but now I don't. I love the variety of what I do, requiring me to use different language registers and so on.
I have recognised that I am deadline driven so I find larger projects challenging as I have to set targets for each day and stick to them. Therefore, on balance, I prefer smaller projects, but of course the better paid they are the more I like 'em!

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | A combination of some of the above

Miyoung Park — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 11:15:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Miyoung Park
Post title: A combination of some of the above

Translating mega-selling books and living off the royalties.
(But who reads books...?)

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | A combination of some of the above

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 10:22:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Post title: A combination of some of the above

(i.e. a large well paid project from a high-level international organization).

Over the years I have occasionally worked with several high-level international organizations (UN and EU) and if this turned up to be more regular it would really be a dream come true…

Poll: My dream project would be in/for: | art

Kay Denney — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 08:38:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: Kay Denney
Post title: art

friends or family: no because that's a great way to fall out when they disagree with a particular word

for me, anything art-related, and I won't complain if it's well-paid!

Poll: My dream project would be in/for:

ProZ.com Staff — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 08:10:02 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: My dream project would be in/for:
Poster: ProZ.com Staff

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "My dream project would be in/for:".

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