| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10] > | How bad is declining job after accepting it Thread poster: Annett Roessner
|
|---|
Annett Roessner 
Australia
Local time: 23:51
Member (2017)
English to German
TOPIC STARTER | That’s exactly what I’m thinking | Dec 7, 2023 |
Hayley Wakenshaw wrote:
There have been a couple of occasions when I have misjudged a text and realised after translating a little of it that it was not the right text for me. In both cases, I immediately contacted the PM and very apologetically said that I didn’t feel I would be able to translate it to a high standard. In both cases, the PM thanked me for my honesty, gave the job to someone else, and that was that.
Good PMs and good bureaus want to make sure their clients get the best translations possible. But if some of the texts I’ve revised are anything to go by, many translators are not honest about their limits or capabilities. So a good PM will appreciate a translator who is honest about what they can and cannot do.
I can only imagine that if you’d not even seen the text before you started, the PM would be even more understanding. I would explain what has happened to the PM as soon as possible so their own deadlines aren’t jeopardised.
Personally, I would NOT attempt to translate the text. If it turns out that you can’t do a good job even after spending hours researching terms, it could negatively impact your relationship with the client, and they might even withhold payment. Even if you can actually translate the text decently with a lot of research, you’ll end up with a very poor hourly rate for your work (and a sore bum from sitting at your desk for so long!).
[Edited at 2023-12-07 11:02 GMT]
Hi Hayley,
Thank you so much for your uplifting post. If I could translate this text I would.
I feel quite flat about letting the client down but it is what it is. It is better to be honest about my capabilities than submitting a bad translation.
Best,
Annett
| | | |
monica.m wrote:
Tell them you have a personal issue, you can't go on.
I can't claim to know much about Italian culture, but if I were a PM, I would prefer the translator simply to be transparent and honest and not appreciate waffle, obfuscation and lies. I would tend to keep the former on board rather than the latter. I'd say this would be the usual approach in the Nordic countries, where "macho" claims of being able to do everything and making up barely credible excuses are generally disliked. A more down-to-earth approach works better in these countries.
| | | | | About running a business | Dec 7, 2023 |
What about the financial loss when simply accepting your fate?
Wasting time is not good, and I must keep productivity in sight: with the kind of volume mentioned by the OP, I would feel very upset to work three times as much/long for the same money because I misjudged the content of a source text. To me, any way to get out of that kind of situation is better than bite the bullet and earn peanuts for days on end.
And there is the added evil of delivering something you <... See more What about the financial loss when simply accepting your fate?
Wasting time is not good, and I must keep productivity in sight: with the kind of volume mentioned by the OP, I would feel very upset to work three times as much/long for the same money because I misjudged the content of a source text. To me, any way to get out of that kind of situation is better than bite the bullet and earn peanuts for days on end.
And there is the added evil of delivering something you know will not be up to your own standards, all while turning down more suitable work in the meantime.
You have everything to gain by stepping down and nothing much to lose, given that the agency should have ample time to re-assign the project.
Philippe ▲ Collapse
| | | |
By stepping down you’re also showing them the need to let you have a look at the text before accepting to translate it…
| | |
|
|
|
| Nothing to do... | Dec 7, 2023 |
with Italian culture. It's her personal advice.
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
I can't claim to know much about Italian culture, but if I were a PM, I would prefer the translator simply to be transparent and honest and not appreciate waffle, obfuscation and lies. I would tend to keep the former on board rather than the latter. I'd say this would be the usual approach in the Nordic countries, where "macho" claims of being able to do everything and making up barely credible excuses are generally disliked. A more down-to-earth approach works better in these countries.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 15:51
French to English
Just as consolation, since I see you've already taken the sound advice that I would have given you:
In my early days as a freelancer (but with 20 years' experience in translation) I bid for a job here. It was a huge catalogue about sports equipment, for a sport I know nothing of, but I had worked on tons of similar texts at the agency and figured that after a couple of pages and spending time reading up about this equipment on websites written by native English speakers, I'd be able to zip... See more Just as consolation, since I see you've already taken the sound advice that I would have given you:
In my early days as a freelancer (but with 20 years' experience in translation) I bid for a job here. It was a huge catalogue about sports equipment, for a sport I know nothing of, but I had worked on tons of similar texts at the agency and figured that after a couple of pages and spending time reading up about this equipment on websites written by native English speakers, I'd be able to zip right through.
It turned out to be much more technical than I thought. After a weekend wrestling with the text, I sent in the few pages that I had managed a half-way decent translation of, and apologised, saying I didn't want to hand in rubbish, and it would take me too long to finish the catalogue, I would need to extend the deadline. I suggested the woman take a look at other bids for the job, and select someone who actually practises the sport in question. She was very understanding and paid me promptly for the work I delivered, even though I had decided not to bill.
When I turn work down, I tell customers I'd rather not do the job than do a bad job. They seem to appreciate my honesty.
So if this agency appreciates good quality work, your business relationship will not be affected.
If they don't bother to send you any more work, that means they don't give a toss about quality. I wouldn't be all that thrilled to work with them if that were the case. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 15:51
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Fussy about quality | Dec 7, 2023 |
The OP say that the client is "fussy about quality". If they are fussy about quality, why do they provide random strings with no context, and why don't they discuss the source text with you first? Very contradictory demands vs. behavior and translation process.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 15:51
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Samuel Murray wrote:
Most translation agencies would NOT appreciate it if the translator were to send them a list of paragraphs that they are unsure of or did not know how to translate or could not find the translation for.
Paragraphs ? I'm talking about terminology of which no translation can be found in dictionaries, on the internet or elsewhere (which already means that I'm talking about rare cases since almost everything can be found, at least in my experience).
Most questions for clients are context-related, by the way, meaning that often something isn't clear because of a lack of context. This applies in particular to texts with short elements, like the OP's text.
| | |
|
|
|
Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 15:51
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Lingua 5B wrote:
Maybe she doesn’t want to spend more time for the same amount of money?
I would also regret it if I have to work harder for the same money. But I also value my reputation as a trustworthy translator. Being trustworthy includes not refusing to continue a job after you've accepted and started it. Actions have consequences and things like these mostly happen to you only once because they are hard lessons.
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 15:51
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Sure, things happen | Dec 7, 2023 |
Lieven Malaise wrote: Lingua 5B wrote:
Maybe she doesn’t want to spend more time for the same amount of money? I would also regret it if I have to work harder for the same money. But I also value my reputation as a trustworthy translator. Being trustworthy includes not refusing to continue a job after you've accepted and started it. Actions have consequences and things like these mostly happen to you only once because they are hard lessons.
I'm with you. It happened to me a couple of times and I went through with with more time, more effort, and some terminology discussions with the agency and direct client. And then we tested the terminology with the end user (on my demand), and all I delivered was correct. I delivered what I promised and learned a lesson.
I also worked as a project manager and can't remember one single time somebody gave up on the basis of "not comfortable with terminology" but there were quite a few with sudden family or personal emergencies in the middle of the project (we can never know what those reasons really were, but yes in either case, it gives off the vibe of somebody who just heard from a friend about easy money online, and sees it as something to walk in and walk out as they see fit).
| | | | kd42
Estonia
Local time: 16:51
English to Russian
| This is where neural network translation engines are especially good | Dec 7, 2023 |
Annett Roessner wrote:
It's basically a long list of qualifications (from trainers that train horse trainers to very technical trade qualifications). They are all based on the American education system that I am not very familar with.
Every translator gets such a job sooner or later.
If you treat a neural network translation engine as a fast terminology server and use it wisely you will be OK with this or any other similar situation. Of course, there are many fields where neural MT will not help, but this is not the case< i suspect.
| | | | | Excuses, excuses... | Dec 7, 2023 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
I also worked as a project manager and can't remember one single time somebody gave up on the basis of "not comfortable with terminology" but there were quite a few with sudden family or personal emergencies in the middle of the project (we can never know what those reasons really were, but yes in either case, it gives off the vibe of somebody who just heard from a friend about easy money online, and sees it as something to walk in and walk out as they see fit).
I was once asked to take on a RU-EN job by an agency owner who said she had assigned it to two other translators who had pulled out due to ill health. I didn't say so, but I was sceptical about the sudden spate of illnesses affecting RU-EN translators! More likely, novices thinking a smattering of the language would be enough and then running into difficulty when confronted with a court judgment they couldn't make head or tail of.
| | |
|
|
|
Marjolein Snippe
Netherlands
Local time: 15:51
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Annett Roessner wrote:
I basically sent a very apologetic, remorseful email to them straight away after posting here letting them know that I don't feel confident with the subject matter. This client is extremely fussy and has very high quality expectations so submitting an almost good enough translation is not an option at all. I feel in this instance asking for more time is not really helpful because even with more time I would still struggle with the text.
Well done for picking the honest option that is, in the end, also in the client's best interest.
I hope the client understands, as a good client should.
| | | | | Agency also at fault | Dec 8, 2023 |
Peter Shortall wrote:
I was once asked to take on a RU-EN job by an agency owner who said she had assigned it to two other translators who had pulled out due to ill health. I didn't say so, but I was sceptical about the sudden spate of illnesses affecting RU-EN translators! More likely, novices thinking a smattering of the language would be enough and then running into difficulty when confronted with a court judgment they couldn't make head or tail of.
If the agency had done their job properly they would have assigned the job to a translator with the required knowledge and experience in the first place, but they probably went with the cheapest option. The outcome is entirely predictable.
| | | | | Not necessarily... | Dec 8, 2023 |
Rachel Waddington wrote:
but they probably went with the cheapest option.
some agencies just throw anything at you. I have been in the OP's position and I just withdrew from the project after a few hours. If you don't know the subject well, you will never do a quality job. You can do an OK job, but never of the same quality. In the OP's case, she was totally out of her comfort zone, so she did the right thing, in my opinion.
Agencies appreciate your honesty. At the end of the day, they want to give their end client the best possible final product.
[Edited at 2023-12-08 10:22 GMT]
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » How bad is declining job after accepting it | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
| | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
