Poll: Where does the majority of your work come from? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Where does the majority of your work come from?".
This poll was originally submitted by Frances Bramer
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more inform... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Where does the majority of your work come from?".
This poll was originally submitted by Frances Bramer
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Are Translation Agencies Reliable? | Jan 4, 2008 |
So far I've dealt directly with corporate clients, rarely individual clients. I'm not sure how reliable translation agencies are. I've got only one job done through an agency. Almost a month has passed and payment has yet to be made. I give them the benefit of the doubt due to the holiday season. But I'd like to hear how reliable agencies are in terms of payment.
| | | | mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 17:22
Spanish to English
+ ...
| 'Other', 'other' - and a bit of 'direct' in-between | Jan 4, 2008 |
If I answer the poll on the basis of my 'majority' client over the whole time since I started translating for a living (that's 32 years...), then I would have to say: 'Other' since the majority of my work has been for the benefit of my (former) employer when I worked in-house.
If I answer on the basis of, say, the last 3 months, then the answer is still 'Other', since the majority of my recent work has been for the benefit of ... my own (non-translation) business activities.
<... See more If I answer the poll on the basis of my 'majority' client over the whole time since I started translating for a living (that's 32 years...), then I would have to say: 'Other' since the majority of my work has been for the benefit of my (former) employer when I worked in-house.
If I answer on the basis of, say, the last 3 months, then the answer is still 'Other', since the majority of my recent work has been for the benefit of ... my own (non-translation) business activities.
Only if I consider the period 2000-2003 can I select a 'non-other' option in the poll - since in that period my majority client was 'direct' - in fact, was my former employer.
MediaMatrix ▲ Collapse
| | | | | a combination of two options | Jan 4, 2008 |
In my case, I work for direct clients both 50% corporate and 50% individual.
So, I chose corporate because I missed a combination of these two options.
This relates to my job as a translator. I also have a teaching position in a Costa Rican university, which demands a lot of work and time.
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Karen Stokes 
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:22
Member (2003)
French to English
| Difficult to generalise | Jan 5, 2008 |
Mohsin Alabdali wrote:
So far I've dealt directly with corporate clients, rarely individual clients. I'm not sure how reliable translation agencies are. I've got only one job done through an agency. Almost a month has passed and payment has yet to be made. I give them the benefit of the doubt due to the holiday season. But I'd like to hear how reliable agencies are in terms of payment.
I don't think you can generalise - as with any group, there are are some great agencies, some awful ones and plenty in the middle. I work almost entirely with agencies and have had very few problems with payment - where I have, I've caught it before it's got out of hand. You can limit the risk by using resources like the Blue Board before you take on work from an agency, and being very clear up front about your terms of business.
| | | | | Helpful Insights | Jan 5, 2008 |
Many thanks, Karen.
| | | | Juliana Brown
Israel
Local time: 17:22
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| As Karen said | Jan 5, 2008 |
the Blue Board is a good indicator of reliability and paying practices.
Mohsin Alabdali wrote:
So far I've dealt directly with corporate clients, rarely individual clients. I'm not sure how reliable translation agencies are. I've got only one job done through an agency. Almost a month has passed and payment has yet to be made. I give them the benefit of the doubt due to the holiday season. But I'd like to hear how reliable agencies are in terms of payment.
I've been lucky as well, and my agency clients are all great. My work is split between agencies and direct clients (lawyers, NGOs, etc.) and I've had to remind more lawyers than agencies that good work deserves prompt payment!
| | | | Amal Al-Arfaj
Saudi Arabia
Local time: 00:22
Member (2005)
English to Arabic
+ ...
| Agree with Karen | Jan 6, 2008 |
Karen Stokes wrote: Mohsin Alabdali wrote:
So far I've dealt directly with corporate clients, rarely individual clients. I'm not sure how reliable translation agencies are. I've got only one job done through an agency. Almost a month has passed and payment has yet to be made. I give them the benefit of the doubt due to the holiday season. But I'd like to hear how reliable agencies are in terms of payment. I don't think you can generalise - as with any group, there are are some great agencies, some awful ones and plenty in the middle. I work almost entirely with agencies and have had very few problems with payment - where I have, I've caught it before it's got out of hand. You can limit the risk by using resources like the Blue Board before you take on work from an agency, and being very clear up front about your terms of business.
I also work almost entirely with translation agencies and had very few problems too. Please note that most agencies have payment terms of 30 days after submitting the invoice. Some require 60 days and few up to 90 days. Always check with an agency on their payment terms before accepting any project.
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