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Q: When is a job not a job?
Thread poster: Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Nov 23, 2017

A: When it's really a request for your CV, rate, VAT number, CAT tools ...


I've had a few of these recently. Potential customers are getting smarter. Now they don't start off with the annoying translator-trawl procedure:

"Hi, we're updating our database (so that we can e-mail you again in a few years after nothing has happened between us to say Hi, we're updating our database again ...) - could you give us your CV, rate, VAT number [VAT number?]"

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A: When it's really a request for your CV, rate, VAT number, CAT tools ...


I've had a few of these recently. Potential customers are getting smarter. Now they don't start off with the annoying translator-trawl procedure:

"Hi, we're updating our database (so that we can e-mail you again in a few years after nothing has happened between us to say Hi, we're updating our database again ...) - could you give us your CV, rate, VAT number [VAT number?]"


Now they concentrate first on the document attached, or part of a document, any old document, asking price and timeline like it was a real job.

Only THEN do they add:

"Oh yes, by the way, in your reply, could you also send the following information - CV, rate, VAT number ... etc.?"


So you take the time to give them a quote, give them all your details, they punch it into their database and that "job" they were talking about never materialises.
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Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Cynic Nov 23, 2017

Maybe they just don't like you

[smiley]

[Edited at 2017-11-23 10:34 GMT]


 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:54
French to English
Recruitment drive Nov 23, 2017

I reckon that agencies go through recruitment drives and/or that some project managers and/or interns send out the occasional "mass mail" with little or no intention to follow it up. Going through the motions sometimes. I just never bother with these. Any times in the distant past when I have responded, nothing has ever come of this type of contact, I repeat, never.

You might prefer to try and track down suitable agencies yourself. It puts you in the driving seat as you will only bo
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I reckon that agencies go through recruitment drives and/or that some project managers and/or interns send out the occasional "mass mail" with little or no intention to follow it up. Going through the motions sometimes. I just never bother with these. Any times in the distant past when I have responded, nothing has ever come of this type of contact, I repeat, never.

You might prefer to try and track down suitable agencies yourself. It puts you in the driving seat as you will only bother pursuing ones that might seem attractive to you in the first place.

[Edited at 2017-11-23 10:39 GMT]
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Right ... Nov 23, 2017

... it's me that usually does the tracking.

No point replying to mass mails, because that's what they are - "Dear Translator" e-mails.

Like a "Dear John" letter. Never any good news in a Dear John letter, is there? It's not you, John, it's me etc.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:54
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Not possible to warn others via Blue Board. Nov 23, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:
So you take the time to give them a quote, give them all your details, they punch it into their database and that "job" they were talking about never materialises.


Yes, it does happen a lot. The biggest problem of all is that we can't report the behavior on Blue Board. If we could, it wouldn't be happening to such a degree.


 
ipv
ipv
Local time: 19:54
Member (2015)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Hm... Nov 24, 2017

Lingua 5B wrote: The biggest problem of all...


...as opposed to being the biggest of only a part of them, I suppose? But then, if it's the biggest of only a part, then it's not the biggest, is it? Now that's a thinker
Friends - Joey: Now that's a thinker.


[Edited at 2017-11-24 19:10 GMT]


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hey IPV ... Nov 24, 2017

... forget it, not even worth it.

[Edited at 2017-11-24 17:25 GMT]


 
Tradupro17
Tradupro17
United States
Local time: 14:54
English to Haitian-Creole
+ ...
If only I had Nov 25, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

A: When it's really a request for your CV, rate, VAT number, CAT tools ...


I've had a few of these recently. Potential customers are getting smarter. Now they don't start off with the annoying translator-trawl procedure:

"Hi, we're updating our database (so that we can e-mail you again in a few years after nothing has happened between us to say Hi, we're updating our database again ...) - could you give us your CV, rate, VAT number [VAT number?]"


Now they concentrate first on the document attached, or part of a document, any old document, asking price and timeline like it was a real job.

Only THEN do they add:

"Oh yes, by the way, in your reply, could you also send the following information - CV, rate, VAT number ... etc.?"


So you take the time to give them a quote, give them all your details, they punch it into their database and that "job" they were talking about never materialises.


seen this topic two weeks ago before responding to a similar email. Do all agencies speak the same language?


 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:54
Japanese to English
+ ...
A job that is not a job Nov 25, 2017

Many Vendor Managers are paid a bonus for each translator they recruit. Once you are "onboarded", you are forgotten.

 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:54
French to English
onboarded Nov 25, 2017

Now that's a word I shall have to work into the next boring corporate bla-bla press release I find on my plate
thank you Michael!


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Caught Nov 25, 2017

I got caught on this one only because a PM I knew from the past appeared at another company. Familiarity goaded me on and I gave a quote, and sent the CV, although I stopped short of sending other details because I couldn't see the point right then.

I asked the next day, but this person said unfortunately the job hadn't gone ahead, and it was only then that I started to smell a rat. It annoyed me SO much more that it came from someone I knew and got on well with.

But, a
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I got caught on this one only because a PM I knew from the past appeared at another company. Familiarity goaded me on and I gave a quote, and sent the CV, although I stopped short of sending other details because I couldn't see the point right then.

I asked the next day, but this person said unfortunately the job hadn't gone ahead, and it was only then that I started to smell a rat. It annoyed me SO much more that it came from someone I knew and got on well with.

But, as Chris S said, maybe they just didn't like me.

Interesting what Michael says. There has to be something in it for the person doing it, I suppose.


[Edited at 2017-11-25 10:15 GMT]
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ipv
ipv
Local time: 19:54
Member (2015)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Don't grumble, give a whistle Nov 25, 2017

And this'll help things turn out for the best... And... Always look on the bright side of life
That's part of the job, I guess. For instance: A year ago, I got an email with a job offer. Apparently, my CV was in their database, and they needed more translators for that particular project. Long story short, we have been working for a year now. I do not remember ever submitting my CV, and was completely unfamiliar with their n
... See more
And this'll help things turn out for the best... And... Always look on the bright side of life
That's part of the job, I guess. For instance: A year ago, I got an email with a job offer. Apparently, my CV was in their database, and they needed more translators for that particular project. Long story short, we have been working for a year now. I do not remember ever submitting my CV, and was completely unfamiliar with their name, but hey - as it turns out, they're great! So, you never know - in a year or so, you might just be very grateful you sent them all the info Best of luck!
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MariusV
MariusV  Identity Verified
Lithuania
Local time: 20:54
English to Lithuanian
+ ...
time wasters Nov 27, 2017

Just ignore them. Or tell them in plain words that they have your contacts (at least, they managed to email you), and when they have real jobs, they can contact any time.

 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:54
Japanese to English
+ ...
A job is not a job Nov 27, 2017

Some agencies want you to sign an NDA even when there is no project. If you do sign, you have no idea what your John Hancock is being used for and you are opening yourself up to unknown consequences. A signed NDA can potentially be used in the same way as a stolen and doctored CV, i.e., for purposes that do not benefit the translator.
Also, some "onboardings" can be so rigorous they seem like waterboardings (as in CIA).


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 15:54
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Numbers for advertising Nov 27, 2017

Some agencies want to be able to boast on their web site/mass mailings that e.g. "We have 82,711 translators in 92 countries, working on 107 language pairs to serve you", though in their best year so far they used only 12 translators in 3 countries, working on 5 language pairs.

 
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Q: When is a job not a job?







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