Pages in topic:   [1 2] >
Being asked to work for free - what to do?
Thread poster: Mariela Jung
Mariela Jung
Mariela Jung  Identity Verified
Brazil
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Feb 1, 2021

I recently applied for a job and got a reply today. They said that they liked my profile, but the job is actually a "volunteer" opportunity, for "respectable universities". With this, I would gain a certificate(!), and they would keep my CV for paid opportunities in the future.
I wonder: what do you do when asked to work for free?
Have any volunteer opportunity actually led to a paid job for you?
Thank you!


 
Morano El-Kholy
Morano El-Kholy  Identity Verified
Egypt
Local time: 14:32
Member (2011)
English to Arabic
+ ...
Yes, go for it, why not! Feb 1, 2021

Dear Mariela Jung,

Yes, why not. Go for it. This volunteer work may lead to well-paid jobs in the future. Who knows? You can try and see if everything is running smoothly and easily. I would like to encourage you especially if you do not have any work to do at the same time. This is much better than waiting for a potential job.

Good luck


Érick Marçal (X)
 
Mariela Jung
Mariela Jung  Identity Verified
Brazil
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Feb 1, 2021

Morano El-Kholy wrote:

Dear Mariela Jung,

Yes, why not. Go for it. This volunteer work may lead to well-paid jobs in the future. Who knows? You can try and see if everything is running smoothly and easily. I would like to encourage you especially if you do not have any work to do at the same time. This is much better than waiting for a potential job.

Good luck


Thank you!


 
Natalia Potashnik
Natalia Potashnik  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
+ ...
It depends Feb 1, 2021

If you have time to volunteer and need more experience then go for it. It may result in paid work or at least a good reference.

If you have other clients and may not be able to keep up with volunteer projects then explain the situation to your prospective 'employer'. They may change their job offer to paid work if they are seriously interested in hiring you.

Have in mind that it could also be a scam or someone is trying to use you. At least, do not agree right away. Get
... See more
If you have time to volunteer and need more experience then go for it. It may result in paid work or at least a good reference.

If you have other clients and may not be able to keep up with volunteer projects then explain the situation to your prospective 'employer'. They may change their job offer to paid work if they are seriously interested in hiring you.

Have in mind that it could also be a scam or someone is trying to use you. At least, do not agree right away. Get them involved into discussion and try get as much details as possible so you can make a better informed decision.
Collapse


Yolanda Broad
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Liviu-Lee Roth
Philip Lees
Sheila Wilson
ahartje
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:32
English to German
+ ...
Scam Feb 1, 2021

Mariela Jung wrote:

I recently applied for a job and got a reply today. They said that they liked my profile, but the job is actually a "volunteer" opportunity, for "respectable universities". With this, I would gain a certificate(!), and they would keep my CV for paid opportunities in the future.
I wonder: what do you do when asked to work for free?
Have any volunteer opportunity actually led to a paid job for you?
Thank you!


You're being scammed. Don't ever work for free. My advice.


Yolanda Broad
Vladimir Morozov
Kevin Fulton
writeaway
texjax DDS PhD
Yvonne Gallagher
P.L.F. Persio
 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:32
French to English
Yes and no and everything in between and do not rule out a possible scam Feb 1, 2021

Why not do it as long as it serves a purpose for you. If you want experience and/or references and/or practice, then it might be a good idea. Do make sure that you integrate a few protective measures in there for yourself. Remember that whether a job is unpaid or not, there is likely to be a deadline. Make sure that volunteer work does not prevent you from accepting paid work. One satisfied paying customer may order further work and tell business partners about your work. Passing on those opport... See more
Why not do it as long as it serves a purpose for you. If you want experience and/or references and/or practice, then it might be a good idea. Do make sure that you integrate a few protective measures in there for yourself. Remember that whether a job is unpaid or not, there is likely to be a deadline. Make sure that volunteer work does not prevent you from accepting paid work. One satisfied paying customer may order further work and tell business partners about your work. Passing on those opportunities would be a shame. If you decide to do so, accept only very small jobs.

By the way, the "certificate" thing sounds very odd. I translate for a couple of universities locally. In the past, universities offered terrible rates and paid so late! They now accept decent rates and pay within a week or two. There are some small universities providing interesting translation work and who pay well.

Be wary of specialist areas too. Universities need translators for research papers being sent off to international publications that are generally subject to peer review. If you have no knowledge of the field concerned, is it realistic that you would be able to do a good job?

Will it lead to paid work? Playing the devil's advocate here, with the same client, I would think that is unlikely you would get paid work as a result. Two reasons:
- if you are happy to work on a volunteer basis, why should they pay?
- you are probably not alone in accepting to do the work on a volunteer basis.

The possibility of this being a scam cannot be ruled out. The "certificate" thing alerts me to this possibility. It may be someone intending to use your work as a pre-translation they will then sell themselves. Check out everything you can about the identity of the people asking you to do this work. Do they have a genuine academic email address? Can you reach them on the phone? Does their name match the field of expertise or that of a translation agency?

[Edited at 2021-02-01 22:17 GMT]
Collapse


Philip Lees
Josephine Cassar
Veronica Montserrat
Peter Shortall
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
expressisverbis
Christine Andersen
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 13:32
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Mariela Feb 1, 2021

Mariela Jung wrote:
I recently applied for a job and got a reply today. They said that they liked my profile, but the job is actually a "volunteer" opportunity, for "respectable universities". With this, I would gain a certificate(!), and they would keep my CV for paid opportunities in the future.


While I would have no objection to this type of "job", they should really have mentioned this in the job post. The fact that they did not mention it, is dishonesty on their part. Long ago, when I worked for a non-profit organisation and I had to post jobs here at ProZ.com, I made it very clear in the job post itself that those jobs were an unpaid, volunteer jobs. This forthrightness also ensures that the right kind of translator applies for the job.

I agree with others, however: if you have time, do it. For all you know, the university will give you a glowing review with the agency, and they'll move you to the top of their list.


Yolanda Broad
Morano El-Kholy
Josephine Cassar
Christine Andersen
Adieu
Carla Guerreiro
 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:32
French to English
Another idea Feb 1, 2021

I just had a quick look at your profile. Your ProZ profile is your "store window". From what I can see, you have a number of skills and a number of fields of expertise. You also have translation software. In addition, to stand out from the competition, it might help to provide some indication of your experience in those fields through relevant professional experience and training and/or academic language training and qualifications. Maybe you could look at other profiles in your language pairs a... See more
I just had a quick look at your profile. Your ProZ profile is your "store window". From what I can see, you have a number of skills and a number of fields of expertise. You also have translation software. In addition, to stand out from the competition, it might help to provide some indication of your experience in those fields through relevant professional experience and training and/or academic language training and qualifications. Maybe you could look at other profiles in your language pairs and see how the "competition" is selling its services? Then ask yourself what would make a client choose you rather than the next person.Collapse


Zeineb Nalouti
Tina Vonhof (X)
P.L.F. Persio
Carla Guerreiro
 
Felipe Lacerda
Felipe Lacerda  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 09:32
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Tell them to go eat a bag of dicks. Feb 1, 2021

"Thanks, but no, thanks. I will altruistically turn down this amazing career opportunity."

Yolanda Broad
Mariela Jung
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
writeaway
Jorge Payan
Carla Guerreiro
 
texjax DDS PhD
texjax DDS PhD  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:32
Member (2006)
English to Italian
+ ...
No, thanks Feb 2, 2021

"Respectable universities" don't exploit anyone.

Elena Feriani
Thayenga
Josephine Cassar
P.L.F. Persio
Marina Taffetani
Christopher Schröder
Sheila Wilson
 
Peter Shortall
Peter Shortall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Romanian to English
+ ...
Window dressing? Feb 2, 2021

Samuel Murray wrote:

Mariela Jung wrote:
I recently applied for a job and got a reply today. They said that they liked my profile, but the job is actually a "volunteer" opportunity, for "respectable universities". With this, I would gain a certificate(!), and they would keep my CV for paid opportunities in the future.


While I would have no objection to this type of "job", they should really have mentioned this in the job post.


This is the aspect that struck me immediately too. The cynic in me suspects that they held back this information (about the lack of pay) deliberately so that some jobseekers would get interested in the work itself first, and would then be more willing to forego the idea of remuneration once they'd had some time to digest it and get their hearts set on it. For me, this raises a serious question as to whether the employer is acting in good faith.

I also share Nikki's concerns about the certificate. It seems valueless to me, as a simple reference would do the same job, surely? It looks a bit like a marketing ploy designed to make what they're offering you seem a little more substantial: a piece of paper that you can hold in your hand, rather than nothing tangible at all. Then there's "respectable universities"... well, respectability is subjective, it's not something concrete. So I suspect there might be a bit of window dressing going on here, to make unpaid work seem more appealing.

If they had mentioned in the job advert that the work is unpaid, would you have responded? Even if your answer is yes, it's worth asking yourself why they left out that rather important detail earlier. I think if you do decide to go for it, it's best to be realistic about the fact that it may not lead to anything. If you can live with that prospect and still want to do it, fair enough, but I wouldn't base my decision on the fact that someone assures me they're going to keep my CV, because they might keep a lot of other people's CVs as well, and it's possible that no paid work will ever materialise.


Josephine Cassar
Mariela Jung
 
Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:32
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
Promising a job = paid work, then asking you to do it for free Feb 2, 2021

If they made it clear it was voluntary unpaid work from the start, they are acting in good faith.
If they posted a job to get people interested then asked them to do it for free, they are not.

Respectable universities? This "dangle a job like a carrot to get a freebie" strategy doesn't sound very respectable at all.

I would gain a certificate? Certifying what exactly? "This sucker works for FREE, as certified." They are the ones who should be certified. Are they a
... See more
If they made it clear it was voluntary unpaid work from the start, they are acting in good faith.
If they posted a job to get people interested then asked them to do it for free, they are not.

Respectable universities? This "dangle a job like a carrot to get a freebie" strategy doesn't sound very respectable at all.

I would gain a certificate? Certifying what exactly? "This sucker works for FREE, as certified." They are the ones who should be certified. Are they a certified charity?

They would keep my CV for paid opportunities in the future. In other words we'll get you interested in a job, then get you to do it for free with the promise of "opportunities" in the future, maybe.

What do you do when asked to work for free? If it's a certified charity and they are transparent about the voluntary work, and can prove they are a charity and help people in need, no problem. If it's tricksters I refuse to help them trick people by providing them with work for free = making their strategy work.

Have any volunteer opportunity actually led to a paid job for you? No, never. I have done voluntary translation work for an organization that looked like an honorable one then ended up part of a big agency with a very bad rep, not doing that anymore.


[Edited at 2021-02-02 07:10 GMT]
Collapse


Elena Feriani
Josephine Cassar
Axelle H.
Dan Lucas
Peter Shortall
expressisverbis
Rachel Waddington
 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:32
Member (2005)
Chinese to English
How and why? Feb 2, 2021

Samuel Murray wrote:
For all you know, the university will give you a glowing review with the agency, and they'll move you to the top of their list.


Why "will" the university give you a glowing review with the agency? Just because you work for them for free? Would such an agency need such a review?

If the reason why "they'll move you to the top of their list" is you have worked for free for them, everybody who has worked for free for them would have already been at the top of their list.

I just couldn't follow it. Did I misunderstand any point in here?

[Edited at 2021-02-02 08:18 GMT]


P.L.F. Persio
Peter Shortall
expressisverbis
Jorge Payan
Agnes Fatrai
 
Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 15:32
Member
English to Turkish
Charity and marketing Feb 2, 2021

I don't know about the respectable universities, but I do see that some people are going out of their way to get that coveted "TWB" badge on their Proz profile.
It makes you wonder, though, if you're being charitable and donating your time and effort to a good cause with no financial expectations, wouldn't it make sense to remain 'anonymous' rather than declaring to all and sundry that "I've translated 60k words for TWB" and using it as a 'marketing tool'?
Apologies for straying fro
... See more
I don't know about the respectable universities, but I do see that some people are going out of their way to get that coveted "TWB" badge on their Proz profile.
It makes you wonder, though, if you're being charitable and donating your time and effort to a good cause with no financial expectations, wouldn't it make sense to remain 'anonymous' rather than declaring to all and sundry that "I've translated 60k words for TWB" and using it as a 'marketing tool'?
Apologies for straying from the topic.
Collapse


Christopher Schröder
expressisverbis
P.L.F. Persio
Mariela Jung
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:32
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Agreed Feb 2, 2021

texjax DDS PhD wrote:
"Respectable universities" don't exploit anyone.

"Respectable universities" have budgets for translation work.


Dan Lucas
Peter Shortall
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
expressisverbis
Joe France
Rachel Waddington
 
Pages in topic:   [1 2] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Being asked to work for free - what to do?







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 »
CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »