| Páginas no tópico: [1 2] > | Poll: What do you say to a client when refusing a job because you find it too boring? Tópico cartaz: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What do you say to a client when refusing a job because you find it too boring?".
This poll was originally submitted by Teresa Freixinho. View the poll results »
| | | | | What a bizarre question | Aug 14, 2017 |
I don't think its "boringness" has ever been a reason for refusing a job. It would be wonderful if every job was fun. But life isn't like that. In my experience, too, the "boredom index" of a job is inversely proportional to how much it pays.
| | | | Christine Andersen 
Dinamarca
Local time: 01:11
Membro (2003)
dinamarquês para inglês
+ ...
| I simply say sorry, I am not available when I turn down jobs | Aug 14, 2017 |
I am not sure I ever turn down jobs because they are too boring. (I don't discover they are until half way through.  )
You do not have to give clients a reason for turning down their jobs. It may be a good idea, to try and educate them now and then, so I tell them if the rate they are offering is half the average on Proz.com or way below my rate. I also tell them if the deadline is absolutely impossible.
<... See more I am not sure I ever turn down jobs because they are too boring. (I don't discover they are until half way through. )
You do not have to give clients a reason for turning down their jobs. It may be a good idea, to try and educate them now and then, so I tell them if the rate they are offering is half the average on Proz.com or way below my rate. I also tell them if the deadline is absolutely impossible.
It only takes a few seconds. But if the sun is shining, I have been working all weekend, and my husband suggests an outing on Monday, ANY job is too boring, but it is none of the client's business!! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I don't turn down jobs on the basis of finding them boring! | Aug 14, 2017 |
I’m not easily bored (being bored is a teenager thing, isn’t it? I must say though that some pages of dense legalese might have that effect on me for a minute or two)! I'm coming up on 40 years of full-time translating and I'm not bored yet, quite the contrary! Of course, sometimes I have to do stuff I don’t enjoy doing (administrative work) and some projects are more interesting than others, but overall the good bits far outweigh the “bad” ones!
| | |
|
|
|
neilmac
Espanha
Local time: 01:11
espanhol para inglês
+ ...
And in over half a century of life, I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing more boring than people who complain about being bored, or about things being boring.
Boredom is a luxury item I don't think I can afford.
| | | | Toni Faisal
Indonésia
Local time: 06:11
inglês para indonésio
+ ...
| I do not turn to any projects (no boring projects) | Aug 14, 2017 |
Since I have experience as Search Engine Evalutor for one of the famous search engine, I have capabilities in wide range of knowledge based on internet search. So, every project is very interesting to me.
| | | | | I take another interesting... | Aug 14, 2017 |
Some jobs are very long and have a lot of repetitive things and they get tiring, if not boring. So I break the routine with other jobs more interesting, and I take breaks from the big volume job with small interesting ones.
| | | |
I do not turn them down because they are boring, simply because I did it, I would not have any work to do... I translate (mainly) patents.. only two were funny (and I have translated about 4000)
| | |
|
|
|
EvaVer (X)
Local time: 01:11
tcheco para francês
+ ...
| OK, not always... | Aug 14, 2017 |
one normally cannot turn down ALL boring jobs. I will do anything for direct clients, for example, provided it falls into my scope of competence. But I refuse jobs from agencies in language pairs I politely call "non-priority" (ENCZ in my case), unless they are in one of my main fields and/or I have nothing else to do and/or they are small enough to be hardly any bother AND the rate is good. And I seldom embark on large projects, precisely because they easily become boring and tie up my capacity... See more one normally cannot turn down ALL boring jobs. I will do anything for direct clients, for example, provided it falls into my scope of competence. But I refuse jobs from agencies in language pairs I politely call "non-priority" (ENCZ in my case), unless they are in one of my main fields and/or I have nothing else to do and/or they are small enough to be hardly any bother AND the rate is good. And I seldom embark on large projects, precisely because they easily become boring and tie up my capacity that could be used for something more interesting. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:11
inglês para espanhol
+ ...
| And boredom precedes creativity | Aug 14, 2017 |
neilmac wrote:
And in over half a century of life, I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing more boring than people who complain about being bored, or about things being boring.
Boredom is a luxury item I don't think I can afford.
I read somewhere that boredom is a prerequisite to come up with solutions. And translators are problem solvers.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:11
inglês para espanhol
+ ...
| Sometimes I find myself refusing... | Aug 14, 2017 |
...to answer a poll because I find it too boring.
With this exception!
| | | | Sebastian Witte
Alemanha
Local time: 01:11
Membro (2004)
inglês para alemão
+ ...
| We don't turn down jobs on the basis of finding them boring. | Aug 14, 2017 |
.
| | |
|
|
|
Robert Forstag
Estados Unidos
Local time: 19:11
espanhol para inglês
+ ...
| "Boredom" not a relevant variable for me | Aug 14, 2017 |
I agree with what seems to be the prevailing sentiment that the intrinsic interest of source texts is not a relevant variable for accepting or rejecting a translation project.
For me, *rate* is the primary consideration.
A consideration closely tied to rate are the *formatting* and *data entry* elements involved in doing a project. Thus, for example, it takes me far longer to translate 5000 words spread out over 15 pages with numerous tables requiring the rekeying of ro... See more I agree with what seems to be the prevailing sentiment that the intrinsic interest of source texts is not a relevant variable for accepting or rejecting a translation project.
For me, *rate* is the primary consideration.
A consideration closely tied to rate are the *formatting* and *data entry* elements involved in doing a project. Thus, for example, it takes me far longer to translate 5000 words spread out over 15 pages with numerous tables requiring the rekeying of rows and rows of figures than the same number of words packed into 8 pages with no such tables.
Unfortunately, agencies either do not make any distinction at all between the rates offered in these two situations or they offer only a slightly higher rate for the "formatting-intensive" projects of the type I have described that does not adequately compensate for the extra time involved.
So when I want to let an agency know that the rate it is offering for a project involving too much formatting is unacceptable, I usually say so flat out. If I feel such frankness would be imprudent in a given instance, I simply say that "I am not available for this project."
What I do not understand is why large agencies, with all of their technological sophistication and scads of expensive software programs, haven't figured out that they would both save money and make their contracted freelancers' lives easier if they contracted out the data entry elements of formatting-rich project to secretaries.
[Edited at 2017-08-14 14:01 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I say I'm busy at the moment | Aug 14, 2017 |
Sometimes it backfires when they offer to extend the deadline.
| | | | Robert Forstag
Estados Unidos
Local time: 19:11
espanhol para inglês
+ ...
| Sometimes PMs will persist... | Aug 14, 2017 |
Elizabeth Tamblin wrote:
Sometimes it backfires when they offer to extend the deadline.
So true!
This is why, if you are dealing with someone who you know might respond in this way, it is simply better to initially reply by writing something like either, "I am unavailable for this" or "I am going to have to pass on this one."
If the PM persists in the face of such a response (which can happen!), then you can just say that you have other obligations and that accepting the project doesn't work for you - even with an extended deadline.
The only reason I can see to take a project that I find unattractive (i.e., small, involving a lot of cumbersome formatting or handwritten text, or outside of my comfort zone) would be to please a client who gives me a lot of regular work that *is* attractive.
And even in such instances, there are limits.
Each of us has to do what is necessary to set healthy boundaries for ourselves. Turning down projects that we do not want is part of this.
[Edited at 2017-08-14 14:50 GMT]
| | | | | Páginas no tópico: [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 » Poll: What do you say to a client when refusing a job because you find it too boring? | 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! » |
| | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
