| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | Are any other translators having a quiet period workwise? Thread poster: Rose Webb
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Juno Bos 
Netherlands
Local time: 00:48
Member (2011)
German to Dutch
+ ...
| Not this month | Oct 26, 2023 |
A few months ago it was very very slow in my pairs and fields, so I just took a holiday. October on the other hand is just mayhem...never been this busy in the period September and October. I still can't find out when I am supposed to be busy or not, seems to change pretty much every year.
So yes, quiet periods are always there. But I personally haven't noticed an increase.
| | | | | | P.L.F. Persio
Netherlands
Local time: 00:48
English to Italian
+ ...
| I'll take ten! | Oct 27, 2023 |
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
Funny cartoon
| | | | | For me it has been always quiet | Oct 27, 2023 |
Despite, courses, certificates, websites, upskilling activities, and subscriptions to the freelancers' platform since 2019 when I started to be an interpreter and translator freelance I had never found a job here in Prz.com even when I was using the subscription. Since then luckily I found on my own both agencies and direct clients, here in Italy but still after 4 years it is not steady at all to make a living. I guess it's a personal thing, and much more complex. I am hearing of people hammer... See more Despite, courses, certificates, websites, upskilling activities, and subscriptions to the freelancers' platform since 2019 when I started to be an interpreter and translator freelance I had never found a job here in Prz.com even when I was using the subscription. Since then luckily I found on my own both agencies and direct clients, here in Italy but still after 4 years it is not steady at all to make a living. I guess it's a personal thing, and much more complex. I am hearing of people hammered by requests and work on the other hand...but I haven't seen any translator driving a Ferrari yet here, instead, I am been sending loads of offers recently but I have always been cut off for some reason. Last week an agency offered me a simultaneous interpreting assignment 48 hours beforehand, for 7 hours, including taxes and travel expenses for 300 €, and when I told them was too low they replied they found someone else !!!! That's the real problem, that "someone else" who thinks she/he/X could be an interpreter for crumbs, destroying a market and a profession. What are we talking about, there is no future, only people who don't have respect for other people's professionality and who evaluate their time and life as zero, like slaves ▲ Collapse
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| Au contraire ! | Oct 27, 2023 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
I understand that everybody wants to know how things are going on a more global level, but the personal situation of 10 or even 20 translators on these forums is worth less than nothing.
I disagree. I don't particularly care how translation is going globally. That's why I keep being pretty specific about who & what I'm talking about*. Other language pairs - nay every other language pair in the known universe - could be enjoying a boom beyond compare, rates doubling every week. It's about as relevant to me as how well train drivers or professional footballers are doing.
Of course, incomplete market knowledge among freelancers has always been an issue. It's why we keep seeing "how much should I charge" threads. We perhaps end up with a vague idea about our segment as the years roll by, but even that is often incomplete.
And of course I was also answering the Q as posed, which wasn't "is the translation industry over?" but is anyone else having a quiet period? I am, overall, this year (and part of last), as it happens, so why not say so? Why not back it up with the information that some other people I know, similar to me, are also having a quiet time? Indeed changing career entirely. For 18 years, I successfully avoided the feast-and-famine that many people talk about. And that has changed now.
* I might as well specify. French-English only or mainly. Wouldn't know how other pairs are faring. Business texts, mainly, in the broadest sense. Wouldn't know how science/medical/engineering/etc. are faring. Mid-range pricing - not those folk who claim to charge 50c/word and get invited to board meetings, & not the other extreme either. Full-time breadwinners, so we notice changes in earnings & it matters - hence a few changing career. Mixture of agency & direct, and both are becoming less reliable.
Birds of a feather and all that, so perhaps we are all doing the same thing wrong, and perhaps me and the dozen or so people I've spoken to about this topic in the last year or so are the only people noticing this effect, but I don't think that's the explanation (confirmation bias notwithstanding).
Naturally, if I do know someone reading this who I overlooked when doing the rounds who is doing better than ever, I'd be delighted to hear from them
And yes, of course, there obviously is still work out there; we all just need to get out and find it
Good luck to one and all.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 02:48
Member
English to Turkish
What if a PM favours a certain translator (person A), for whatever reason, and contacts them first for jobs, and only goes to the other translator (person B) when they fail to hear from the person A after 3 or 4 hours?
What if jobs are being sent on first-come-first-served or on bidding basis (not that I think any of the forum regulars would deign to work or even begin to contemplate working for such agencies, but some of us do), and the person A practically lives in front of their screen... See more What if a PM favours a certain translator (person A), for whatever reason, and contacts them first for jobs, and only goes to the other translator (person B) when they fail to hear from the person A after 3 or 4 hours?
What if jobs are being sent on first-come-first-served or on bidding basis (not that I think any of the forum regulars would deign to work or even begin to contemplate working for such agencies, but some of us do), and the person A practically lives in front of their screen and gets the jobs or charms their way into jobs, while the person B gets the inevitable "sorry loser, next time, bye now!" message?
How will you explain the quite period that the person B is having workwise? By recession? By AI? By greedy agencies cutting down on rates and favouring cheaper translators? Or by the combination of (despised) luck and sacrifice (being available at all times to pounce on jobs)? Where is your "hard data", "facts" in such a scenario?
The person A could be working in any conceivable language pair and raking in the dough, while the person B, working in the same language pair obviously, comes here to vent their frustration and participate in "translation is dead as a dodo" topics. A food for thought, what? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Same in the English -> Japanese language pair | Oct 28, 2023 |
I know that I'm not speaking for everyone in my particular pair, but a significant drop of workload has started since this past August in my language pair. I don't know if this has anything to do with the recession in Europe or the AI, but the fact is that one of my largest regular is giving me less work than before. They even gave me information beforehand that their client will be sending them jobs on certain weekdays but this has become untrustworthy since I'm getting small jobs from the same... See more I know that I'm not speaking for everyone in my particular pair, but a significant drop of workload has started since this past August in my language pair. I don't know if this has anything to do with the recession in Europe or the AI, but the fact is that one of my largest regular is giving me less work than before. They even gave me information beforehand that their client will be sending them jobs on certain weekdays but this has become untrustworthy since I'm getting small jobs from the same client on other weekdays which I assumed they were days off for me. I asked them why, but they too, are not sure why.
I've never been this worried before. I've had bad days in the past, but the past three months have really brought me down. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 02:48
Member
English to Turkish
Alessandro Gaudenzi wrote:
Last week an agency offered me a simultaneous interpreting assignment 48 hours beforehand, for 7 hours, including taxes and travel expenses for 300 €, and when I told them was too low they replied they found someone else !!!! That's the real problem, that "someone else" who thinks she/he/X could be an interpreter for crumbs, destroying a market and a profession.
Whenever I inquire about this phenomenon regarding Italian translators, I'm being labeled as "politically uncouth", "racist", and lately "sexist" by some Italian translators. I think this will remain one of life's mysteries I'll never fathom in my lifetime...
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:48
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Ma queste sono solo illazioni | Oct 28, 2023 |
Baran Keki wrote:
What if a PM favours a certain translator (person A), for whatever reason, and contacts them first for jobs, and only goes to the other translator (person B) when they fail to hear from the person A after 3 or 4 hours?
What if jobs are being sent on first-come-first-served or on bidding basis (not that I think any of the forum regulars would deign to work or even begin to contemplate working for such agencies, but some of us do), and the person A practically lives in front of their screen and gets the jobs or charms their way into jobs, while the person B gets the inevitable "sorry loser, next time, bye now!" message?
How will you explain the quite period that the person B is having workwise? By recession? By AI? By greedy agencies cutting down on rates and favouring cheaper translators? Or by the combination of (despised) luck and sacrifice (being available at all times to pounce on jobs)? Where is your "hard data", "facts" in such a scenario?
The person A could be working in any conceivable language pair and raking in the dough, while the person B, working in the same language pair obviously, comes here to vent their frustration and participate in "translation is dead as a dodo" topics. A food for thought, what?
That's all speculation. We don't know what goes on inside an agency.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:48
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Chi ha la coda di paglia ha sempre paura che gli pigli fuoco | Oct 28, 2023 |
Baran Keki wrote:
Alessandro Gaudenzi wrote:
Last week an agency offered me a simultaneous interpreting assignment 48 hours beforehand, for 7 hours, including taxes and travel expenses for 300 €, and when I told them was too low they replied they found someone else !!!! That's the real problem, that "someone else" who thinks she/he/X could be an interpreter for crumbs, destroying a market and a profession.
Whenever I inquire about this phenomenon regarding Italian translators, I'm being labeled as "politically uncouth", "racist", and lately "sexist" by some Italian translators. I think this will remain one of life's mysteries I'll never fathom in my lifetime...
Look it up
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 02:48
Member
English to Turkish
| It's easy for you to say! | Oct 28, 2023 |
Tom in London wrote:
Look it up
I believe I'll need Sam Murray for this. Where the hell is he these days?
| | | | | Or what if ...... | Oct 28, 2023 |
.... there simply isn't enough work (or too many translators)?
[Edited at 2023-10-28 10:16 GMT]
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Tony Keily
Local time: 00:48
Italian to English
+ ...
| Two things worth noting | Oct 28, 2023 |
Volumes are definitely down and I've noticed a sharp uptick in the proportion of incoming jobs:
1) with source documents that are not machine readable (handwritten, blurry, low-def, etc.);
2) from EU institutional sources for whom a sudden switch to MT (or a switch to MT at all) would be unfeasible.
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Baran Keki wrote:
Alessandro Gaudenzi wrote:
Last week an agency offered me a simultaneous interpreting assignment 48 hours beforehand, for 7 hours, including taxes and travel expenses for 300 €, and when I told them was too low they replied they found someone else !!!! That's the real problem, that "someone else" who thinks she/he/X could be an interpreter for crumbs, destroying a market and a profession.
Whenever I inquire about this phenomenon regarding Italian translators, I'm being labeled as "politically uncouth", "racist", and lately "sexist" by some Italian translators. I think this will remain one of life's mysteries I'll never fathom in my lifetime...
You were not being labeled anything for inquiring but for the way you were expressing your inquiry.
| | | | | Bad practices and overall decline | Oct 28, 2023 |
Tom in London wrote:
Baran Keki wrote:
What if a PM favours a certain translator (person A), for whatever reason, and contacts them first for jobs, and only goes to the other translator (person B) when they fail to hear from the person A after 3 or 4 hours?
What if jobs are being sent on first-come-first-served or on bidding basis (not that I think any of the forum regulars would deign to work or even begin to contemplate working for such agencies, but some of us do), and the person A practically lives in front of their screen and gets the jobs or charms their way into jobs, while the person B gets the inevitable "sorry loser, next time, bye now!" message?
How will you explain the quite period that the person B is having workwise? By recession? By AI? By greedy agencies cutting down on rates and favouring cheaper translators? Or by the combination of (despised) luck and sacrifice (being available at all times to pounce on jobs)? Where is your "hard data", "facts" in such a scenario?
The person A could be working in any conceivable language pair and raking in the dough, while the person B, working in the same language pair obviously, comes here to vent their frustration and participate in "translation is dead as a dodo" topics. A food for thought, what?
That's all speculation. We don't know what goes on inside an agency.
I would agree it's just a very annoying way of doing business, and it has nothing to do with 'what is going on inside an agency'. It's often one-man 'companies' that do this kind of trick. I think it's just a bad practice when you always send your jobs on a 'who-first-pressed-the-button' basis. It's ok when you start outsourcing for new freelancers. But if you worked with someone before and you are satisfied with the result, why don't you invite only this person next time? 95% of us would respond within a very reasonable time and deliver, and both parties will be happy, while the unfortunate late ones will move to other customers. But no, these kind of clients stubbornly send these 'who-snatches-the-job-first-in-a-matter-of-seconds' invitations to projects. It's very annoying and humiliating to be late for those.
However, I guess this kind of practice could not be the reason for the overall decline, even for a particular 'very unlucky' translator. Such clients have worked like this before when there was enough of jobs for all, and probably will continue to do it in the future. It's just a negative side to the job to cope with, like some others. The current situation is caused by, as it appears, a limited demand resulting from variety of factors, to different degrees relevant to different translators' situations.
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