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| Usuario | Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff Poll: Do you accept jobs when you are fully booked? |
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ProZ.com Staff
Local time: 12:14
PERSONAL DEL SITIO |
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you accept jobs when you are fully-booked?".
View the poll results »
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Paula Hernández
Local time: 21:14
 Miembro 2008
inglés al español
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If it is a good client and/or a very small job, it doesn't hurt to work a little extra to make them happy.
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Rachita Mehra 
Local time: 00:44
Miembro 2012
inglés al punjabí
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| | No, but sometimes subject to difficulty involved. | Feb 2, 2012 |
If I am fully-booked, I mostly do not accept jobs. But also, it depends upon more than a few grounds; how old and good the client is, domain (if easy) and volume of the project and most importantly, taking a new project must not affect the quality & timelines of on-going projects.
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Mary Worby
Reino Unido
Local time: 20:14
 Miembro
alemán al inglés
+ ...
| | There is no such thing as 'fully booked' | Feb 2, 2012 |
I may be fully booked for a day, or a week, but there are still jobs I can accept. Either tiny ones I can shoehorn in (especially for good customers!) or ones I can schedule for after the end of my 'fully booked' period.
Never say never!
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José Henrique Lamensdorf
Brasil
Local time: 16:14
Miembro 2007
inglés al portugués
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| | I accept jobs any time... | Feb 2, 2012 |
... however I tell the client when I can deliver them. If their deadline is later than mine, so much the better. I prefer to deliver two days early than two hours late. For the last 38 years, this policy has helped me in delivering all jobs before the deadline, not a single late delivery so far (of course, unless the client altered the assignment under way).
If the client needs it earlier than I can deliver, there are two options. Either they can get someone else to do it in whole or in part, or - if possible, since the meaning of fully-booked may vary - I might extend my working hours (which are long already) in exchange for an urgency surcharge. Otherwise I avoid urgency surcharges as much as possible.
I try to commit no more than 3,000 words/day to any individual project. I know my limits... so far 9,065 words in one day, working 19 hours. This gives me some flexibility to take deadly urgent jobs amidst other ones, and keep my clients happy.
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Michael Harris
Local time: 21:14
Miembro 2006
alemán al inglés
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As I am fortunately booked up most of the time, but usually with generous deadlines, I am able to take on translations for "in-between" as long as they do not put me trouble because of their size.
And, other than that, the day has 24 hours where I generally work between 12 and 14 of them.
[Edited at 2012-02-02 11:03 GMT]
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neilmac
España
Local time: 21:14
Miembro 2007
español al inglés
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Not by design. I understand "fully-booked" as meaning totally, completely. Saturation is by definition the state when no more can be taken on board, so obviously when I get there I don't accept any more.
I may however accept work which I can pass on to a colleague, as I usually know somebody who is available, but I know my own limits.
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xxxInterlangue
Angola
Local time: 21:14
inglés al francés
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I am often fully booked but always keep some time to squeeze in a recurrent job of which I never know exactly when it will come in or how much it will be
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Angus Stewart
Reino Unido
Local time: 20:14
Miembro 2011
francés al inglés
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neilmac wrote:
I understand "fully-booked" as meaning totally, completely. Saturation is by definition the state when no more can be taken on board, so obviously when I get there I don't accept any more.
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I am in full agreement with Neil. I would regard it as unprofessional behaviour to take on additional work for a period during which I am already booked to full capacity. I know my limits and would not wish to tempt fate.
As others have said, I would attempt to negotiate with the client regarding the deadline such that I could undertake the work during a later period for which I have capacity.
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Charlie Bavington
Local time: 20:14
francés al inglés
| | Define fully booked | Feb 2, 2012 |
I would almost go so far as to define fully booked as meaning unable to accept any further work for that period. So the answer is self-evidently "no" AFAIAC.
However, it seems some people just take it to mean "very busy". If you're in a position to slot in a small job, or however else you care to phrase it, you are clearly not "fully booked".
That said, the question could be clearer in one sense, since I do "accept jobs" at a time when I am currently "fully booked" if the deadline is for some point in the future when I am not "fully booked". Ah, the joys of ambiguous phrasing.
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Lifeng Yang
China
Local time: 03:14
Miembro 2010
inglés al chino
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Paula Hernández wrote:
If it is a good client and/or a very small job, it doesn't hurt to work a little extra to make them happy. |
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Searching & researching time spent on small text doesn't hurt.
Inserting a middle sized job into ongoing big text will be much harder.
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Estados Unidos
Local time: 12:14
Miembro 2003
español al inglés
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| | Definitely not | Feb 2, 2012 |
I know my limitations. I know how much work I can handle, and I don't take on any more than that.
Also, I never want to be in a position where the quality of my work suffers for my best-paying clients.
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Julian Holmes
Japón
Local time: 04:14
Miembro 2011
japonés al inglés
| | Know your physical and mental limits | Feb 2, 2012 |
I quite agree with Charlie.
Charlie Bavington wrote:
However, it seems some people just take it to mean "very busy". If you're in a position to slot in a small job, or however else you care to phrase it, you are clearly not "fully booked". |
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The bottom line is "How hard are you prepared to work within your physical and mental limits?" If your definition of a working day is 9 till 6, then there's still ample time to pack in plenty of work before and after this time frame - if you want to, of course. If more work beyond this threshold means that you will be deprived of valuable sleep, etc., then you can start saying you're "fully-booked" according to my book, that is.
Also, having too much work hurts less having too little. Believe me, I've been through the latter situation more times than I'd like to remember. 
Happy translating!
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Teresa Borges
Bélgica
Local time: 21:14
Miembro 2007
inglés al portugués
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lexical
España
Local time: 21:14
portugués al inglés
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And I don't write "fully booked" with a hyphen either. Does anyone who has even a minimal acquaintance with the English language?
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