| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you reply to emails from potential clients to inform them you are not accepting their offer? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Laura Tridico 
United States
Local time: 23:28
French to English
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[Edited at 2014-12-20 16:39 GMT]
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 00:28
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| There are a few rules | Dec 20, 2014 |
If the e-mail comes from a serious agency and is an actual job offer, you can tell by several factors:
1) The e-mail starts with "Dear + your name". If it doesn't, and you can tell it's a standard message sent to several people, delete it.
2) The outsourcer mentions where they found you, or it's a reply to a message you sent to them (in a ProZ job announcement, for example).
3) The sender's e-mail is NOT @Gmail, @Hotmail, @Outlook or the like. If it is, del... See more If the e-mail comes from a serious agency and is an actual job offer, you can tell by several factors:
1) The e-mail starts with "Dear + your name". If it doesn't, and you can tell it's a standard message sent to several people, delete it.
2) The outsourcer mentions where they found you, or it's a reply to a message you sent to them (in a ProZ job announcement, for example).
3) The sender's e-mail is NOT @Gmail, @Hotmail, @Outlook or the like. If it is, delete it.
4) There is a link to the agency's URL or some information about it.
5) There is a signature of the sender, preferably with company, telephone number, address, etc. If at least the name of the person (first and last) is not there, delete it.
6) The sender mentions the type of job, how many words, deadlines, subjects, etc. If it only mentions generic, potential, etc. jobs, delete it. Usually, job offers for several language pairs are also B.S.
7) Last, but not least, check the Blue Board to see the agency's rating. If it's below 4.5, you may be polite enough to thank them, but don't take the job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rebecca Garber
Local time: 23:28
Member (2005)
German to English
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| I agree with the members parsing the types of offers | Dec 20, 2014 |
If the email is addressed to me, if it lists where they found my info, and it isn't a cattle call, etc., then I generally respond. But not always.
You see, I work primarily in patents, which are considered a subset of legal. Which means that I get a lot of requests for pure legal work that I simply can't do because I haven't a clue about the legal system anywhere.
I used to respond, explaining the limits of my expertise. That simple "I'm sorry, but I can't take your pr... See more If the email is addressed to me, if it lists where they found my info, and it isn't a cattle call, etc., then I generally respond. But not always.
You see, I work primarily in patents, which are considered a subset of legal. Which means that I get a lot of requests for pure legal work that I simply can't do because I haven't a clue about the legal system anywhere.
I used to respond, explaining the limits of my expertise. That simple "I'm sorry, but I can't take your project" email that's been mentioned as a way of being polite.
That email often opened a floodgate of pleading: The text isn't too long, we have a terminology list, it's not *really* legal. My "I'm sorry but no" often led to 3 rounds of emails, in which I repeatedly said no, and wasted more of my time.
I really, really hate being badgered. Having been taught by experience with a number of agencies that a polite declining response will lead to badgering, now I don't respond at all to legal inquiries, or any others that are outside of my expertise. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Erzsébet Czopyk
Hungary
Local time: 05:28
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
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SITE LOCALIZER | in order to being fair | Dec 20, 2014 |
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
My practice is:
Always respond when the e-mail is addressed to me personally, the document is attached, and it is a clear request for a specific quote;
Sometimes respond when it is addressed to me but the subject is a large project a month or so down the road (being careful that they don't just want to use my name in the proposal to their client but wouldn't dream of paying my rate);
Never respond to a nonpersonalized e-mail.
Always respond when the e-mail is addressed to me personally even when the document is not attached, and it is an obvious request for a specific quote or an NDA in advance;
Usually respond when it is addressed to me but the subject is a large project and they ask me just to provide my CV/rates/translator certificate (being careful that they don't just want to participate in a large, usually EU-related tender with my name in the list of their subcontractors - but wouldn't paying my rate and giving me the job at all - covering a "no-name-translator" with my documents);
Sometimes respond to a nonpersonalized e-mail, if it contains any mention of ProZ.com/LinkedIn profile etc. Few times had a luck and received a job this way.
And last but not least, sometimes I do answer to mass mails, if there is an ashaming price offer. In this case I just let fly my minds and think not so much to choose the proper style and the right words D
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| Thinking of Mario's rules | Dec 20, 2014 |
Mario Freitas wrote:
If the e-mail comes from a serious agency and is an actual job offer, you can tell by several factors:
1) The e-mail starts with "Dear + your name". If it doesn't, and you can tell it's a standard message sent to several people, delete it.
Agree
2) The outsourcer mentions where they found you, or it's a reply to a message you sent to them (in a ProZ job announcement, for example).
Of my good agency customers - regular or one-time - none of them has mentioned where they found me. Otoh, when someone contacts me and says they found my name on a portal, I've learned to be cautious. Usually they want low rates or to bargain in some way. Actually I'm interested to learn about the correlation between saying where they found you, and reliability.
3) The sender's e-mail is NOT @Gmail, @Hotmail, @Outlook or the like. If it is, delete it.
Yes, if talking about companies - definitely. End clients, however, will have those kinds of addresses - it is important to verify their authenticity through address, phone number or similar. End clients who have to pick up a hard copy of certified material and prepay or pay on arrival are no risk.
4) There is a link to the agency's URL or some information about it.
Generally yes. One agency that I have done business with for almost 30 years is still behind the times in this regard. They have no on-line presence (I think they should). A few exceptions exist.
5) There is a signature of the sender, preferably with company, telephone number, address, etc. If at least the name of the person (first and last) is not there, delete it.
Yes, but a big word of caution. Scammers in particular are aware of this list of criteria and are prepared for it. One can now purchase virtual addresses, and even pay a monthly fee for an answering service that will answer "their" phone number, so everything seems legit. The company doesn't exist, it's not in the listed country, the address is virtual, and one day they disappear. At the same time, some of the older small companies like the one I mentioned have not caught up to this - they are not entities you want to avoid.
6) The sender mentions the type of job, how many words, deadlines, subjects, etc. If it only mentions generic, potential, etc. jobs, delete it. Usually, job offers for several language pairs are also B.S.
aka fishing expedition - put your name in their list of "We have 10,000 translators" and similar. Agree.
7) Last, but not least, check the Blue Board to see the agency's rating. If it's below 4.5, you may be polite enough to thank them, but don't take the job.
A low rating is reason to be cautious. A high rating may have various causes.
| | | | | OFF TOPIC, but related: Start building your network! | Dec 20, 2014 |
Rebecca Garber wrote:
You see, I work primarily in patents, which are considered a subset of legal. Which means that I get a lot of requests for pure legal work that I simply can't do because I haven't a clue about the legal system anywhere.
I used to respond, explaining the limits of my expertise. That simple "I'm sorry, but I can't take your project" email that's been mentioned as a way of being polite.
Rebecca, I suggest you find (and check) a couple of truly specialized and reliable legal translators in your language pair(s). Try to build a friendship with them, go meet them if they live close enough.
Then don't say 'no' to any such request, simply divert the client to these specialists. Give the prospect/client both e-mails at once, so they won't come back to you if one is busy or unreachable. If they turn it down for any reason whatsoever, the prospect/client will have been talking with a specialist in that area, they'll have to reckon that there is something wrong in their proposal. Anyway, you'll have been off the hook for ages; they won't return to pester you.
I suggest you don't charge anyone anything for referral. Also, don't expect any direct retribution from them. The trick is to dump to your network any request you can't or won't fulfill yourself. It will take a while, but some day the network will start throwing jobs in your specialty at you.
For instance, I don't translate medical stuff. I have two colleagues that specialize in that, know both personally (one is a former work mate of mine, around 1980 I has HR manager in a company, she was the top boss' secretary). I simply give their e-mail addresses to anyone who requests medical translation from me.
Interestingly enough, they translate work in my #1 specialty, HR, mostly for pharma companies. I help them over Skype every time they ask me. Likewise, in other endeavors, when I stumble on some medical term, I ask them. For the record, neither has ever sent me any job.
On the other hand, there is another colleague, a sworn translator like me, in the same language pair. I never sent her any job. However she can't handle video; she told me she has to ask her husband to put a DVD in the player when she wants to watch it. As she knows I do video subtitling and translation for dubbing, every time she gets a video request, she refers the client to me.
These are just two specific examples, one outbound, the other inbound. I'd have many more.
You'll know that your network has spread beyond your horizon when a prospect contacts you, saying that you were strongly recommended by, say, "Bernadette, a translator", and you never heard of such person in your life.
The key is getting to know other translators, and getting known by them. This will be your network, far more intangible than Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. but much more effective professionally.
| | | | Luiz Barucke
Brazil
Local time: 00:28
Spanish to Portuguese
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| As everything else, it depends | Dec 20, 2014 |
If my name is written on the mail, I always reply explaining the reasons why I cannot accept the job.
To mass mails, never. I just delete them.
| | | | | offer or request? | Dec 21, 2014 |
I don't mean to quibble, but I think that how we consider these messages does have an effect down the line. When a customer contacts me about a translation, I don't consider it an "offer" - They are requesting a service from me. This also has a bearing on the question. If somebody requests something of me, then it is thoughtless and impolite not to tell them that I cannot be of service. So yes, I do respond to genuine requests. I agree with what our colleagues have written, in terms of what... See more I don't mean to quibble, but I think that how we consider these messages does have an effect down the line. When a customer contacts me about a translation, I don't consider it an "offer" - They are requesting a service from me. This also has a bearing on the question. If somebody requests something of me, then it is thoughtless and impolite not to tell them that I cannot be of service. So yes, I do respond to genuine requests. I agree with what our colleagues have written, in terms of what they don't respond to. ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 00:28
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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[quote]Maxi Schwarz wrote:
Mario Freitas wrote:
These are very general criteria. Of course good sense is above all those, and experience lets you be cautious enough to avoid the scammers.
[Edited at 2014-12-21 18:27 GMT]
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