| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11] > | Allow site members/users to rate each job posting Thread poster: Robert Forstag
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| My answer to the poll | Oct 19, 2009 |
If I answer to a "best rate" offer, I always give them "my best rate". My "best rate" is anything starting at 0.14 €/word. If they don't ask for my best rate, then I ask for 0.12 €/words (regular assignments within my specializations)
| | | | | Same here, María Eugenia | Oct 19, 2009 |
María Eugenia Wachtendorff wrote:
It is not my intention to start a war, but...
My membership expired a couple of weeks ago. Give me ONE good reason to renew it, and I will!
Kind regards,
María Eugenia
I still don't find any reason to renew my membership. I think promises from Proz are fictitious.
@Robert: Thanks for opening this thread! I support your idea. Count me in!
Regards,
Fernando
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Fernando Walker wrote: María Eugenia Wachtendorff wrote:
It is not my intention to start a war, but...
My membership expired a couple of weeks ago. Give me ONE good reason to renew it, and I will!
Kind regards,
María Eugenia
I still don't find any reason to renew my membership. I think promises from Proz are fictitious. @Robert: Thanks for opening this thread! I support your idea. Count me in! Regards, Fernando
I also have another tick in the box for NOT renewing my membership in January. That being the bog-standard response I received tonight to a support request about the fact that my poll hasn't been published. I have to say, ProZ is becomming a less attractive portal to me the more it seemingly "evolves"...
[Edited at 2009-10-19 23:36 GMT]
| | | | Alessandra Martelli (X) 
Italy
Local time: 02:55
English to Italian
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| Sad to hear the Staff's silence... | Oct 20, 2009 |
Dear Proz.com Staff,
I'm not one of your "oldest" members (I decided to become a member last April, after some years of what newsgroup readers call "lurking"), but I do believe in this website's potential.
Through Proz.com we network, meet new customers (yes, it actually happens and I'm grateful for that), try to help each other through KudoZ and so on - and this is great.
When we ask for support, we always get prompt answers and the smiling pictures of th... See more Dear Proz.com Staff,
I'm not one of your "oldest" members (I decided to become a member last April, after some years of what newsgroup readers call "lurking"), but I do believe in this website's potential.
Through Proz.com we network, meet new customers (yes, it actually happens and I'm grateful for that), try to help each other through KudoZ and so on - and this is great.
When we ask for support, we always get prompt answers and the smiling pictures of the Staff cheer us up when we're dealing with scam/spam, billing troubles and many other unpleasant situations.
Therefore, I think it is sad to "hear your silence" on Robert's proposal. I had the chance to talk to some other members, and we all would have loved some answers from you - even a simple "no".
Yours faithfully,
Alessandra ▲ Collapse
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Eric Hahn (X)
France
Local time: 02:55
French to German
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| Radio silence | Oct 21, 2009 |
Alessandra Martelli wrote:
Therefore, I think it is sad to "hear your silence" on Robert's proposal. I had the chance to talk to some other members, and we all would have loved some answers from you - even a simple "no".
This topic has been suppressed from the "Recent topics in Translator forums", but at
least, it has not been closed, which can be considered as a signifciant improvement.
The answer will come from those who vote with their feet ...
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Firstly, I would like to thank Bob for this wonderful initiative, which I support 100%. Secondly, I most urgently second Alessandra’s call for Henry or Patrick to respond *meaningfully* to this seven-page thread which has drawn the contributions of dozens of members.
I myself differ from the skeptics who contend that staff can be counted on to do absolutely nothing in response to the concerns that have been raised here. But in the absence of any reaction at all on the part of sta... See more Firstly, I would like to thank Bob for this wonderful initiative, which I support 100%. Secondly, I most urgently second Alessandra’s call for Henry or Patrick to respond *meaningfully* to this seven-page thread which has drawn the contributions of dozens of members.
I myself differ from the skeptics who contend that staff can be counted on to do absolutely nothing in response to the concerns that have been raised here. But in the absence of any reaction at all on the part of staff, I may be forced to conclude that the naysayers are right, and that those of us who hoped for dialogue and change have indeed been very naïve …. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Suggested poll | Oct 21, 2009 |
@ James:
Great idea. If ProZ doesn't want to publish your poll because it violates the rules, then they should say so. If they can't publish it because it is in 2,000th place in line, then let them tell you that; then, we can track its ascent on the waiting list until it gets published in another five years or so....
Warmest regards.
Taña
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... isn't it about time for some feedback to this idea from site management?
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Dear Proz staff,
Can you please participate to this thread? Shall we all start sending support tickets?
Kind regards,
Paola
| | | | Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 02:55
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
| Suggestion supported | Oct 21, 2009 |
Hi all,
Having read all the contributions, I can't but fully support Robert's proposal, which is why I've just submitted a support ticket
Steffen
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I have just sent my support ticket.
Paola
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| Neither do I | Oct 21, 2009 |
María Eugenia Wachtendorff wrote:
It is not my intention to start a war, but...
My membership expired a couple of weeks ago. Give me ONE good reason to renew it, and I will!
Kind regards,
María Eugenia
Neither do I.
I'd like to be able to use the job system to find translators (professionals), but it doesn't work. Professional translators don't answer to job posts (exceptions happen, of course!). I know that most high quality translators are always busy, but still, sometimes you may want to replace one client with another more profitable or you may find a job that looks very interesting...
I think that maybe professionals are fleeing from the site... Too bad
| | | | | Post completeness | Oct 21, 2009 |
Though I'm bound do be attacked for this: as an outsourcer, I have no desire whatsoever to have the different rates I offer being published, either on the BB or in a job post, for all the various reasons stated in this thread. To me it seems that you cannot do it right anyway, and even if you do, you'll probably get flooded with applications and not much else.
However, I wouldn't mind having my job posts being rated on the following:
- subject header (not just the lang... See more Though I'm bound do be attacked for this: as an outsourcer, I have no desire whatsoever to have the different rates I offer being published, either on the BB or in a job post, for all the various reasons stated in this thread. To me it seems that you cannot do it right anyway, and even if you do, you'll probably get flooded with applications and not much else.
However, I wouldn't mind having my job posts being rated on the following:
- subject header (not just the language combination, but some kind of info on the job)
- provide clear information on what the job would entail
- clear information on required tools / knowledge / skills
- clear information on required language variety
And basically anything else that concerns job post completeness. A simple checklist "does this job post contain the following information?" is also more neutral and objectively verifiable than "is the rate offered for this job reasonable?"
I think that something like that could indeed promote a more professional attitude towards posting jobs, and I'd support a proposal to that end.
Susan
[Edited at 2009-10-21 12:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | About the proposal, Proz.com's public relations and possible cause of price war | Oct 21, 2009 |
I had not had a chance to participate in this thread, so here is my belated contribution, FWIW.
Although I disagree with most of the contents I have read in this thread, I consider it very positive from the community/translation freelancer solidarity point-of-view, so you got my vote at least in this respect.
About the reaction of Proz.com to this thread, that is, COMPLETE SILENCE, I must say I am rather surprised, but at the same time I am not. That is, this would not ... See more I had not had a chance to participate in this thread, so here is my belated contribution, FWIW.
Although I disagree with most of the contents I have read in this thread, I consider it very positive from the community/translation freelancer solidarity point-of-view, so you got my vote at least in this respect.
About the reaction of Proz.com to this thread, that is, COMPLETE SILENCE, I must say I am rather surprised, but at the same time I am not. That is, this would not be the first time that Proz.com's management has no reaction or a belated reaction to an issue about the website that has been expressed publicly.
This is rather puzzling to me, because I would think, using some basic common sense, that in order to avoid misunderstandings, the logical thing is to clarify things as soon as possible, otherwise a lot of "rumorology" is generated, or at least some incorrect assumptions.
Furthermore, I would think that a website as dependent on public traffic and public image should handle very carefully its public relations, and I understand that Proz.com's forums are a very important part of their PR's area.
So I am also curious to know, in this case, what the reaction from the Proz.com's management will be or when it will take place.
About the proposal, both Robert's original one and some of the variations proposed, I honestly doubt that demanding that Proz.com or any other similar website show something like a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" (or plus+ or minus-) icon next to their job offers is going to make the least difference in the price war that is obviously taking place in the general translation market of some language pairs.
I honestly think that the main cause of the price war that is taking place in some language pairs is the free and non-controlled access to this work/profession (and its market). That is, in simple economic terms, the more supply you have (whether this supply is fully qualified or not), the lower the prices get.
Therefore, as we know, the translation market is accessible not only to people who have specifically studied translation, but also to any professional of a given field with an effective knowledge (from the translation point-of-view) of at least one foreign language, as well as to people who do not necessarily have any translation or specialized education or experience, but who also have an effective knowledge (from the translation point-of-view) of at least one foreign language, working on either a part-time or full-time basis.
I think that unless you have some kind of international "lobby" or powerful "cartel" (smile...) such as, in the case of oil prices, the OPEC, that has clear power worldwide to both regulate prices and control the access to their market, I honestly don't see how you can effectively "solve" the current/past/future? low price war in the translation market of some language pairs (and btw, even in the case of the OPEC, prices constantly fluctuate up or down).
On the other hand, even if an "international labor union of freelance translators" were created (since labor unions are usually the workers' advocates against the labor abuse of some companies), I am not sure how you could manage to come to terms about a minimum rate applicable worldwide or, worse, applicable on a per-country basis (which would definitely promote even more outsourcing of translation labor to those countries where the said rate was lower).
Of course, by all means, I am always open to learning about any creative/constructive alternatives and possible "solutions", but I tend to think that the answer lies in playing by the traditional, as well as more recent, market/marketing/economic rules in such a competitive situation.
Respectfully,
Ivette
P.S.: I'd like to leave here the link to a summary/presentation I just found in Google that illustrates quite simply some of the basic economic principles that rule a market (and prices) in a capitalist society (some of the data used may be slightly outdated, but I think it is nonetheless quite useful to get a general idea): www.amphi.com/teachers/ddickinson/files/EA8237DBF6D14C50890457B6D81A2920.pdf
P.S.2: just realized that in the above summary/presentation there is a common typo in some of the slides ("exits" instead of "exists").
[Edited at 2009-10-21 11:19 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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