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On quoting on ProZ.com jobs
Thread poster: Anne R
Anne R
Anne R
Italy
Local time: 01:24
English to French
+ ...
Nov 26, 2012

Hello all,

As my first year as a paying member is coming to an end and I am wondering whether I should renew or not my membership as a paying member, one of my question is actually about quoting for job postings on Proz. i.e., I have answered a few job postings and sent quotes this year, but I have not had much success on that side, even when I felt I had the right kind of translation experience for the job.

I was looking through the forum right now to see if there has
... See more
Hello all,

As my first year as a paying member is coming to an end and I am wondering whether I should renew or not my membership as a paying member, one of my question is actually about quoting for job postings on Proz. i.e., I have answered a few job postings and sent quotes this year, but I have not had much success on that side, even when I felt I had the right kind of translation experience for the job.

I was looking through the forum right now to see if there has ever been a post on how best to answer a request for quote on proz, but could not find any. I do not mean to ask you for your secrets, but simply, I just wonder whether I am doing it right.

So I would like to ask whether, when answering a proz job posting by quoting, you "keep it straight to the point" (i.e. : such amount of words, delivered by such date, quoting such and such amount, please find CV enclosed for more info on my experience, kind of quote), or whether you actually explain in a few points why you feel you're best suite for the job etc..

Any hint appreciated, just wondering whether I should have posted this under Business Issues or Newcomer forum, but I hope you'll answer all the same.

Thank you!
Anne
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:24
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Never had any response Nov 26, 2012

Hi Anne

I've been a Proz member for several years and have quoted for a large number of jobs. Despite having tried every imaginable variation of wording etc. I've never, ever, had a response of any kind other than "your quote has been received".


 
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
On ProZ.com's main source of client contact and job quotes Nov 26, 2012

Hello Anne,

Before anything else, you should know that the main channel to get jobs at ProZ.com are direct searches outsources conduct in the directory, http://www.proz.com/translator-directory/ , as opposed to the job posting system. So, to attract potential clients' attention it is important that you keep a complete and professional-looking profile that reflects the best you have
... See more
Hello Anne,

Before anything else, you should know that the main channel to get jobs at ProZ.com are direct searches outsources conduct in the directory, http://www.proz.com/translator-directory/ , as opposed to the job posting system. So, to attract potential clients' attention it is important that you keep a complete and professional-looking profile that reflects the best you have to offer.

This is explained in detail in this short video tutorial: http://www.proz.com/videos/tutorials%20on%20proz.com/224

Now, regarding job quotes, what's recommended is that services providers stick to the information requested by the job poster. So, for instance, if in the job description the outsourcer asks for your rate per source word and a copy of your CV, you will want to include that information only, leaving aside credentials, experience, past clients, etc. This is another reason for having a complete profile that outsourcers can refer to at any time if they need further details.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,

Lucia
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Anne R
Anne R
Italy
Local time: 01:24
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hope this helps! Nov 26, 2012

Lucia Leszinsky wrote:

Hello Anne,

So, for instance, if in the job description the outsourcer asks for your rate per source word and a copy of your CV, you will want to include that information only, leaving aside credentials, experience, past clients, etc. This is another reason for having a complete profile that outsourcers can refer to at any time if they need further details.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,

Lucia


Thank you Lucia, it does!


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 00:24
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Keep to the minimum Nov 26, 2012

Anne R wrote:
So I would like to ask whether, when answering a proz job posting by quoting, you "keep it straight to the point" (i.e. : such amount of words, delivered by such date, quoting such and such amount, please find CV enclosed for more info on my experience, kind of quote), or whether you actually explain in a few points why you feel you're best suite for the job etc..

If you're using the ProZ.com submission route (or rather, if the poster has required you to use this - it's not your choice), then things like CV, quote, delivery date etc are all handled outside of the actual text box. I use the text box to add a short blurb on why I'm suitable for the job. But don't fall into the trap of giving your life history!

BTW: have you seen how many people apply for these jobs? I doubt that your main pair is very different from its opposite, where there are almost always 20+, but it isn't unusual to see it go into three figures. You're in a very big pool in your language pairs, Anne, so it's important to try to put yourself a head-and-shoulders above most of the others if you want to find work on a site like ProZ.com. I don't suppose anyone gets a very good hit rate from publicly-advertised jobs here: if you stand out for quality, many outsourcers won't like your rates and if you sell your services too cheaply, then others will doubt the quality. It's those personal contacts that Lucia mentioned that really count here - when the outsourcers come to you!

Having said that, you seem to be doing everything right already, so maybe it's just a matter of time.


 
Anne R
Anne R
Italy
Local time: 01:24
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
not giving my life history :-) Nov 26, 2012

[quote]Sheila Wilson wrote:

Anne R wrote:
If you're using the ProZ.com submission route (or rather, if the poster has required you to use this - it's not your choice), then things like CV, quote, delivery date etc are all handled outside of the actual text box. I use the text box to add a short blurb on why I'm suitable for the job. But don't fall into the trap of giving your life history!

BTW: have you seen how many people apply for these jobs? I doubt that your main pair is very different from its opposite, where there are almost always 20+, but it isn't unusual to see it go into three figures. You're in a very big pool in your language pairs, Anne, so it's important to try to put yourself a head-and-shoulders above most of the others if you want to find work on a site like ProZ.com. I don't suppose anyone gets a very good hit rate from publicly-advertised jobs here: if you stand out for quality, many outsourcers won't like your rates and if you sell your services too cheaply, then others will doubt the quality. It's those personal contacts that Lucia mentioned that really count here - when the outsourcers come to you!

Having said that, you seem to be doing everything right already, so maybe it's just a matter of time.


Thank you Sheila, you reassure me, I more or less do the same as you, and do not 'give my life history'. I know it is unlikely one gets a job through the proz job posting, because of the high level of answers, especially English to French, but I just wanted to check whether I did anything wrong, just to be 'sure to be sure'


 
Maria Teresa Pozzi
Maria Teresa Pozzi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 01:24
German to Italian
+ ...
A question of price Nov 26, 2012

If all other criteria are met, I think it's often a question of price.

 
Edward Vreeburg
Edward Vreeburg  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 01:24
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
a few? Nov 26, 2012

" I have answered a few job postings and sent quotes this year"

This is a game of big numbers, maybe you will only get a reply for more info in 1- 25 or even 1-50 of the applications.
You have very specialised fields of expertise, so my guess is you are not too cheap, which unfortunately is what a lot of job posters are looking for.

A few things that can inprove your sucess rate:

- make sure you are one of the first people to react

- so
... See more
" I have answered a few job postings and sent quotes this year"

This is a game of big numbers, maybe you will only get a reply for more info in 1- 25 or even 1-50 of the applications.
You have very specialised fields of expertise, so my guess is you are not too cheap, which unfortunately is what a lot of job posters are looking for.

A few things that can inprove your sucess rate:

- make sure you are one of the first people to react

- sometimes jobs go to people with a picture of themselves, rather than those of touristic sites (and yes, we have similar pictures, but sometimes clients prefer to see who they are working with)

- make sure you respond when every other translator is out - national holidays, christmas, new year, etc - - job posters will be really desperate and select the first translator

- make sure you can be found with every keyword applicable to you, maybe add " communaute europeenne" instead of abbreviations,. or even common misspellings of the words, but also some normal stuff like "holidays" :"tourism" if you do that sort of thing.

===
Ed
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Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:24
Member
English to French
Off-topic: membership well worth it in my opinion Nov 26, 2012

Anne R wrote:
As my first year as a paying member is coming to an end and I am wondering whether I should renew or not my membership as a paying member, one of my question is actually about quoting for job postings on Proz. i.e., I have answered a few job postings and sent quotes this year, but I have not had much success on that side, even when I felt I had the right kind of translation experience for the job.

But I don't base its value on the succese I (don't) have when quoting on jobs. I may have been awarded 4 or 5 jobs (sometimes converted into returning clients), but il was easier 5+ years ago, when you had a reasonable number of applicants on very specific requirements.
However, most, if not ALL, of my core agency clients have enquired after accessing my profile on proz.com, or from previous unsuccessful job applications.

And for 10 euros of business expenses a month, you have access to the Blue Board, training, forums, articles, KudoZ, hosting... without ads. I also learned an awful lot from "power" posters reading forums about computing, CAT tools, operating systems, utilities, hardware, marketing, management, miscellaneous issues... Thank you people, you will recognise yourselves. Which is why I don't even consider not renewing my membership for the next few years when my previous 5-year membership expires.

As regards quoting on jobs, you should put yourself in the outsourcer's shoes: what do you want to hear and to know to make a decision. I don't quote often, I don't have much success, but I always take the time to apply "properly" with a few paragraphs and full sentences. If I were an outsourcer, I would find applications such as "Hello, 0.12/word, next Tuesday, KR" a bit short to raise my curiosity and imprint my memory. Most job offers here are now only rate-driven, but some prospects may remember your application a few months later when they don't have time to screen applicants for a new job with more stringent requirements.

All the best,
Philippe


 
Anne R
Anne R
Italy
Local time: 01:24
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Membership and quoting Nov 26, 2012

Philippe Etienne wrote:

Anne R wrote:
As my first year as a paying member is coming to an end and I am wondering whether I should renew or not my membership as a paying member, one of my question is actually about quoting for job postings on Proz. i.e., I have answered a few job postings and sent quotes this year, but I have not had much success on that side, even when I felt I had the right kind of translation experience for the job.

But I don't base its value on the succese I (don't) have when quoting on jobs. I may have been awarded 4 or 5 jobs (sometimes converted into returning clients), but il was easier 5+ years ago, when you had a reasonable number of applicants on very specific requirements.
However, most, if not ALL, of my core agency clients have enquired after accessing my profile on proz.com, or from previous unsuccessful job applications.

And for 10 euros of business expenses a month, you have access to the Blue Board, training, forums, articles, KudoZ, hosting... without ads. I also learned an awful lot from "power" posters reading forums about computing, CAT tools, operating systems, utilities, hardware, marketing, management, miscellaneous issues... Thank you people, you will recognise yourselves. Which is why I don't even consider not renewing my membership for the next few years when my previous 5-year membership expires.

As regards quoting on jobs, you should put yourself in the outsourcer's shoes: what do you want to hear and to know to make a decision. I don't quote often, I don't have much success, but I always take the time to apply "properly" with a few paragraphs and full sentences. If I were an outsourcer, I would find applications such as "Hello, 0.12/word, next Tuesday, KR" a bit short to raise my curiosity and imprint my memory. Most job offers here are now only rate-driven, but some prospects may remember your application a few months later when they don't have time to screen applicants for a new job with more stringent requirements.

All the best,
Philippe



First of all, thank you all for taking so much time to reply to my post! This is really appreciated! My wording may have led to confusion and make think I link renewal of the membership to success level of the quotes I sent, but primarily, really, it was to find out whether I make too short or too long quotes and how to improve my quoting.

As regards your own answer on membership/no membership, Philippe, you have summed up the advantages in such a way that I can only agree with you. It makes me realise that since I started paying - I was a non paying member for a few years before that - I have become far more active on proz, not only to ask questions on Kudoz, but also to answer them and try to help others and to participate to forums, like now, and that I have access to lots of information that I would not know where to get from otherwise..
so, quoting or no quoting... I think I'll renew it


 
Anne R
Anne R
Italy
Local time: 01:24
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
picture and straight answers Nov 26, 2012

Edward Vreeburg wrote:

" I have answered a few job postings and sent quotes this year"

A few things that can inprove your sucess rate:

- make sure you are one of the first people to react

- sometimes jobs go to people with a picture of themselves, rather than those of touristic sites (and yes, we have similar pictures, but sometimes clients prefer to see who they are working with)

- make sure you respond when every other translator is out - national holidays, christmas, new year, etc - - job posters will be really desperate and select the first translator

- make sure you can be found with every keyword applicable to you, maybe add " communaute europeenne" instead of abbreviations,. or even common misspellings of the words, but also some normal stuff like "holidays" :"tourism" if you do that sort of thing.

===
Ed


Thank you Ed, never thought of the photo thing, maybe I should put it on the CV at least, I just do not like my photo appearing on google as it used to be the case when I had one on my profile.

As regards timing, you are perfectly right, I do try to answer straight away but am not always there checking for job postings. However, I have to say that email notifications about job postings arrive in my mail box much longer after the job postings - at least the ones I notice straight away - have actually been posted on proz. I'll have to give it closer attention, but I think we are almost talking of 24h sometimes.


 
Patricia González Schütz
Patricia González Schütz  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 01:24
Italian to English
+ ...
Article on forum Nov 26, 2012

Hello Anne,

About a week or so (perhaps even more), there was an article titled "How to land that first job" posted by PatrickMc Mamus, on forum. Useful and encouraging advises. Worth reading it!


 
Anne R
Anne R
Italy
Local time: 01:24
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
thank you Nov 26, 2012

Patricia González Schütz wrote:

Hello Anne,

About a week or so (perhaps even more), there was an article titled "How to land that first job" posted by PatrickMc Mamus, on forum. Useful and encouraging advises. Worth reading it!

I wil look out for that, thank you for the tip!


 
Edward Vreeburg
Edward Vreeburg  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 01:24
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
midnight postings? Nov 26, 2012

Anne R wrote:

[ However, I have to say that email notifications about job postings arrive in my mail box much longer after the job postings - at least the ones I notice straight away - have actually been posted on proz. I'll have to give it closer attention, but I think we are almost talking of 24h sometimes.


I actually see that too : all postings are in my mailbox around 12:00 midnight or 02:00 and in a batch of 3-4 at the same time (impossible, because clients do not post around this time and not one after another...!!!

There must be something wrong on Proz side!

Ed


 
Steve Kerry
Steve Kerry  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:24
German to English
That indefinable something... Nov 26, 2012

Hi there,

I've only been answering job adverts on ProZ for a couple of months, and that infrequently. In that time I've had several positive responses, three of which have led to repeat orders, with one looking like becoming a regular client.

In my view, ProZ - and I hate to say this - bears many similarities to a dating site. Given equal-ish levels of price, Trados use etc. I think it is just down to whether they "like the look of you" and like the way you present your
... See more
Hi there,

I've only been answering job adverts on ProZ for a couple of months, and that infrequently. In that time I've had several positive responses, three of which have led to repeat orders, with one looking like becoming a regular client.

In my view, ProZ - and I hate to say this - bears many similarities to a dating site. Given equal-ish levels of price, Trados use etc. I think it is just down to whether they "like the look of you" and like the way you present yourself in your profile.

So smile nicely for the camera, and try to put across your personality as well as your qualifications, is my advice. Don't ask me how I know this, but apparently dating site members with pictures get 13 times more responses than those without. Clients are looking for a human face and someone who sounds fun to work with, not just statistics.

Good luck with it,

Steve
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