| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Those "Please schedule a meeting via Zoom and/or Skype!" requests Thread poster: Korana Lasić
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| No, I do see your point(s) | Aug 9, 2022 |
Esther Pugh wrote:
I usually don't have any extra time for "nonsense" either, but if (an existing or) a potential client wants to have a little chat just to get to know you, especially if there's potential for a mutually beneficial long-term cooperation, I have nothing against it.
It also tells you a lot about the client. If they didn't take the selection process seriously, they'd just send out mass e-mails to everybody on a generic list. They wouldn't make the effort to actually connect with you, to figure out how well (or how poorly) the conversation flows, or if you connect on a personal level, how you express yourself, etc. etc. I personally think that's important.
Get to know them! There's nothing wrong with that.
I get it though – some translators are real introverts, but sometimes it's OK to "take a risk" (woo-hoo), and actually talk to somebody in person (albeit through a screen), and it's not a question of whether or not you're an employee or a contractor. It's about you as a contractor being willing to meet the client's needs, and if their need is to see you and hear your voice, in order to get a better feel about who you are and what you think, then go for it. It is always interesting to meet new people. Clients are our friends, not our enemies, and they want to be comfortable with the people they contract with.
Sure, there are your typical time-wasters as well, like the one organization that has "tried" now for a fifth time to onboard me, and even though I know they don't "like" my rates, they keep coming back asking for a zoom meeting in order to "discuss further" – and every time I tell them no.
It's your choice who you spend time with, and luckily – as business owners and contractors – we can pick and choose, unlike employees.
Win - win!!
I am trying to keep an open mind, hence this thread and all. BTW, it's not that I think I'd necessarily fail, most likely this would be to my advantage, at least according to the people who have discussed work with me in person or online. I just cannot help but wonder if, at least some of them, these are simply poorly run agencies with time to waste. I work with some brilliant people, and they send you a job, take a risk, and then we go from there. I am wary of anyone with more hoops than I deem necessary to jump through on offer. I've actually dropped an agency recently, and they aren't half bad, but still are too messy for the likes of me.
I also have dropped out of an onboarding process a few months ago, telling the PM that all she has sent were hoops to jump through. That the next time she drops me a line, there better be a PO attached to it, or I am simply out. I drew a line at her asking for two references after I already passed their test. She replied supposedly shocked saying, I don't get it all you are left to do is get me two references, because ISO something-something, you've already passed the test isn't that good? All I heard was: All that's left to do is fast for 40 days in the desert, fly to Africa and wrestle a tiger, sacrifice your firstborn to Moloch and you are in.
The most recent agency which had this request has placed an ad on proz.com right after I declined the interview request and round 3 days later contacted me again, saying they do understand my point, but they will give me a long term job if I just reconsider my position on unpaid interviews! (And, I suspect, meetings/webinars.) Thus proving only that they utterly fail to understand my point.
I then looked through my emails and this is the second time this year they are really interested in working with me, but we keep falling out on the unpaid Zoom onboarding issue.
I wrote back and said it was a firm no from me for any sort of interviews/meetings/webinars and that I waived job security exactly not to have to be part of any corporate culture they are now trying to impose on me for a fraction of what I would make applying my skills as a corporate employee. Told them straight up that clearly they cannot find a competent person in the pair (at least not one willing to go along with their requests) since March this year, and if they still needed someone to actually do the work, "I am available". That I was willing even to test for the job, but any and all onboarding, instructions, and correspondence should be done via email. As of now no response from the PM and that's understandable. I hardly expect to change the way any agency does business. I do understand that if we'll ever collaborate, it will be me who will budge!
But, I'm not sure if you've been following the forum activity and if you remember the OP who deeply regretted getting involved with agencies with propensity to endlessly waste her time with online meetings in exchange for little to no work? Well, I'm beginning to suspect these are the same agencies.
Anyhoo, thank you for chiming in, Esther! I know I didn't change my position on the issue (yet) but these thread exchanges do help me think, so you never know. I do appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
| | | | Metin Demirel 
Türkiye
Local time: 01:11
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
| I am not ISO material | Aug 9, 2022 |
Korana Lasić wrote:
I drew a line at her asking for two references after I already passed their test. She replied supposedly shocked saying, I don't get it all you are left to do is get me two references, because ISO something-something, you've already passed the test isn't that good?
When I see the abbreviation ISO, I know I am not in the right place. The clients with huge volumes never mention ISO. They care about rates, availability, deadline, terminology, etc.
I am not saying ISO is meaningless. It must serve a high purpose somewhere in God's green earth, but I am not there.
| | | | | Speaking of mind-numbing bureaucracy, | Aug 9, 2022 |
Metin Demirel wrote: Korana Lasić wrote:
I drew a line at her asking for two references after I already passed their test. She replied supposedly shocked saying, I don't get it all you are left to do is get me two references, because ISO something-something, you've already passed the test isn't that good?
When I see the abbreviation ISO, I know I am not in the right place. The clients with huge volumes never mention ISO. They care about rates, availability, deadline, terminology, etc. I am not saying ISO is meaningless. It must serve a high purpose somewhere in God's green earth, but I am not there.
Well, Metin bey, I should just run away from home and join the circus! But it needs to be an ISO certified circus, because standards!
This man needs more than 22 subscribers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2vXH5SRs7E
| | | | Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 01:11
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
Korana Lasić wrote:
ISO certified doesn't mean they actually need us to pester the PMs we work with for references either.
I am not sure who is pestering whom for references
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Anna A. K.
Germany
Local time: 00:11
Member (2020)
English to German
Adieu wrote:
If anybody HAS done these: what was the point?
Did they bring in people proficient in all sides of all your language pairs to verify that you are proficient in the languages you listed?
Did they ask you to place a government ID next to your live face to verify your identity?
If not, what exactly did they want?
I had several of these bullshit calls and they are indeed pointless. It's a big waste of everyone's time. I am puzzeled why they do that, I simply can't believe they have the time to "introduce themselves" as they always say or "get to know each other". Everything they want to know is in my resume and everything I want to know is provided to me by email anyway.
I refuse to have these sort of calls, either paid or unpaid.
| | | | Jean Lachaud
United States
Local time: 18:11
English to French
+ ...
| Could it be simple? | Aug 13, 2022 |
There is the simplest explanation of all, i.e. that these companies are populated by idiots who don't know the difference between an actual employee and an outside contractor.
But, hey, what do I know? I've only been in this business for 41 years.
J L
Anna1307 wrote:
[snip] I am puzzeled why they do that, I simply can't believe they have the time to "introduce themselves" as they always say or "get to know each other".
| | | | Edwin den Boer
Netherlands
Local time: 00:11
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
| ISO = the illusion of cheap quality | Aug 28, 2022 |
Metin Demirel wrote:
When I see the abbreviation ISO, I know I am not in the right place.
Oh yeah, I actually use that as my most important filter. The idea of ISO 9001 and 17001 is that you can have quality without paying for it, by following procedures. As a survivor of the Browser Wars, I'm a big fan of standards in technology, but applying them to social processes is a category error with disastrous consequences.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 00:11
French to English
I haven't ever had an agency schedule a video call with me, perhaps because almost all the agencies I work for already knew me from when I used to work at an agency myself.
With direct clients, I find that they almost always want to have a chat before placing their first order. And I have always found it useful to talk to them. They tell me about their line of business, what they do, and how, and why, and this can inform my translation.
Agencies are usually more anonymous, a... See more I haven't ever had an agency schedule a video call with me, perhaps because almost all the agencies I work for already knew me from when I used to work at an agency myself.
With direct clients, I find that they almost always want to have a chat before placing their first order. And I have always found it useful to talk to them. They tell me about their line of business, what they do, and how, and why, and this can inform my translation.
Agencies are usually more anonymous, and can't tell you much about their end clients, so I imagine it wouldn't be as useful to talk with them. And there is the rule, gleaned here, that the more hoops they make you jump through, the less likely it is that you can find work.
When I worked as a PM at the agency, I did like to have a little chat with translators before placing a first order. I wanted to check that they sounded like a native speaker (especially since so many people think they "can English") and get an idea of how they express themselves, what their take on translation is.
We often had translators popping in to see us, since we were near the Gare du Nord, and a lot came over on the Eurostar to visit Paris. Having an opportunity to have lunch or at least a coffee with them was always a great way to get to know them and possibly find out more about their work. It sometimes transpired that they had experience in different fields, and so we could send even more work for them. ▲ Collapse
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Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 18:11
Japanese to English
+ ...
As for clients who require a telephone call after I have sent them a CV, many want to "talk down" my fee. "Your background is great. If only you could reduce your rate a little ($0.10 to $0.05)". or "Our client has a limited budget, could you provide a discount?" or "Our client has a limited budget for this job, but they expect to have many more jobs like this in the future and would be willing to pay your full rate". etc. etc. etc. As a result, I ignore requests for telephone calls.
| | | | S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 01:11
English to Romanian
I've only had one such interview - via Zoom.
It brought me NOTHING. No projects whatsoever.
So what did they want to check, that I truly was who I said I was?
| | | | | As a former outsourcer/recruiter... | Jan 1, 2023 |
As a former outsourcer/recruiter, I can very well understand why potential clients might request such a chat, and I think they're perfectly justified in doing so.
Many of this site's users are honest, responsible and respectable, and know their potential and limitations. Too many others not quite so.
Such clients are merely performing due diligence. They're trying to find competent people, not waste your time.
HNY
P.S. And you could always a... See more As a former outsourcer/recruiter, I can very well understand why potential clients might request such a chat, and I think they're perfectly justified in doing so.
Many of this site's users are honest, responsible and respectable, and know their potential and limitations. Too many others not quite so.
Such clients are merely performing due diligence. They're trying to find competent people, not waste your time.
HNY
P.S. And you could always agree to a telephone chat without the video part. Professional clients won't care what you look like.
[Edited at 2023-01-01 05:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 18:11
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Agreed, but... | Jan 1, 2023 |
Cilian O'Tuama wrote:
Such clients are merely performing due diligence. They're trying to find competent people, not waste your time.
[Edited at 2023-01-01 05:40 GMT]
How can judge a translator's competency via a video call? Some excellent translator can perform poorly when interviewed on Zoom or Skype. On the other hand, some translators who are not that competent can perform really well in front of a camera.
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finnword1
United States
Local time: 18:11
English to Finnish
+ ...
| Never attended one. | Jan 3, 2023 |
Never will.
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 18:11
Japanese to English
+ ...
To use a current cliche, Zoom meetings are "a thing".
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 18:11
Japanese to English
+ ...
Actually ISO means: "I'm so obstinate".
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