I am being offered $0.015 per word for a 22,851 word English»Spanish proofreading job, is that bad?
Thread poster: José Huarancca
José Huarancca
José Huarancca  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 17:57
English to Spanish
+ ...
Apr 24, 2020

Good morning everyone,
My instinct tells me it is a bad rate, and using math it turns out to be a really bad hourly rate for me. But perhaps there are less jobs due to the Pandemic? Should I accept anyways or look elsewhere?

Thanks for your answers


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 23:57
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Could be all right Apr 24, 2020

José Huarancca wrote:
I am being offered $0.015 per word for a 22,851 word English»Spanish proofreading job, is that bad?


I suppose it depends on how quickly you'll be able to do the proofreading.
If 3000 words per hour, then $45 per hour.
If 2000 words per hour, then $30 per hour.
If 1500 words per hour, then $22 per hour.
If 1000 words per hour, then $15 per hour.

Is the translator known to you? Would you have the freedom to turn down the job after acceptance, if after an hour or two you discover that the quality is so poor that it will take you much too much time to proofread it? I myself have never been able to exceed 3000 words per hour, but that is when the translation is virtually error-free.


Aline Amorim
José Huarancca
Eric Azevedo
Yaotl Altan
 
José Huarancca
José Huarancca  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 17:57
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
To answer your questions Apr 24, 2020

Samuel Murray wrote:

José Huarancca wrote:
I am being offered $0.015 per word for a 22,851 word English»Spanish proofreading job, is that bad?


I suppose it depends on how quickly you'll be able to do the proofreading.
If 3000 words per hour, then $45 per hour.
If 2000 words per hour, then $30 per hour.
If 1500 words per hour, then $22 per hour.
If 1000 words per hour, then $15 per hour.

Is the translator known to you? Would you have the freedom to turn down the job after acceptance, if after an hour or two you discover that the quality is so poor that it will take you much too much time to proofread it? I myself have never been able to exceed 3000 words per hour, but that is when the translation is virtually error-free.


The translator is known to me. I can't reject it after accepting it. Also, I haven't actually timed my proofreading speed, my translation speed is 3000-5000 words in an 8 hour day, could that translate to a similar proofreading speed?


Olav Karlsen
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 23:57
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@José Apr 24, 2020

José Huarancca wrote:
I haven't actually timed my proofreading speed. My translation speed is 3000-5000 words in an 8 hour day.


Personally I find that, under ideal conditions, my fastest first-round translation speed is about 1/3 of my fastest proofreading speed.


 
Sandra Cravero
Sandra Cravero  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 19:57
English to Spanish
Question: don't you have or want to have a life apart from translating? Apr 24, 2020

Please, don't get me wrong. What I mean is that we should schedule ourselves for an 8-hour day of work and if the rate does not pay at least an average healthy life (I'm not even thinking of a normal life), just forget about it. That is an awful rate, based on what I said, you'll earn 42 USD per day, i.e. 5.25 the hour. You're being forced to work harder and harder to pay your bills, but your living conditions suffer the most. The question is how much longer you'll be able to keep that pace. Per... See more
Please, don't get me wrong. What I mean is that we should schedule ourselves for an 8-hour day of work and if the rate does not pay at least an average healthy life (I'm not even thinking of a normal life), just forget about it. That is an awful rate, based on what I said, you'll earn 42 USD per day, i.e. 5.25 the hour. You're being forced to work harder and harder to pay your bills, but your living conditions suffer the most. The question is how much longer you'll be able to keep that pace. Perhaps when we're young, we don't think about it, but when health issues appear, you'll realize that it wasn't worth giving away your efforts so cheap.
Hope it helps, stay safe!
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Christine Andersen
Jorge Payan
Josephine Cassar
Olav Karlsen
Sarah Lewis-Morgan
Luximar Arenas Petty
Viviane Marx
 
Stepan Konev
Stepan Konev  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 01:57
English to Russian
SDL in Russia offered me that rate for _translation_ Apr 24, 2020

Yes, you read it right, the very SDL that sells one of the most expensive software, offered me $0.015 per word for translation from English into Russian. $3.75 per hour... Not because of Pandemia, this is just their regular rate.

DZiW (X)
Adieu
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 23:57
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Sandra Apr 24, 2020

Sandra Cravero wrote:
That is an awful rate, ... you'll earn 42 USD per day, i.e. 5.25 the hour.


This is based on the assumption that José will proofread 350 words per hour.


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 23:57
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
There are many unknown factors you need to check with proofreading Apr 24, 2020

What is the customer actually expecting you to do?
Professionals try to define proofreading, editing and revising, but it is no help if the customer is not using the same definition.

Are you expected to read the translation against the source, sentence by sentence and check for meaning, or are you simply looking for small typing errors and minor details?

Are you expected to check the language for fluency and correct grammar etc. and how much will you have to chang
... See more
What is the customer actually expecting you to do?
Professionals try to define proofreading, editing and revising, but it is no help if the customer is not using the same definition.

Are you expected to read the translation against the source, sentence by sentence and check for meaning, or are you simply looking for small typing errors and minor details?

Are you expected to check the language for fluency and correct grammar etc. and how much will you have to change and correct?

Are you expected to check special terminology, or is the translator an expert in the subject field, so you can confidently accept it all? If you have to check terminology, are you an expert yourself, or will you need to spend time looking things up?

Do you have to check for consistency? - It is a big text!

All these things take time, and so-called proofreading can take many hours. I have never been able to concentrate for eight hours a day on proofreading/revising or whatever you want to call it. I have to take long breaks, or do something else part of the time if I am asked to revise a long text. People cannot work non-stop like machines!

Customers do not always appreciate how much work is involved, and it varies a lot from one text to another.

You say you cannot refuse the job, but can you negotiate the price? Use it as a learning experience, so that next time you will have a better idea of what to expect, and make sure you are paid fairly.
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José Huarancca
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Philip Lees
Zeineb Nalouti
Josephine Cassar
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
 
José Huarancca
José Huarancca  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 17:57
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I already accepted and will finish fast, but... Apr 24, 2020

I really am happy for all your responses. I accepted the task, to my chagrin. I wish I could find better paying jobs. I am quite confident in my translation skills, what I still lack is the ability to properly sell my services. Could someone be kind enough to point me to a good resource regarding that? Or just kindly point out what my profile lacks.

Again, thanks.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 22:57
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
A quarter to a third of the translation rate is common Apr 24, 2020

José Huarancca wrote:
what I still lack is the ability to properly sell my services. Could someone be kind enough to point me to a good resource regarding that? Or just kindly point out what my profile lacks

Not sure what to suggest other than webinars etc on marketing. ProZ.com runs free "Meeting Clients" webinars and Chambers of Commerce often help with marketing and negotiation. Meanwhile, start keeping statistics. It's a tiny overhead with a well-designed spreadsheet. Mine is used for my invoices (just a copy--paste needed) and payment tracking as well as automatically calculating volumes and rates per hour, income per month, etc.

Your profile is pretty good, IMHO. I think you should probably remove ES>EN as your English is great but from your sample it's clearly not native. Even if your marketing is geared 100% to EN>ES medical, nothing stops you taking on reverse-pair jobs, maybe with a proofreader. Your CV could be improved on, like most including mine, but it isn't a disaster. Maybe the ProZ Wiki would help (disclosure: I wrote it ). Your USP definitely needs to be clearer and stronger: you're a doctor who knows what he's talking about, not just a translator! Sell that!


José Huarancca
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Eric Azevedo
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:57
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
I basically agree with your point Apr 24, 2020

Sandra Cravero wrote:

That is an awful rate, based on what I said, you'll earn 42 USD per day, i.e. 5.25 the hour.


But how did you come up with the above numbers?


 
Rachel Fell
Rachel Fell  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:57
French to English
+ ...
No Apr 24, 2020

It's an abominably low rate.

DZiW (X)
Laurent Mercky
Robert Rietvelt
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
José Huarancca
texjax DDS PhD
Stepan Konev
 
Laurent Mercky
Laurent Mercky
France
Local time: 23:57
Chinese to French
+ ...
too low Apr 25, 2020

Hi,

This rate is really too low.
About me, the actual rate for proofreading is 0,025 and my clients do not ask me for a second review.
Because some clients may request you, for free, to make the job once again if he/she is able to prove you didn't made a good job. Ouch.


José Huarancca
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
There are very different "types" of proofreading Jan 7, 2021

Different clients will use it to mean anything from grammar checks on quality work to dirty MTPE... to salvage work on an amateur trainwreck of a translation that's not only below unedited MT quality, but also consistently butchers the formatting, chooses the wrong technical term every time, and mangles every single date/number/code/address in the text (which can be VERY time consuming in certain kinds of bureaucratic documents)

The rate above MAY well be A-OK if it's an easy text r
... See more
Different clients will use it to mean anything from grammar checks on quality work to dirty MTPE... to salvage work on an amateur trainwreck of a translation that's not only below unedited MT quality, but also consistently butchers the formatting, chooses the wrong technical term every time, and mangles every single date/number/code/address in the text (which can be VERY time consuming in certain kinds of bureaucratic documents)

The rate above MAY well be A-OK if it's an easy text requiring minor interventions in one sentence per paragraph. Conversely, it might also be a slave wage for a titanic undertaking.

Request samples from the middle of the document to find out.

[Edited at 2021-01-07 06:12 GMT]
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Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 23:57
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
You decide Jan 7, 2021

José Huarancca wrote:

I really am happy for all your responses. I accepted the task, to my chagrin. I wish I could find better paying jobs. I am quite confident in my translation skills, what I still lack is the ability to properly sell my services. Could someone be kind enough to point me to a good resource regarding that? Or just kindly point out what my profile lacks.

Again, thanks.


Hi Jose
You decide whether you want to set fair rates for clients and take your time to do quality work building a reputation as a reliable pro linguist, or work as quickly as possible trying to make a living for cheapo rates set by clients who don't care about quality or dropping you as soon as someone cheaper comes along.

They are two very different worlds that don't mix.

You're either in one or the other, you decide.

When you set or agree to low or fair rates, that is what you're worth.

If you decide to set fair rates, a good way to find clients imo is to pick people you want to work with (Blue board, phone directory, trade fairs, online lists of businesses, LinkedIn, etc.), contact them personally/phone them, talk to them asking if you can send your CV, and take it from there.

You can choose who to work with when potential clients contact you too, for a low or fair rate, ridiculous or reasonable deadline, whether they treat you like a person or a cog in a machine, etc.


Korana Lasić
 


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I am being offered $0.015 per word for a 22,851 word English»Spanish proofreading job, is that bad?







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