| Număr de pagini: < [1 2 3] | Please, more chances for non-members to submit bids! Inițiatorul discuției: Paul Dixon
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Andrea Riffo 
Chile
Local time: 05:55
din engleză în spaniolă
+ ...
| Using Proz to one's advantage | Jan 4, 2007 |
Hello, Paul and Ruxi!
In keeping with the original subject (giving non-members more chances to bid on jobs), I agree it is hard and it is why I purchased partial membership.
I also come from a developing country and, believe me, Proz costs are not cheap to me (which is why I temporarily chose partial membership only). It is obviously a circle, as you have pointed out: no money to afford full/partial membership means not getting jobs, which in turn means not having the ... See more Hello, Paul and Ruxi!
In keeping with the original subject (giving non-members more chances to bid on jobs), I agree it is hard and it is why I purchased partial membership.
I also come from a developing country and, believe me, Proz costs are not cheap to me (which is why I temporarily chose partial membership only). It is obviously a circle, as you have pointed out: no money to afford full/partial membership means not getting jobs, which in turn means not having the money to buy membership (eternal loop).
However, I understand too that Proz is a business and as such, needs to support itself. Who supports Proz? Paying members, so I cannot rightfully demand that they lose the privileges (such as quoting immediately) they have paid for.
Still, -and this has been stated before- bidding on jobs is not the only way to find work and Proz gives non-paying members other (free) ways to gain visibility that it seems to me you are not taking advantage of: one of these is using keywords that represent your habilities/experience and make you easy to find in Google, et al.
Writing a handful of keywords (or zero) is not enought; think of every possible word related to that subject. "Legal", you say? Add "law", "contracts", "patents", and whatever specific legal fields you work in, and do so in your source and target language. Search engines -and therefore, potential clients- will have a much easier time finding you.
Another way is setting up an attractive "about me" section of your profile. Unlike the old one, the new format allows us to show only what we want to and can thus create a personal website-like page using basic html.
Now, regarding Ruxi's question about where to get the money from, I have been wondering for some time... I belong to other (non-translation) sites/communities that have a "membership gift" option, meaning that people can purchase 3, 6 or 12-month memberships (stating their names or anonymously, whichever they prefer) for other members and that has worked pretty well for them. I wonder if Proz has ever thought of setting up a feature such as this?
Greetings all!
Andrea
[Edited at 2007-01-04 16:37] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mulyadi Subali
Indonezia
Local time: 16:55
Utilizator
din engleză în indoneziană (bahasa Indonezia)
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| networking, charity works | Jan 5, 2007 |
Ruxi wrote:
There is something else I can not understand:
People who are already platinum members (or many of them at least) claim that they actually have a lot of jobs outside ProZ, so they don't bid on jobs. Then why not give chances to other users to bid and get jobs, so that they have a good start on the market?
Did you ever meet people who play instruments on the street (some with a lot of talent) and collect money this way?
Well how could translators do it similarly? It would be interesting!
the best thing for this would be networking. you can contact your fellow translators and collaborate with them. start a group, hold a powwow, etc. which is too bad that there's never been a powwow in my country, cmiiw.
as for comparison with the 'street artists/musicians', as with other jobs/professions, you can perform 'charity/free' works at first to get some exposure. i did that when i was still in high school. if this can make you feel better, you can regard this as promotion...
| | | | Samuel Murray
Ţările de Jos
Local time: 11:55
Membru (2006)
din engleză în afrikaans
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| Can't you use Browniz? | Jan 5, 2007 |
Paul Dixon wrote:
My suggestion is that more time should be given before jobs are closed, so that people who are not Platinum have time to make their bids.
I was under the impression that non-members can top up their Browniz via credit card and then use those points to bid on jobs. Was there ever such a feature? Does it exist?
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| @ Ruxi (and a bit @ Paul Dixon, too) | Jan 5, 2007 |
Hi Ruxi:
Even though it may be obvious, I want to start by saying that each beginning as a translator can be different, but probably *never* easy in general.
If you at least have access to the Internet, as I already commented before (which is also obvious), the Internet web as a whole is an amazing resource not only for finding work, but for finding useful information that you can then use for many things, including work.
I think one of the problems is, as... See more Hi Ruxi:
Even though it may be obvious, I want to start by saying that each beginning as a translator can be different, but probably *never* easy in general.
If you at least have access to the Internet, as I already commented before (which is also obvious), the Internet web as a whole is an amazing resource not only for finding work, but for finding useful information that you can then use for many things, including work.
I think one of the problems is, as Andrea rightly commented, that sometimes we don't know how to *fully* take advantage of what the Internet offers, including what Proz.com offers. But even if we learn a little bit about it, it is a continuous learning process, because this technology is constantly developing.
I would like to encourage you to exhaust as much as possible all your access to the Internet and all you have available *for free* both in the Internet and in Proz.com, but not just the job bids, which are like a "short-cut" to work, but which offer very little chances of succeeding at it, due to the number of equally qualified people who compete against you.
Here in Proz you can find lots of useful tips, from how to search terms or use Google to how to best "market" yourself, etc. etc.
Don't underestimate sending again and again convincing emails (there are many Internet web sites that tell you how to write "convincing" cover-letters) to offer your services to all the companies you can listed in the Blue Board (and here is, btw, where the browniz other people offered you would be very useful, because if you don't have membership, you can check companies' record/information by "paying" with browniz). But you can also look for many other company lists available in other Internet sites, not only in Proz.com.
Most likely, this email letter-sending works on the principle of statistics: the more you try, the more chances you will have. If you send 100 emails and do not get any reply, don't get discouraged. You might have to send 1000 (or more) before you get the one reply you were looking for. Again, if you have access to the Internet and thus to email, sending this is basically "free".
On the other hand, don't forget that even the Internet is not going to give you *all* you need in terms of work. Be creative about job door-calling. I am sure a lot of us started as translators when the Internet was not so useful or had just started. Offering your services in person or by phone to companies/people in your neighborhood or city/surroundings is another way of networking, etc. etc.
About your question, I think it is a bit unfair to indirectly consider platinum members' advantages when quoting for jobs (even if they have found work out of Proz.com) as an "obstacle" to others' (beginners/non-paying members) chances.
Again, as Andrea commented, having the possibility of paying for such kind of advantages is just the way the business world works in some cases and, being a freelance translator, you probably need to learn at least a little bit to play by the rules of the business world, because you are in theory a "microbusiness" yourself.
About freelancers who have "too much work" sharing their work with beginners to help them, my personal experience is that outsourcing work to someone requires both full trust and a minimum guarantee of work quality from the person to whom you outsource.
When I have outsourced, I have had both good and bad experiences, so I now tend to be extremely careful about this.
As an anecdote, I can tell you, for example, that in a couple cases one "colleague" tried to "steal" my client, while in another case a "colleague" simply delivered unacceptable work, on which I had to spend tons of time redoing it. But I also had a couple of really positive experiences, so, as usual, you have all kinds of possibilities.
Thus, don't get discouraged if other colleagues feel the same way about outsourcing because of similar reasons. You need to prove to them, just like you need to prove to a company, your validity/quality and seriousness as a translator.
In short (oops, my message got a bit long!), maybe I sound a bit "simplistic", but believe me when I say that at least I speak based on my own experience.
My sincere best wishes to you,
Ivette
[Edited at 2007-01-05 16:22] ▲ Collapse
| | | | BelkisDV
Statele Unite
Local time: 05:55
din spaniolă în engleză
+ ...
| About bidding | Jan 5, 2007 |
I know there are translation online sites who don't even allow their clients to view your profile, let alone bid for a job.
So I agree with most, you pay, you play. I rarely bid on a job, but the ones I've gotten through ProZ are clients contacting me through my ProZ page.
Regards,
Belkis
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