Websites for freelance translators
Thread poster: 2690984 (X)
 2690984 (X)
2690984 (X)
Mar 18, 2019

Hello all,

I have a quick question: does anyone have experience working with the website Freelance.com. I'm new to the online job searching and I've been exploring websites for freelancers. I find Upwork and also Proz very good websites (although I have still to explore Proz in more depth -- a lot of information here!), however, I've had only unusual experiences with Freelancer so far and I have become a bit skeptical. On the hand, it seems the site works well for other users taking
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Hello all,

I have a quick question: does anyone have experience working with the website Freelance.com. I'm new to the online job searching and I've been exploring websites for freelancers. I find Upwork and also Proz very good websites (although I have still to explore Proz in more depth -- a lot of information here!), however, I've had only unusual experiences with Freelancer so far and I have become a bit skeptical. On the hand, it seems the site works well for other users taking into consideration their work/gig history.

I would appreciate any inputs.

Thank you so much,
Carla
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Sara Massons
Sara Massons  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 02:31
Member (2016)
English to French
+ ...
I tried and gave up Mar 18, 2019

Hello Carla and everyone,

I tried freelancer.com when I started as a freelance translator. I deleted my account after two years with no job at all from this site. Besides, I found it really complicated to use, I received a lot of unrelevant offers and I could find no help on how to improve my profile or anything. I think this site is well designed for freelance developers or designers but not at all for linguists.

Besides, proZ is a real good one. Today, I still have a
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Hello Carla and everyone,

I tried freelancer.com when I started as a freelance translator. I deleted my account after two years with no job at all from this site. Besides, I found it really complicated to use, I received a lot of unrelevant offers and I could find no help on how to improve my profile or anything. I think this site is well designed for freelance developers or designers but not at all for linguists.

Besides, proZ is a real good one. Today, I still have a profile on one or two other sites but proZ is my main one and far higher in quality and contact frequency.

I hope this helps.
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2690984 (X)
Sheila Wilson
KHALDUN ALQAYSI
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Noé Samain
Dmytro Nehrii
Balvir Chand
 
 2690984 (X)
2690984 (X)
TOPIC STARTER
I just cancelled my Freelancer.com Mar 18, 2019

Hi Sara,

Thank you so much for getting back to my post. I have just deleted my account on Freelancer.com as I didn't feel comfortable on the site anymore -- too many suspicious activities.

I will stick with Upwork and ProZ for now

All the best and thank you again!

Carla


KHALDUN ALQAYSI
Noé Samain
Daniela Duarte
 
Yoana Ivanova
Yoana Ivanova  Identity Verified
Estonia
Local time: 03:31
English to Bulgarian
+ ...
Just to pitch in Mar 18, 2019

I had an account there once, deleted it after a while. Never got a job on there and it was full of scammers, I really don't recommend it. Upwork is better.

Daniela Urso
2690984 (X)
Daniela Duarte
 
 2690984 (X)
2690984 (X)
TOPIC STARTER
I hear you, Yoana! Mar 18, 2019

That's what made me uncomfortable: the feeling of being surrounded by scammers!

KHALDUN ALQAYSI
 
KHALDUN ALQAYSI
KHALDUN ALQAYSI
United Arab Emirates
Local time: 05:31
English to Arabic
+ ...
I did not benefit from it Mar 19, 2019

I subscribed to the website but did not benefit from it. I got the feeling that it is very general.

so please use other professional websites like this website Proz.com

Are you familiar with the Translatorscafe.com website? It is very good too, I think.

I wish you the best of luck, Carla!


2690984 (X)
Daniela Duarte
 
 2690984 (X)
2690984 (X)
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Mar 20, 2019

Thank you for the wishes of good luck, Khaldun! I wish the same to you as well. In fact, to all of us here:)!

And also thank for letting me know about Translatorscafe.com. I will check it out!

My best,
Carla


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 02:31
Member
English to Italian
Upwork? Mar 20, 2019

Maybe I'm wrong, but based on what I remember reading, you have to pay them a cut of what you earn; the site is not geared toward translation work, so you can't basically state your fee (esp. per word/line/page); there's some kind of weird system whereby the time you spend working is recorded/logged or something(?); and on top of that, most clients are only willing to pay peanuts.

Don't know if the above is all accurate (please correct me if I'm wrong), but if it is, it smells of bo
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Maybe I'm wrong, but based on what I remember reading, you have to pay them a cut of what you earn; the site is not geared toward translation work, so you can't basically state your fee (esp. per word/line/page); there's some kind of weird system whereby the time you spend working is recorded/logged or something(?); and on top of that, most clients are only willing to pay peanuts.

Don't know if the above is all accurate (please correct me if I'm wrong), but if it is, it smells of bottom feeder sweatshop from 10 miles away...

As for better alternatives to proz, I really wish there were... especially something able to attract the interest (and actually "guarantee" the satisfaction of the needs!) of end clients and possibly curb the often excessive or plainly ridiculous demands coming from (and IMO "educate") some of them (e.g. home audits, unlimited liability, IP breach liability toward third parties, etc.).
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2690984 (X)
Robert Forstag
Natasha Ziada (X)
Andy Watkinson
Morano El-Kholy
 
 2690984 (X)
2690984 (X)
TOPIC STARTER
Agree! Mar 20, 2019

Hello Mirko,

You're right: not all of the clients, but the majority on Upwork wants to pay very little. I am new to the online freelance translation world, and so far, Upwork and ProZ are what I found to work best. You're also correct regarding Upwork not being geared for translations only; the website aims gigs for freelancers in general.

Best,
Carla


Daniela Duarte
 
Sara Massons
Sara Massons  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 02:31
Member (2016)
English to French
+ ...
another stone on the wall Mar 22, 2019

Hello again,

I agree about Upwork but my data may be outdated. I would also advice to avoid "Star or Service" who send tons of offers for no contract at all and you have to pay before you can answer an offer.

On the other side, I still use Translators cafe and translators pub from time to time. I did not try their paying account but I can find some reasonable offers there.

I also sometimes receive offers from the Across community (one of my first end client
... See more
Hello again,

I agree about Upwork but my data may be outdated. I would also advice to avoid "Star or Service" who send tons of offers for no contract at all and you have to pay before you can answer an offer.

On the other side, I still use Translators cafe and translators pub from time to time. I did not try their paying account but I can find some reasonable offers there.

I also sometimes receive offers from the Across community (one of my first end client works with across so I'm bound to use it as well).

[Edited at 2019-03-22 09:15 GMT]
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Jazmin Guzman
Jazmin Guzman
Mexico
Local time: 19:31
English to Spanish
+ ...
Upwork Mar 22, 2019

I don't know about Freelance.com but I used to have an Upwork account whose is one of the general websites used by new freelancer translators to find projects. Upwork could be a good way to start practicing more on your expertise fields while getting some money, but also is well-known for it's low pay (unless you find a good client that willing to pay a fairly for your work).

 


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