| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | How is it possible to make a decent living when working at the low rates offered by some agencies? Thread poster: Andrew Howarth
|
|---|
Tony Keily
Local time: 01:57
Italian to English
+ ...
Ice Scream wrote:
Now my kids have gone, I could survive on 5 cents a word, 10,000 words a week, 45 weeks a year, no problem.
The KIDS. Now there's a luxury I should have known I couldn't afford. My pair are a financial black hole. Good people, mind.
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:57
Serbian to English
+ ...
| You are right, but | Feb 21, 2022 |
Laurent Di Raimondo wrote:
Given your language combination, which may offer high-paying jobs, the answer to your question is a resounding "no".
If I were in your shoes, I would stay away from this kind of so-called "translation agencies", which are mushrooming across the world and killing the profession from day to day. You should ignore them instead of chase them.
Could ever the vast majority of translators do likewise, instead of accepting to prostitute themself for a bundle of peanuts, it would have never come to your mind to post this topic... That's offer which creates demand, not the contrary. The more prostitutes dragging the market with low rates, the more clients offering more lower rates, and so on. That's as simple as that...
Pulling prices downwards has never proved to be a long-term paid-off strategy. For any profession.
[Modifié le 2022-02-08 09:05 GMT]
There is also an other element. The theoretical premises of "perfect availability of information" and "freedom to negotiate" all sound very nice, but are in fact just that - theoretical wishful thinking.
In the real world, the whole system is set in a way that for most translators there is a huge imbalance in negotiating power between the agency and the translator. Not helped by the improved worldwide access to other translators. Nor by the fact that the vast majority of translators are pretty poor negotiators.
Can't see much reasons for optimism.
| | | | Michael Newton 
United States
Local time: 19:57
Japanese to English
+ ...
| "How is it possible...." | Feb 21, 2022 |
Quite simply, it isn't. Ditch the agencies and cultivate private clients.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Peter Motte wrote: Tom in London wrote: Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
......on certain types of texts, you can be more productive if you use a CAT tool.... Only a few types. 90% of the time I find that after running a text through a CAT tool I still need to work very hard before it becomes presentable as a translation. I wonder what kind of texts you do. I've taken a look at your specialities, but that doesn't give a clue.
try looking at my "Portfolio" section
| | |
|
|
|
Gabriella Vento
United States
Local time: 16:57
Member (2015)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
| Not easy for sure | Feb 21, 2022 |
In my language pairs (to and from Hungarian) 0.06 EUR or 0.07 USD is mostly accepted, but the amount of work is not enough to live even near comfortably. Rents start at 1,500 USD in the San Diego area, where I live. Outsourcers offer long payment terms, as 30-45 days, to make their company financially more stable, which is - in many cases - equal to an interest free loan that the freelancers forced to provide. Not to blame them though; They do because they can.
I guess, the way is to find ... See more In my language pairs (to and from Hungarian) 0.06 EUR or 0.07 USD is mostly accepted, but the amount of work is not enough to live even near comfortably. Rents start at 1,500 USD in the San Diego area, where I live. Outsourcers offer long payment terms, as 30-45 days, to make their company financially more stable, which is - in many cases - equal to an interest free loan that the freelancers forced to provide. Not to blame them though; They do because they can.
I guess, the way is to find the direct clients; for contact info of those I'd give half of my kingdom, lol...
(Note: I translate ONLY Hungarian.) ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I guess the trend is worlwide | Feb 22, 2022 |
Hi. This thread caught my attention because I’ve recently been asking myself the same questions.
For more context, I am a trained translator at the outset of my career, I’ve been working for barely eight months now. I work from Benin, Africa which is an ideal place to live off translation rates as low as $0.04 (I guess) given that living standards aren’t that high. Heck, people live decently on less than $600 per month here which is more than what the government pays some of ... See more Hi. This thread caught my attention because I’ve recently been asking myself the same questions.
For more context, I am a trained translator at the outset of my career, I’ve been working for barely eight months now. I work from Benin, Africa which is an ideal place to live off translation rates as low as $0.04 (I guess) given that living standards aren’t that high. Heck, people live decently on less than $600 per month here which is more than what the government pays some of its agents. You can even rent a decent apartment here for about $200 per month. So yes, some people do live off such rates. Depends on where you live and the life standards of your country.
Starting out, I made sure to look up the rates for my language combination (EN-FR) and knew how much I had to offer agencies and direct clients ($0.09 per source word). Funny enough, most agencies would turn down my offer or significantly lower the rates and this made me feel like it might be part of some location or race discrimination. I felt so bad I didn’t put up my profile picture for months until a recent suggestion by Proz.com Facebook CM, Andrew Morris as part of a better marketing approach.
Your post and the comments to it actually helped me notice low rates are now a general trend and that our profession is going through uneasy times. I already knew it was the case in my local market, I just didn’t know it cut across internationally.
I hope my answer helps confirm the trend is general as your question helped me notice it. It’s such a relief for me because I am now confident low rates coming from agencies aren’t necessarily due to some kind of discrimination against me and that I shouldn’t settle for lower than I offer in terms of services. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
However, also be advised that rates of ~0.09 are meant to generate annual incomes of $50-100k.
Don't spend TOO much time fighting for premium prices on small jobs.
Settling for work-for-food rates is indeed undesirable, but also don't let haggling over a couple cents in solidarity with high-expense, high-tax Western colleagues stand between you and a very comfortable upper-middle-class (or full-on upper-class) lifestyle.
It's not your fault your mortgage mi... See more However, also be advised that rates of ~0.09 are meant to generate annual incomes of $50-100k.
Don't spend TOO much time fighting for premium prices on small jobs.
Settling for work-for-food rates is indeed undesirable, but also don't let haggling over a couple cents in solidarity with high-expense, high-tax Western colleagues stand between you and a very comfortable upper-middle-class (or full-on upper-class) lifestyle.
It's not your fault your mortgage might well cost less than our personal health insurance.
Noble Adounkpe wrote:
Hi. This thread caught my attention because I’ve recently been asking myself the same questions.
For more context, I am a trained translator at the outset of my career, I’ve been working for barely eight months now. I work from Benin, Africa which is an ideal place to live off translation rates as low as $0.04 (I guess) given that living standards aren’t that high. Heck, people live decently on less than $600 per month here which is more than what the government pays some of its agents. You can even rent a decent apartment here for about $200 per month. So yes, some people do live off such rates. Depends on where you live and the life standards of your country.
Starting out, I made sure to look up the rates for my language combination (EN-FR) and knew how much I had to offer agencies and direct clients ($0.09 per source word). Funny enough, most agencies would turn down my offer or significantly lower the rates and this made me feel like it might be part of some location or race discrimination. I felt so bad I didn’t put up my profile picture for months until a recent suggestion by Proz.com Facebook CM, Andrew Morris as part of a better marketing approach.
Your post and the comments to it actually helped me notice low rates are now a general trend and that our profession is going through uneasy times. I already knew it was the case in my local market, I just didn’t know it cut across internationally.
I hope my answer helps confirm the trend is general as your question helped me notice it. It’s such a relief for me because I am now confident low rates coming from agencies aren’t necessarily due to some kind of discrimination against me and that I shouldn’t settle for lower than I offer in terms of services.
[Edited at 2022-02-22 15:51 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Maybe I should move to Cameroon...
| | |
|
|
|
Paul Lambert
Sweden
Local time: 01:57
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| I can't relate | Feb 23, 2022 |
Yes, indeed I have received offers for such appalling rates. I just refuse them. On to the next decent offer.
It would be hard to live off the low rates you are all discussing, but I am surprised that this topic comes up so often. There is definitely an impression going around outside of our industry that translation is a low-paid profession, but I just don't get it. I have made more money as a freelance translator than at any other job I've had.
I am not saying this to... See more Yes, indeed I have received offers for such appalling rates. I just refuse them. On to the next decent offer.
It would be hard to live off the low rates you are all discussing, but I am surprised that this topic comes up so often. There is definitely an impression going around outside of our industry that translation is a low-paid profession, but I just don't get it. I have made more money as a freelance translator than at any other job I've had.
I am not saying this to boast, either. I don't have any magic bullet or inside secret that most others don't have. What is it that I am doing right that others are doing wrong? (for a change in my life in general) ;0) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Paul Lambert
Sweden
Local time: 01:57
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Noble Adounkpe wrote:
Hi. This thread caught my attention because I’ve recently been asking myself the same questions.
For more context, I am a trained translator at the outset of my career, I’ve been working for barely eight months now. I work from Benin, Africa which is an ideal place to live off translation rates as low as $0.04 (I guess) given that living standards aren’t that high. Heck, people live decently on less than $600 per month here which is more than what the government pays some of its agents. You can even rent a decent apartment here for about $200 per month. So yes, some people do live off such rates. Depends on where you live and the life standards of your country.
Starting out, I made sure to look up the rates for my language combination (EN-FR) and knew how much I had to offer agencies and direct clients ($0.09 per source word). Funny enough, most agencies would turn down my offer or significantly lower the rates and this made me feel like it might be part of some location or race discrimination. I felt so bad I didn’t put up my profile picture for months until a recent suggestion by Proz.com Facebook CM, Andrew Morris as part of a better marketing approach.
Your post and the comments to it actually helped me notice low rates are now a general trend and that our profession is going through uneasy times. I already knew it was the case in my local market, I just didn’t know it cut across internationally.
I hope my answer helps confirm the trend is general as your question helped me notice it. It’s such a relief for me because I am now confident low rates coming from agencies aren’t necessarily due to some kind of discrimination against me and that I shouldn’t settle for lower than I offer in terms of services.
Hi Noble,
Frankly, whether low rates are due to discrimination or just the natural trends in our industry should not make a difference to *you*. Low rates are low rates, and you still need to pay your bills, whether your clients are bigots or not. There is no relief in finding out that penny-pinching clients are open-minded in other respects.
However, if in the future you find geography to be a problem, you may want to consider (after a while) registering as a company with a virtual office in some other country. It is not that expensive and pretty easy to do. I won't advertise any particular provider, but rather put forth the idea. Having a business address in London, New York, Paris, Berlin etc is (rightly or wrongly) more prestigious than, say, in Ouagadougou, Harare, Kabul, Tashkent or Gaborone. It might come down to prejudice in some cases. You just have to contend with that. Whatever the motivations of clients, I promise you that you will not have to settle for such low rates if your client knows your business is based in a rich country. Make a rich-country living and pay the low living costs in your own country. Then you've got it made.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Paul Lambert wrote:
Yes, indeed I have received offers for such appalling rates. I just refuse them. On to the next decent offer.
It would be hard to live off the low rates you are all discussing, but I am surprised that this topic comes up so often. There is definitely an impression going around outside of our industry that translation is a low-paid profession, but I just don't get it. I have made more money as a freelance translator than at any other job I've had.
I am not saying this to boast, either. I don't have any magic bullet or inside secret that most others don't have. What is it that I am doing right that others are doing wrong? (for a change in my life in general) ;0)
The Scandinavian languages are paid much better than others.
| | | | Paul Lambert
Sweden
Local time: 01:57
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| Perhaps an opportunity. | Feb 23, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
The Scandinavian languages are paid much better than others.
I guess there is always that.
Tell you what, Tom, if you have the inclination, become fluent in one Scandinavian language and then you can (with much help of dictionaries and technical glossaries) translate all three Scandinavian languages. If you learn Swedish, for instance, you will not be good speaking and listening to Danish or Norwegian, but printed texts will be manageable. It will take practice, sure, but if we are talking about making a decent amount of money in this business, it might be a good investment of your time.
| | |
|
|
|
| Northern plights | Feb 23, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
The Scandinavian languages are paid much better than others.
But Scandinavian translators have much higher living costs. Swings, roundabouts.
A more significant factor to my mind is that Scandinavian clients are less likely to take the mick on pricing than the British and others. Although the Swedes are rapidly heading in that direction.
| | | | Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 16:57
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
| Scandinavian rates | Feb 23, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
The Scandinavian languages are paid much better than others.
I’m contacted regularly by agencies that haven’t gotten the message.
| | | | Frederik Bossee
Belgium
Local time: 01:57
Member (2013)
German to Dutch
+ ...
Jan Willem van Dormolen wrote:
Short answer: it is not.
Just stear away from those agencies. They're bad news.
I reacted to a job post the other day. Gave my rate for translation. Told them I was willing to negotiate on the rate.
Their reply: would you reconsider your rate and be willing to work for € 0,025 / word?
Think they misunderstood the negotiation part.
Or maybe ... I can accept, run their text through Google Translate and deliver that. Quality meets price.
[Bijgewerkt op 2022-03-18 13:51 GMT]
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » How is it possible to make a decent living when working at the low rates offered by some agencies? | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
