| Pages sur ce sujet: < [1 2 3] | Poll: Are you comfortable with bidding on jobs that require three or more references? Auteur du fil: ProZ.com Staff
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564354352 (X) 
Danemark
Local time: 13:25
danois vers anglais
+ ...
| I said 'no', but | Jun 11, 2012 |
... in actual fact, I would bid on any job I fancied regardless of the specified requirements. If I should ever happen to see an interesting job on ProZ.com that matches my interests and specialty fields, I would not worry for a minute about the requirement for references (that I would not supply). Sadly, I have yet to see such interesting jobs here at a rate that I would find interesting.
It's not so much that I feel 'uncomfortable' about bidding on jobs that require references, I ... See more ... in actual fact, I would bid on any job I fancied regardless of the specified requirements. If I should ever happen to see an interesting job on ProZ.com that matches my interests and specialty fields, I would not worry for a minute about the requirement for references (that I would not supply). Sadly, I have yet to see such interesting jobs here at a rate that I would find interesting.
It's not so much that I feel 'uncomfortable' about bidding on jobs that require references, I just can't be bothered with the fuss and come to think of it, would not dream of bothering my clients to write references for me. As many others here, I am a qualified, experienced translator, and I'm beyond the stage where I feel the need to prove myself to potential clients. I will submit a CV if asked and refer to my website, which clearly states all they really need to know about me.
Besides, I worked 7 years for a translation agency before going freelance, and never once did we ask the hundreds of freelancers working for us to provide references. My boss considered the only logical thing to do when testing new translators to have their first translations checked by other, trusted translators. She also considered it 100 % her part of the deal to foot the bill for trying out new translators, which I am beginning to understand is quite a rare quality for an agency owner. On some occasions, we would ask potential translators to send us samples of their work, which we would then either assess ourselves or, again, ask trusted translators to assess. I understand that many people here would consider it a breach of confidentiality to submit samples of their work, but what we found was that often, translators were able to alter client-revealing parts of the texts, or if they so chose, they could simply translate any text of their own choosing and send that to us. That worked quite well... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Yes, absolutely, for the right job | Jun 12, 2012 |
I recently bid on an open tender from a public institution that required multiple references. Of course I offered references.
Would I do the same for a random, unsolicited job proposal? Unlikely. But unlike many people here, I'm certainly not adverse to offering references for those who have a demonstrable need.
| | | | | Faulty thinking | Jun 12, 2012 |
Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote:
When you hire a lawyer or accountant do you ask for a reference?
[Edited at 2012-06-11 11:25 GMT]
Yes, of course you do. You ask where they went to law school, or whether they are a certified accountant. Those are references, of a sort. Many translators lack such accreditation and thus might reasonably be asked for professional references.
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 12:25
portugais vers anglais
+ ...
| Word of mouth or accreditation | Jun 12, 2012 |
Steven Sidore wrote: Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote:
When you hire a lawyer or accountant do you ask for a reference?
[Edited at 2012-06-11 11:25 GMT] Yes, of course you do. You ask where they went to law school, or whether they are a certified accountant. Those are references, of a sort. Many translators lack such accreditation and thus might reasonably be asked for professional references.
You ask a lawyer where they went to law school? Golly, I have to say, it's something that wouldn't even cross my mind. I base such decisions on word of mouth or accreditation through a Google search. A reference is worthless, who is going to put forward a referee liable to give a bad reference?
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Ana Naglić
Croatie
Local time: 13:25
Membre (2005)
anglais vers croate
+ ...
Somehow, agencies (allegedly) bidding for large EU projects are often looking for references + experience - some of them even asked for my invoices in order to "track my experience in the field".
I couldn't believe how far they are ready to go - my invoices are confidential to all but my client, my accountant and tax authorities.
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