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Poll: How do you feel about the deadlines on your jobs in general?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Aug 29, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How do you feel about the deadlines on your jobs in general?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:33
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In general, deadlines are more than ample enough for me Aug 29, 2019

My regulars know me quite well and what I can and can't do. If a new client comes with an unreasonable deadline there are only two options: reject or negotiate…

Adam Warren
Philippe Etienne
Liena Vijupe
Gibril Koroma
Anna Herbst
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
ahartje
 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:33
Member
English to French
More than ample enough Aug 29, 2019

But there's a catch: a lot of deadlines, each individually more than ample enough, translate into tight deadlines.
2k in 4 days + 1 k in 2 days + 4k in 4 days + 3k in 3 days = 10k in 4 days.

Philippe


 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:33
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
About right Aug 29, 2019

I don't accept jobs with tight deadlines.

Jan Truper
Philippe Etienne
Jenni Tuhkanen (X)
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maja_K
Kay Denney
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 15:33
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Other Aug 29, 2019

I take on a wide mix of jobs. Some have tight deadlines, but my clients know me, and we do the best we can. Most of them are good at setting reasonable deadlines, and then it is up to me to organise my time.

Last week I spent a day rushing small files out for press releases and Social Media posts: there was an emergency, when a company had to keep customers informed. There were new developments, and finally the problem was solved, so the client had to keep sending out new messages -
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I take on a wide mix of jobs. Some have tight deadlines, but my clients know me, and we do the best we can. Most of them are good at setting reasonable deadlines, and then it is up to me to organise my time.

Last week I spent a day rushing small files out for press releases and Social Media posts: there was an emergency, when a company had to keep customers informed. There were new developments, and finally the problem was solved, so the client had to keep sending out new messages - in several languages.
I was only translating into English, and I really admired the project manager who efficiently handled the business in the background! Fortunately, some people are much better than I am at doing several things at once.

In the real world, things may go fast, and a text is barely written before it is needed for a conference, a court case, a product presentation… situations change, and everything has to be rewritten.
It is no use the translator making a fuss about short deadlines in those situations. Next day, the translation may be useless.

In other situations, if the deadline is too short, it is simply bad planning, or because the client does not realise that real translation takes time.

If the deadline is too tight, I tell the client. I help them when I can, or try to negotiate a longer deadline. In the end, it is the agency's problem, not mine - that is why I work for agencies!
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R. Alex Jenkins
R. Alex Jenkins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:33
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
General feelings... Aug 29, 2019

One of my petty gripes with the translation world over the last four to five years has been this:

- Dear All, ...
- 50,000 words in 24/48 hours.

Due to increased competition, scarcity of work and attempts to remain competitive, more and more agencies are sending out catch-all emails with crazy deadlines.

If you can't meet the deadline, don't accept the work, especially if you're playing buzzer beater with other service providers.

Cheers!


Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Christine Andersen
Kevin Fulton
Elaine Ruby
 
Ventnai
Ventnai  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:33
German to English
+ ...
Negotiate Aug 29, 2019

I usually negotiate deadlines if they don't fit and it usually works

Christine Andersen
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Philippe Etienne
Chris Spurgin
 
Gibril Koroma
Gibril Koroma  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 10:33
French to English
+ ...
They are about right Aug 29, 2019

They are about right, very reasonable. I also try not to bite more than I can chew. Not good for business.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Aug 29, 2019

Mostly OK. The majority of my clients know that they're not my only customer, so they tend to ask me to agree to deadlines, rather than trying to impose them on me. I usually ask for a long enough deadline so that I can deal with all the work that comes in, although I always try to deliver ASAP. For example, I might tell a client seven days, but then deliver in 2 or 3.

The only issue I sometimes have is with the one agency I occasionally collaborate with. Sometimes they, or their cl
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Mostly OK. The majority of my clients know that they're not my only customer, so they tend to ask me to agree to deadlines, rather than trying to impose them on me. I usually ask for a long enough deadline so that I can deal with all the work that comes in, although I always try to deliver ASAP. For example, I might tell a client seven days, but then deliver in 2 or 3.

The only issue I sometimes have is with the one agency I occasionally collaborate with. Sometimes they, or their client, want the translation or revision done too quickly, so I have to refuse. I've explained my modus operandi to them, and they try to be as flexible as possible whenever they can.
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Philip Lees
 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:33
German to English
+ ...
Other - given deadlines are not always a given Aug 29, 2019

My clients ask my by when I can have a job done. If there is a genuine urgent situation, or a time sensitive situation they need me to know about, they tell me. I am not given deadlines, so I have no feelings about them.

 
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:33
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Variable Aug 29, 2019

Usually the deadlines are just right or a bit over that. I have one client who has very long deadlines (say 3 days for 1000 words) and had another with extremely tight deadlines - to the extent that when I said I would have to delay the job for medical reasons (admitted to hospital) they fought with me instead of letting me subcontract the job or take longer.
I am doing a job right now, 7k words in 6 days, appears to be an easy deadline but the work is literary and often have to research o
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Usually the deadlines are just right or a bit over that. I have one client who has very long deadlines (say 3 days for 1000 words) and had another with extremely tight deadlines - to the extent that when I said I would have to delay the job for medical reasons (admitted to hospital) they fought with me instead of letting me subcontract the job or take longer.
I am doing a job right now, 7k words in 6 days, appears to be an easy deadline but the work is literary and often have to research or choose the best words very carefully.
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Barbara Cochran, MFA
Barbara Cochran, MFA  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
Open-Ended Deadlines Preferred Aug 29, 2019

I have done my best work as a literary translator when the author has allowed me to have an open-ended deadline.

These kinds of translations, like any kind of literary writing, need to be reworked at least a few times before the final product can approximate the most accurate interpretation/expression.

[Edited at 2019-08-29 22:59 GMT]


 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 15:33
French to English
. Aug 30, 2019

The deadlines I accept are mostly ample.
I do take on emergencies, but if I feel that quality may be compromised I explain this. It's the lead-up to why I'll do the job only at an emergency rate: pay me more so I'm prepared to sacrifice some time I didn't intend to spend on work. Then the client will take it or leave it, either way I'm happy.


Iwona Budzynska MCIL
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 11:33
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Mostly agreed upon Aug 30, 2019

The deadlines proposed by my clients are usually agreed upon and/or very acceptable.
You usually inform regular clients how many words you are able to translate per day when you register for the first time as one of their translators.
In other cases, you include the required term in your quote, and the clients only agrees with it.
In cases when the client determines a deadline and it's not feasible, I simply say I can't do it and renegotiate or decline.


Elizabeth Tamblin
 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 15:33
English to Italian
right Sep 1, 2019

They can be tight or ample, they are usually the result of an agreement

 
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Poll: How do you feel about the deadlines on your jobs in general?






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