| Pages sur ce sujet: < [1 2 3 4] > | Aren't these agencies taking too far? Auteur du fil: Helena Grahn
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Helena Grahn 
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 12:09
anglais vers portugais
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AUTEUR DU FIL | once again folks | Oct 18, 2010 |
this was an unpaid test
| | | | Romeo Mlinar
Portugal
Local time: 12:09
anglais vers serbe
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Helena Grahn wrote:
Got an email saying unfortunately my translation was not approved by their proofreader. When I asked them to show me the correction, for no reason whatsover, they are not allowed to disclose it. Fishy!
Just thank them for "their time" and move on... Ignore them completely and be happy you discovered how unprofessional they really are.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Pays-Bas
Local time: 13:09
Membre (2006)
anglais vers afrikaans
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| Agree with Emma | Oct 18, 2010 |
Helena Grahn wrote: Emma Goldsmith wrote:
I think that if it was just a test, it is reasonable for the agency to say that it wasn't good enough without having to provide a reason or a detailed list of errors. It would be nice if they give you some specific feedback, but I don't think you can expect it. This has to do first of all with politeness and being professional. If they make you waste your time with something, they should at least show you why they do not agree with you.
No, I agree with Emma on this. If this was a test translation, then it would have been nice if they told you why your work wasn't up to scratch, but unless feedback was agreed to during negotiations, they are under no professional obligation to provide feedback. I can think of several reasons why not giving feedback on a test translation can be a good policy (for the agency).
Let this be a lesson for you: if you want feedback on a test translation, make sure the client agrees to give it before you start translating the test translation.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Pays-Bas
Local time: 13:09
Membre (2006)
anglais vers afrikaans
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| PP and Blue Board | Oct 18, 2010 |
Payment Practices (PP) and the Blue Board have the same rule about whether you're allowed to post a comment on a client -- if you haven't done paid work for the client, you can't post a comment about the client.
And PP isn't free (but neither is the Blue Board). And in fact, the Blue Board allows much more free style comment than PP does (PP is restricted to telling you whether a client is a good/bad payer, and any user comment not related to payment issues is likely to be deleted by the moderator).
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Angela Dickson (X)
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 12:09
français vers anglais
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| Agree with Emma | Oct 18, 2010 |
Helena Grahn wrote: Emma Goldsmith wrote:
I think that if it was just a test, it is reasonable for the agency to say that it wasn't good enough without having to provide a reason or a detailed list of errors. It would be nice if they give you some specific feedback, but I don't think you can expect it.
I'm not saying that your translation wasn't up to scratch, but I just think that a test isn't the same as a paid job. AFAIK you can't post a Blueboard entry about negative feedback on a test. Or am I wrong?
This has to do first of all with politeness and being professional. If they make you waste yr time with something, they shud at least, show you why they do not agree with you. It does give a very bad image of their almighty lazy way of working.
I agree with Emma. There's no reason why they should give you feedback on your test, unless you explicitly agreed this with them beforehand. There could be any number of reasons why your work does not fit with what they're looking for and/or why they don't want to use your services in future, and they are not obliged to explain to you what these reasons are.
I'd ignore them and move on to more realistic prospects. You chose to do a test for free; these can sometimes lead to fruitful collaboration, but it ain't necessarily so.
| | | | Helena Grahn
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 12:09
anglais vers portugais
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AUTEUR DU FIL | Well you are both wrong Ema and Samuel, just look at what I found | Oct 18, 2010 |
Hi all,
Recentely, in responce to my quote, I was asked to do a free test translation and, after I completed the test (I don't know whether my test was approved or not yet), the agency asked to evaluate other translators who did the same test (anonymously). I am hesitant about doing this for ethical reasons - the whole situation means that my test will too be evaluated by my direct competitors and I don't expect much objectivity in this situation. Did this happen to any of you and what do ... See more Hi all,
Recentely, in responce to my quote, I was asked to do a free test translation and, after I completed the test (I don't know whether my test was approved or not yet), the agency asked to evaluate other translators who did the same test (anonymously). I am hesitant about doing this for ethical reasons - the whole situation means that my test will too be evaluated by my direct competitors and I don't expect much objectivity in this situation. Did this happen to any of you and what do you think of this situation?
Taken from another forum
Can something be more unprofessional and contradictory? Agencies for you!!!!!! This can't be serious.
I do work with very serious and established agencies and I know the difference when one is not acting as expected. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Emma Goldsmith
Espagne
Local time: 13:09
Membre (2004)
espagnol vers anglais
| Etienne Kouakou
États-Unis
Local time: 07:09
Membre (2010)
anglais vers français
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| It was UNPAID! | Oct 18, 2010 |
Ok, I missed the fact that this was unpaid work. Well, in this case, they can make any claim about your work, but I guess a little feedback would be nice.
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Speranza
Local time: 13:09
espagnol vers russe
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| Nothing fishy or unprofessional here | Oct 18, 2010 |
That they "are not requesting a marked up document from the reviewer, only an evaluation" does not mean "they are not allowed to disclose it": it means there's nothing to disclose. The agency has a trusted reviewer who looks through the tests and tells the PM which candidate, in his/her opinion, is the best without further details. This is pretty common when time is tight and the reviewer has a reputation for making good choices.
Moreover, it is not necessarily a case of "you transl... See more That they "are not requesting a marked up document from the reviewer, only an evaluation" does not mean "they are not allowed to disclose it": it means there's nothing to disclose. The agency has a trusted reviewer who looks through the tests and tells the PM which candidate, in his/her opinion, is the best without further details. This is pretty common when time is tight and the reviewer has a reputation for making good choices.
Moreover, it is not necessarily a case of "you translated three words incorrectly and used awkward sentence structures twice": you may indeed have done an excellent job, but chances are the agency received several great test translations and only needs one translator for this project. Rejection happens; you may boil the agency's pet rabbit to show them how wrong they were, or you may deal with it and move on. If free samples are a waste of time rather than a marketing tool in your book, perhaps you should reconsider offering them. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Helena Grahn
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 12:09
anglais vers portugais
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AUTEUR DU FIL | Just that, Emma? | Oct 18, 2010 |
you dont think they shud give any feed back? No need to say why? Yes, lol, that is at least consistent.
By the way, why donät u try with this?
I don't think the agencies shud pay
I don't think agencies shud give ya a test (and Im not gonna say why either because I do not need to)
Yes, Emma the other forum has a lot to do with what I am saying. It is just the way things are being done and that doesn't come to the surface many times, only when ... See more you dont think they shud give any feed back? No need to say why? Yes, lol, that is at least consistent.
By the way, why donät u try with this?
I don't think the agencies shud pay
I don't think agencies shud give ya a test (and Im not gonna say why either because I do not need to)
Yes, Emma the other forum has a lot to do with what I am saying. It is just the way things are being done and that doesn't come to the surface many times, only when someone decides to put it in a forum. But of course, I wouldnt have to explain that either. Why give a feedback to someone, right? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Emma Goldsmith
Espagne
Local time: 13:09
Membre (2004)
espagnol vers anglais
| Please don't quote the opposite of what I have said | Oct 18, 2010 |
Helena Grahn wrote:
you dont think they shud give any feed back? No need to say why? Yes, lol, that is at least consistent.
My precise words in my first post were:
It would be nice if they give you some specific feedback
Right, having clarified what I actually said, I'll return to the topic at hand.
I have submitted many tests over the years and there are invariably 2 outcomes:
Either my test is accepted and I get the job, or I don't hear anything from the agency. Of course, in the second case, I presume that the rate I have quoted is too high for the agency, not that my test is of poor quality. Naturally, we all think our tests are good quality otherwise we wouldn't send them in
| | | | Kate Chaffer
Italie
Local time: 13:09
Membre (2009)
italien vers anglais
| Agencies very often don't respond at all! | Oct 18, 2010 |
Hi Helena,
I don't agree that this agency was unprofessional. I think that it was actually nice of them to let you know that you had been unsuccessful. I've done a few test translations and I've never heard back from an agency to say I'd been unsuccessful. They either sent me work or I heard nothing at all from them. Have you always had feedback from your test translations before?
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| Strictly speaking | Oct 18, 2010 |
Hello Helena,
I'm sorry for your experience, but there is just one point: the test was unpaid. As others pointed out, a little feedback would be nice, but is not enforceable by any means.
If that agency uses your competitors to evaluate your test, you can cast a little doubt at the way they work, but that's basically all you can do.
My question is: would you like to work for an agency after this experience? There are plenty of other agencies out there. Simply forg... See more Hello Helena,
I'm sorry for your experience, but there is just one point: the test was unpaid. As others pointed out, a little feedback would be nice, but is not enforceable by any means.
If that agency uses your competitors to evaluate your test, you can cast a little doubt at the way they work, but that's basically all you can do.
My question is: would you like to work for an agency after this experience? There are plenty of other agencies out there. Simply forget and move on. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Colin Ryan (X)
Local time: 13:09
italien vers anglais
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| The other side of the coin... | Oct 18, 2010 |
I once proofed tests for a client agency, for a specific big translation job.
One of the tests was so unutterably bad - as some wag once said, "This isn't right... this isn't even wrong!" - that not only was the translator not hired, but we added their name pre-emptively to our blacklist of disqualified translators.
But of course we didn't tell the translator that. You can probably figure out why.
Not wishing to imply that YOUR test was bad, Helena; just... See more I once proofed tests for a client agency, for a specific big translation job.
One of the tests was so unutterably bad - as some wag once said, "This isn't right... this isn't even wrong!" - that not only was the translator not hired, but we added their name pre-emptively to our blacklist of disqualified translators.
But of course we didn't tell the translator that. You can probably figure out why.
Not wishing to imply that YOUR test was bad, Helena; just wishing to point out that agencies often have a reason for what they do. Or don't do.
[Edited at 2010-10-18 15:28 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Helena Grahn
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 12:09
anglais vers portugais
+ ...
AUTEUR DU FIL | just wishing to point out that agencies often have a reason for what they do. Or don't do. | Oct 18, 2010 |
well, then why hide their results for proofreading?
I would be delighted to compare it with mine
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