| Páginas sobre el tema: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: What percent of your available work time is booked? Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff
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Tim Drayton 
Chipre
Local time: 08:36
turco al inglés
+ ...
| Too rusty now | May 14, 2012 |
I haven't worked out of German since 2002, and, having spent years acquiring the necessary background knowledge to become a competent legal/financial specialist in Turkish-English, I do not now have the energy to start out from scratch and acquire this kind of knowledge about another jurisdiction.
Mary Worby wrote: Tim Drayton wrote:
You don't think that perhaps there is simply much more demand in the market for quality translations by native speakers of the target language at rates equating to an acceptable first-world standard of living in the Swedish to English pair than in Turkish to English?
I can't comment on the language pairs you cite, but I do know that there is still healthy demand for good-quality translation at acceptable rates from German to English, another of your language pairs!
| | | | | It varies a lot! | May 14, 2012 |
Today and tomorrow is 90%. Some six months ago, I used to be booked every Monday and Tuesday translating for a weekly Portuguese newspaper, but as the economy there is in a meltdown...
| | | | | I wavered between 90% and 100% | May 14, 2012 |
This last week it has been 100%.
Sometimes I simply don't work as many hours as I might have done earlier, or I work at other things. But I have enough offers to keep busy full time.
I don't turn down as many jobs as I did two or three years ago. But there often seems to be a lull early in the month, and a crescendo to panic at the end.
I'd better get my current jobs out of the way before the panic sets in, especially as there are two bank holidays coming u... See more This last week it has been 100%.
Sometimes I simply don't work as many hours as I might have done earlier, or I work at other things. But I have enough offers to keep busy full time.
I don't turn down as many jobs as I did two or three years ago. But there often seems to be a lull early in the month, and a crescendo to panic at the end.
I'd better get my current jobs out of the way before the panic sets in, especially as there are two bank holidays coming up. For some reason people seem to think freelance translators like extra work over holidays... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | vascillates wildly | May 14, 2012 |
Veronica Lupascu wrote:
I was very busy first 4 months of 2012, but May brought only few relatively small projects.
I enjoyed this unplanned vacation for a while, but 4 working days without any translation work is boring and starts being scary. There are periods when my time is 110% booked and periods like this one... Hope that this situation doesn't last long.
Me, too.
Glad I'm not alone.
Apparently others on this thread say the same.
I hardly slept in Jan/Feb. March still kept me very busy.
April slowed down to a more "normal" rate.
I have had almost nothing so far in May.
Here's hoping it picks up soon again.
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Sonia Hill
Reino Unido
Local time: 06:36
italiano al inglés
Generally speaking I'm always working at 100% capacity these days, despite putting my prices up.
I went through a quiet patch in October last year, which was very unusual, but since then things have gone from strength to strength. I have noticed that some agencies are sending me less work and do seem to be suffering the effects of the crisis, but others seem to have more work than ever.
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Anthony Baldwin wrote: Veronica Lupascu wrote:
I was very busy first 4 months of 2012, but May brought only few relatively small projects.
I enjoyed this unplanned vacation for a while, but 4 working days without any translation work is boring and starts being scary. There are periods when my time is 110% booked and periods like this one... Hope that this situation doesn't last long. Me, too. Glad I'm not alone. Apparently others on this thread say the same. I hardly slept in Jan/Feb. March still kept me very busy. April slowed down to a more "normal" rate. I have had almost nothing so far in May. Here's hoping it picks up soon again.
April started slowing down and it is very slow now, the pairs are different.
| | | | | Right now, I am open for new projects... | May 14, 2012 |
curiously, this half a year is fairly slow as compared with the same period of time last year... is it the manifestation of 'time of austerity'?
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 07:36
inglés al francés
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Varies here too... However, when I have extra time, I tend to read more reference material or work more slowly (and thoroughly?) which fills up 100% of my time
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| It always fluctuates | May 14, 2012 |
I've been fully booked (and overbooked) for the first 4 months of the year, and May was looking to be even busier. Instead, two projects that were to start May 2nd and 4th were postponed, so I've been taking on just smaller jobs in the meantime, while I'm waiting for the the two 40000+ word projects to be ready for translation.
The good thing is that my back now feels great after working just 3-5 hours a day for the past week and a half.
| | | | Erik Matson
Tailandia
Local time: 12:36
inglés al noruego
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The demand for Norwegian translations doesn't ever seem to diminish. I accept enough jobs to fill all my designated working hours, and then some...
I need to turn down enough projects EVERY week without exception to keep at least 2-3 more full-time translators fully occupied.
This year I finally decided it was time for another rate increase, not just to increase my earnings, but in hopes that it will decrease demand a bit. Had I known it would have so slight an effect,... See more The demand for Norwegian translations doesn't ever seem to diminish. I accept enough jobs to fill all my designated working hours, and then some...
I need to turn down enough projects EVERY week without exception to keep at least 2-3 more full-time translators fully occupied.
This year I finally decided it was time for another rate increase, not just to increase my earnings, but in hopes that it will decrease demand a bit. Had I known it would have so slight an effect, I would have increased them long ago.
Admittedly, I think this is mostly due to my primary language combination, Eng Nor. Most of my Norwegian colleagues report the same - an abundance of projects to choose from! As far as I know, the same applies to the other Scandinavian languages as well!?
This has been my experience literally since Day 1 of paying for full membership in Proz.com, when my profile consisted of little more than a name and a language pair.
Thanks again, Mr. Dotterer, for the positive impact your website has had on my life! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dave Bindon
Grecia
Local time: 08:36
griego al inglés
In Memoriam | Difficult to say | May 14, 2012 |
If 'available work time' is defined as a 40-hour week, then I have a lot of spare capacity this week.
However, I don't expect (or wish) to work all day every day. My rates are such that I can earn a reasonable living by working significantly fewer than 40 hours a week. If I redefine 'available work time' as "number of hours required in order to maintain a good lifestyle*", then my current workload is about 130%.
*I'm single, I don't run a car and I don't have expensive ... See more If 'available work time' is defined as a 40-hour week, then I have a lot of spare capacity this week.
However, I don't expect (or wish) to work all day every day. My rates are such that I can earn a reasonable living by working significantly fewer than 40 hours a week. If I redefine 'available work time' as "number of hours required in order to maintain a good lifestyle*", then my current workload is about 130%.
*I'm single, I don't run a car and I don't have expensive tastes: the income required for my good lifestyle is, no doubt, far less than that required by those of you who have to support a family, or who like champagne and caviar for breakfast every day. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 07:36
inglés al francés
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Dave Bindon wrote:
far less than that required by those of you who have to support a family, or who like champagne and caviar for breakfast every day.
or less than that required by those who live in tax-insatiable states
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Robert Forstag
Estados Unidos
Local time: 01:36
español al inglés
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| January-March: 80%; April-May: 15% | May 14, 2012 |
Data are for this year.
If I had not just signed a contract to translate a book that will keep me busy for the next two to three months, I would be in a position of grave uncertainty along the lines of that which Tim has described.
It seems to me that one formula for success is being able to work on a long-term project such as a book under a very loose deadline that allows concommitant acceptance of other work (and that also, incidentally, allows one the freedom to reje... See more Data are for this year.
If I had not just signed a contract to translate a book that will keep me busy for the next two to three months, I would be in a position of grave uncertainty along the lines of that which Tim has described.
It seems to me that one formula for success is being able to work on a long-term project such as a book under a very loose deadline that allows concommitant acceptance of other work (and that also, incidentally, allows one the freedom to reject less desirable projects). This arrangement is what has kept me afloat for the past two years.
Without having some kind of solid assurance of obtaining future work from an established client base, one is continually threatened with the kind of situation Tim now finds himself in. This has been a lurking fear of mine over the past several years, and one that I have thankfully kept at bay, at least until now.
[Edited at 2012-05-14 19:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Usually 100%, sometimes more | May 14, 2012 |
I feel for those who want more work and are not getting more at the moment.
I now seen to have a good enough client base to be busy full time. However, this means too much on some days and not enough on others.
I haven't had a really large project in years. Such a challenge would certainly be welcomed.
| | | | Robert Forstag
Estados Unidos
Local time: 01:36
español al inglés
+ ...
I am sorry for your situation, which is one that I very much identify with (see my previous post in this thread).
I'm no authority on the matter, but it seems that your calling card is that you are a native English speaker working in a language pair that has a scarcity of native-English translators. I imagine that there is a wide chasm between the quality of English you produce and that which even native Turkish speakers who are reasonably competent in English are capable of.
... See more I am sorry for your situation, which is one that I very much identify with (see my previous post in this thread).
I'm no authority on the matter, but it seems that your calling card is that you are a native English speaker working in a language pair that has a scarcity of native-English translators. I imagine that there is a wide chasm between the quality of English you produce and that which even native Turkish speakers who are reasonably competent in English are capable of.
I suppose that in many cases, what the latter produce is good enough, but there surely must be instances in which native English is an absolute must.
Two additional ideas:
1.
Having native English ought to make you an attractive candidate for translations outside of your speciality fields in which native English is an absolute must (marketing springs to mind). It seems on the face of it likely that you can seek and obtain such work without having to embark on a course of months or years of specialized study to master particular fields and vocabularies.
2.
You could offer your services as a proofreader/corrector to polish the defective translations produced by non-native English speakers. This kind of work may not be economically attractive, but could at least help keep your head above water during a particularly tough time (especially if your goal remains the realistic one of "significant improvement" rather than transforming water into wine).
I hope that better times are ahead for you!
[Edited at 2012-05-14 19:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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