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How long did it take to get your first job via Proz and to get then frequent jobs?
Thread poster: Annalisa Panero
Annalisa Panero
Annalisa Panero  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 11:08
Member (2017)
German to Italian
+ ...
Dec 14, 2017



 
Vadim Kadyrov
Vadim Kadyrov  Identity Verified
Ukraine
Local time: 12:08
English to Russian
+ ...
12-20 months Dec 14, 2017

But that depends on your price per word and general marketing skills. I would strongly recommend you to go offline and search for clients IRL, since the business model of proz.com is about best rate in most cases.

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:08
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
It was a long time ago Dec 14, 2017

I really don't remember now but I went to being a paying member after about 4 months, and I wouldn't have done that without some degree of confidence.

Vadim Kadyrov wrote:
I would strongly recommend you to go offline and search for clients IRL,

So would I. You need to chase every opportunity in the early days. Visit local agencies and translation-using companies, write personalised emails to others further away, fill in application forms on agency websites, visit trade fairs, attend translation conferences, leave your business card everywhere, join translators' associations...

the business model of proz.com is about best rate in most cases.

Certainly that's the most visible aspect here, but that's only because that type of client can't keep translators, so they're ever-present on the public job board. A far greater number of jobs are offered via private job posts or by direct contacts through our profiles. My rates are pretty average - not stupidly low - and I've been getting my fill of clients here for 10 years now. I only pick up 2-3 jobs a year from the public board but many other good clients find me here.


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:08
English to Spanish
+ ...
In 2010 or 2011 Dec 19, 2017

I had been a Proz member since the mid aughts but the one time I got a lucrative job offer was in 2010 or 2011. Someone from Proz called me on my phone and asked me for permission to give my phone number to a medium-sized company looking for a software localization specialist to work onsite.

So I got a call, got the job for $40/hour. It was a 3-day stint, but all expenses were paid by the customer (hotel, car rental). Months later, the same client called me for a 3-week stint with t
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I had been a Proz member since the mid aughts but the one time I got a lucrative job offer was in 2010 or 2011. Someone from Proz called me on my phone and asked me for permission to give my phone number to a medium-sized company looking for a software localization specialist to work onsite.

So I got a call, got the job for $40/hour. It was a 3-day stint, but all expenses were paid by the customer (hotel, car rental). Months later, the same client called me for a 3-week stint with the same software company, at the same rates, because their client (the software company) liked my performance.

Encouraged by this, I paid my first year of Proz membership, but alas, that was the only job I got through Proz.

Proz, like other platforms, is a numbers game: just a free market platform for providers (bidders) and consumers (clients). I did get a couple more (but minor) job assignments in the last few years but that's it.
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Brenda Kennedy
 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:08
English to Spanish
+ ...
What's IRL? Dec 19, 2017

Vadim Kadyrov wrote:

But that depends on your price per word and general marketing skills. I would strongly recommend you to go offline and search for clients IRL, since the business model of proz.com is about best rate in most cases.


I'm unfamiliar with that acronym.


 
mughwI
mughwI
United States
Local time: 06:08
English to Spanish
+ ...
Acronyms Dec 19, 2017

IRL = In real life


Mario Chavez wrote:

Vadim Kadyrov wrote:

But that depends on your price per word and general marketing skills. I would strongly recommend you to go offline and search for clients IRL, since the business model of proz.com is about best rate in most cases.


I'm unfamiliar with that acronym.


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:08
English to Spanish
+ ...
Oh Dec 19, 2017

mughwI wrote:

IRL = In real life


Mario Chavez wrote:

Vadim Kadyrov wrote:

But that depends on your price per word and general marketing skills. I would strongly recommend you to go offline and search for clients IRL, since the business model of proz.com is about best rate in most cases.


I'm unfamiliar with that acronym.


Typing 'in real life' takes as much time as IRL, in my opinion.



 
mughwI
mughwI
United States
Local time: 06:08
English to Spanish
+ ...
Typing vs. Texting Dec 19, 2017

IKR? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Mario Chavez wrote:

mughwI wrote:

IRL = In real life


Mario Chavez wrote:

Vadim Kadyrov wrote:

But that depends on your price per word and general marketing skills. I would strongly recommend you to go offline and search for clients IRL, since the business model of proz.com is about best rate in most cases.


I'm unfamiliar with that acronym.


Typing 'in real life' takes as much time as IRL, in my opinion.



Rachael Clayton
 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:08
German to English
Still waiting Dec 19, 2017

I first registered with Proz in 2000.
The first few years after I registered I applied for jobs with no result. I stopped receiving notifications early on.

[Edited at 2017-12-19 20:52 GMT]


 
Nancy Muhammed
Nancy Muhammed
Egypt
Local time: 12:08
Arabic to English
+ ...
Long time Dec 20, 2017

I have been here for a long time.
I still haven't gotten my first job yet, which makes me wonder ... Do I have to be a premium member to get hired? cause most translators I know say it does.


 
John Fossey
John Fossey  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 06:08
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
6 months Dec 20, 2017

I got my first job via the Proz.com job board, way back in the 2000s, after about 6 months. As others have said, it was a pricing game - the lowest price gets it. I have had more jobs since via my profile, revealed by visitor records which show that sometimes a new client that appears out of the blue has left digital tracks in the profile visitor records.

But Proz.com has never been a steady or frequent source of jobs. That was obtained rather by contacting potential clients directl
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I got my first job via the Proz.com job board, way back in the 2000s, after about 6 months. As others have said, it was a pricing game - the lowest price gets it. I have had more jobs since via my profile, revealed by visitor records which show that sometimes a new client that appears out of the blue has left digital tracks in the profile visitor records.

But Proz.com has never been a steady or frequent source of jobs. That was obtained rather by contacting potential clients directly - first agencies, because they are easy to reach although lower paying, then end clients, a slower but better paying process.
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JessicaGrimm
JessicaGrimm  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:08
English to German
+ ...
Credentials and certified skills Dec 20, 2017

I always browse through the translator directory in the languages I'm looking for and the profiles with the "certified pro" stamp show up earliest - Don't know if that costs anything extra....

Best of luck!


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:08
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
@ Kevin Dec 20, 2017

Kevin Fulton wrote:
I first registered with Proz in 2000.
The first few years after I registered I applied for jobs with no result. I stopped receiving notifications early on.

Erm... If you're actually wanting to find jobs here then it might be worth turning on at least some of those notifications again. And it might be high time to change your user message (on your profile) too. That, along with the number of years of translation experience, may well be putting potential clients off .


 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:08
German to English
@ Sheila Dec 20, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:
Erm... If you're actually wanting to find jobs here then it might be worth turning on at least some of those notifications again. And it might be high time to change your user message (on your profile) too. That, along with the number of years of translation experience, may well be putting potential clients off .


I gave up on Proz as a job source long ago after losing a bid on a large job for which I had in-depth/scholarly knowledge, and for which I offered 1/3 of my usual rate, because I believed in the project. Despite my current user message, I still receive unsolicited job offers with rates I charged back in the early 1980s. Apart from terminological topics, I'm here mainly for the entertainment value.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:08
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
As long as you're aware :). Dec 20, 2017

Kevin Fulton wrote:
Despite my current user message, I still receive unsolicited job offers with rates I charged back in the early 1980s.

I just wondered if you'd forgotten you'd set things that way. I only noticed a while back that I was telling everyone who emailed me through the site that I was unavailable due to being on holiday. Fortunately, I'd said when I'd be back (which was many months ago) so it was obvious that it was out of date.

Of course you'll get those messages wanting insanely low rates and short deadlines. They never look at anything in our profiles anyway! I get loads of them - even asking for languages I can't even say "hello" in! Those are just spam. But I also get some really good clients contacting me through my profile, who have read everything in it.


 
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How long did it take to get your first job via Proz and to get then frequent jobs?






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