| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] | Not a single job in the whole year - normal? Thread poster: Batichtchev
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 01:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| It's hardly surprising (sorry, have to be blunt) | Aug 13, 2018 |
Batichtchev wrote:
A top notch translator with over 25 years of experience in the Translation Service of the United Nations. One year of paid membership on this site.
Not a single job.
Well, paid membership gives you access to certain features that non-paying members might not get, and paid membership boosts your profile's position in search results, but it's still up to you to make sure that your profile page convinces potential clients.
1. Use a photograph (not the default image). This can be your face, or your logo, or any picture that looks appealing.
2. Use your real name. Or, if you don't want to use your real name, use a catchy brand name or nom de plume.
3. Have at least two sample translations of around 300 words each. No client will believe that he can judge your translation skill based on one sentence.
4. The fact that your diploma is listed as "mslu" instead of e.g. "MSLU" tells clients that you can't be bothered with using capital letters properly.
5. The text "English to Russian (United Nations Translators` Course)" on your profile page uses the wrong type of apostrophe. You're telling potential clients that you don't care to use proper punctuation.
6. Your bio is too short, and it implies that you are actually not actively seeking translation work (it lists you as "retired"). Some people join ProZ.com not to get jobs but to participate in translation related activities, and saying that you're "retired" puts you in that category.
7. There are several issues with your résumé/CV. Even if you had somehow made the top 3 of my shortlist, I would have rejected you after seeing your résumé.
7.1 Spacing issues: space after opening quote is completely unacceptable in English; space before comma is totally unacceptable in English; space before fullstop is an absolute deal-breaker in English.
7.2 Punctuation issues (e.g. "Florida. USA" instead of "Florida, USA."). You used double spaces in mid-sentence several times (once even 3 consecutive spaces in mid-sentence). You used hard (non-breaking) spaces in places where they serve no purpose, and so appears to be accidental.
7.3 Inconsistency: in one place you write "translation/self-revision" and in another place you write "translation / self-revision"; in one place you write "President of the UN General Assembly" and in the very next line you write "President of the GA UN".
7.4 Odd wording. I realise that English is not your native language and that you're not claiming to translate into English, but that is no excuse for having a poorly written English résumé/CV.
All of that said, even if your profile page was very good and your résumé/CV was excellent, you might still not have gotten any jobs via ProZ.com. A profile page at ProZ.com should be just one tool in your marketing strategy. But in your case you actually shot yourself in the foot.
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
| Houston, are we really having a funny problem here? | Aug 13, 2018 |
Alexei, if one is allegedly good at or associated with something, it doesn't automatically imply others would see it clear without relevant info, let alone everybody should bow and scrape before him. So, what was your initial purpose of utterance, I wonder?
Shortly:
1) You’re retired, so in the long term perspective your performance will go down;
2) For about a year you’ve been out of the translation biz--in a foreign country, so your qualification and skills may be ... See more Alexei, if one is allegedly good at or associated with something, it doesn't automatically imply others would see it clear without relevant info, let alone everybody should bow and scrape before him. So, what was your initial purpose of utterance, I wonder?
Shortly:
1) You’re retired, so in the long term perspective your performance will go down;
2) For about a year you’ve been out of the translation biz--in a foreign country, so your qualification and skills may be tempered too;
3) You can afford living almost a year without translation, so it’s about part-time projects at higher rates;
4) You asked about services ( http://www.proz.com/professional-membership#pricing ), so you naively bought a Pro membership without learning about the benefits first, which confirms you are but a poor businessman;
5) You did work in-house, so you’re not a competent freelancer (yet);
6) As for "missing jobs", according to your personal page and CV, you seem unable to adequately present yourself as a specialist, so your chances are rather slim;
7) Also you seem to be aggressively defending yourself against colleagues’ answers and questions, so why asking if there’s no point in replying at all?
. . .
And Samuel is talking too: you're just one of the topnotch specialists and the ProZ is but one of possible sources
[Edited at 2018-08-13 09:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 01:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Some additional comments | Aug 13, 2018 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
Your CV should be a list of facts, not a bio. So it needs to give details of subject areas and volumes translated, other skills, CAT tools and other IT knowledge ...
Although I agree that résumés that list those things are useful in the freelance translator world, I feel that it is perfectly all right to use the "bio" style résumé, as long as the résumé does it's job: to impress the reader.
Alistair Gainey wrote:
I can see where Tina's coming from. In the 'Expertise' section in your profile, you say you specialize in [various things, which] doesn't reflect what you've put in your CV.
I see several participants in this thread believe that the subject fields listed under "Expertise" in one's profile page should be reflected in one's bio or résumé, but I don't quite agree. I see nothing wrong with discrepancies here.
After all, the subject fields listed under "Expertise" actually reflect the types of jobs that the translator would like to appear for in search results. Proz.com forces us to call such subject fields "specialisms" even if they aren't.
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
You worked ...
You have worked as ...
You have done ...
That still provides no information about the subject matters in which you are proficient.
I see your point, Nikki, but some clients do get swayed by name dropping.
It may seem odd to most of us that when asked about his experience, Mr. Batichtchev responded by stating mostly whom he translated for instead of what he translated, but there are clients out there who would make a decision based on who you worked for/with as opposed to what you've worked on.
We should not unduly criticise Mr. Batichtchev for that, for he comes from an environment (United Nations) where who's whos say more about one's capability than what's whats.
==
Batichtchev wrote:
25 years in the United Nations Translation Service - is not a "marketing message" strong enough?
But... you're not using it as a "marketing message". You simply mention it.
If you want to use it as a market message then you have to repeat it in places where potential clients will see it. For example, your profile page does not contain a tagline, and "25 years in the United Nations Translation Service" would be an excellent tagline. Why did you choose not to use a tagline?
Batichtchev wrote:
The very last thing that was on my mind when I started this thread - asking for help.
Sorry if we misunderstood the purpose of your post. I also thought that you were asking for advice.
Batichtchev wrote:
I do not want to make any secret of my professional record either. ... Absolutely no secret at all.
None of the information mentioned in that post appear in your profile page, and little of it is mentioned in your résumé, so clients don't know it. From a marketing perspective, you're "keeping it a secret" (-:.
[Edited at 2018-08-13 10:13 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:07
Member (2008)
Italian to English
It beats me why a guy with that CV is creeping around Proz looking for translating work. Something doesn't smell right.
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DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
| NORMalization: just a matter of time | Aug 13, 2018 |
Alexey, and what are you going to do with the answers so far?
It beats me why a guy with that CV is creeping around Proz looking for translating work. Something doesn't smell right. Tom, as far as Alexey said his question "Not a single job in the whole year - normal?" required no pieces of advice, I think some training courses may help him turning out for the best.
On the other hand, rather many recent pensioners instead of helping their children and putting their affairs in order, still cling to any work--not only because of money, but also to feel useful and important; or just not to fall mad.of idleness.
Perhaps, it's not infamous 'old dogs vs new tricks' ranting, yet no guarantees
| | | | B D Finch
France
Local time: 01:07
French to English
+ ...
| Advertise your incompetence and expect work? | Aug 13, 2018 |
Tom in London wrote:
It beats me why a guy with that CV is creeping around Proz looking for translating work. Something doesn't smell right.
Samuel Murray has already gone through this guy's CV and profile in detail, picking out the problems and giving some good advice. However, I note that Mr Batichtchev's responses to people's helpful advice tends to be dismissive. Looking at his profile, one of the first things an agency or outsourcer would look at would be the sample translations posted. Mr Batichtchev has posted just one sample translation, comprising the single sentence: "26 years of work in the Russian Translation Service of the United Nations. UNHQ, New York". One can only hope that the Russian translation of that sentence was brilliant. His translation education "Graduate diploma - mslu" apparently failed to teach him either to use upper case for acronyms or to help the reader by giving the full title when an acronym might not be familiar.
I note from Mr Batichtchev's resumé:
"Acted as translator at the meeting of Mr.Ganev (President of the GA UN) and Mr. Bush (President of the USA)."
That should be impressive, right? Well, no, it isn't:
1. Interpreters, rather than translators, tend to work at meetings;
2. "... the meeting of ..." - Surely they had more than one meeting during their terms of office?
3. "Mr.Ganev" - No space after "Mr.";
4. "President of the GA UN" rings alarm bells: wrong word order and "GA" instead of "General Assembly";
5. "Mr. Bush" - Which one? Wouldn't it be usual to use "President" rather than "Mr." as his honorific?
It's quite an achievement to have five danger flags in one short sentence!
The better agencies and outsourcers using ProZ to find translators don't simply post jobs. Often, rather than posting jobs at all, they use the site to find translators whom they approach directly. They look not only at profiles, but also at people's contributions on the site, whether in KudoZ or forums, and use the information both to find good people and to blacklist people who would just be trouble, whether because of incompetence or attitude problems.
Tom, you have a good nose!
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 01:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| I assume good faith, but poor precision | Aug 13, 2018 |
B D Finch wrote:
1. Interpreters, rather than translators, tend to work at meetings;
2. "... the meeting of ..." - Surely they had more than one meeting during their terms of office?
...
5. "Mr. Bush" - Which one?
Personally, I would not second-guess the factual information presented in Alexey's résumé. Translators do work at meetings (not only interpreters), and I assume that "the" meeting refers to the 1992 meeting.
I also feel that some of us are a little too hard on Alexey, to the point of nitpicking. Second-guessing a translator's ability to do e.g. automotive translation simply because he did not work at an automotive institution is a bit over the top, if you ask me. And unlike Tom, I do not judge a translator's bona fides because he had worked at an institution that I may have feelings about. What matters is whether the translator is a good translator, and whether it is clear from his work.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 00:07
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Being hard is only to be expected, in this case | Aug 13, 2018 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
I also feel that some of us are a little too hard on Alexey, to the point of nitpicking. Second-guessing a translator's ability to do e.g. automotive translation simply because he did not work at an automotive institution is a bit over the top, if you ask me. And unlike Tom, I do not judge a translator's bona fides because he had worked at an institution that I may have feelings about. What matters is whether the translator is a good translator, and whether it is clear from his work.
I dare say it is harsh, but we didn't start off like that, did we? Several of us were happy to give the poster the benefit of our advice, and spent time doing it. Rather belatedly, he said he hadn't wanted any! When everything that was said got ignored or rejected posters started to feel a bit miffed. Not surprising, really.
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Batichtchev
United States
Local time: 19:07
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
With all due respect. The ultra short introductory/marketing message " 26 Years at UN RTS" was intentional and well calculated. It is intended for those who know what it means. Only.
The one who KNOWS what it means - is my client/customer.
If a person or agency is not familiar with the concept of Brand Name - it is not my client.
If a person or agency does not know the difference between "26 years at RTS" and "school kid with dictionary in his kitchen in Moscow" - it is not my... See more With all due respect. The ultra short introductory/marketing message " 26 Years at UN RTS" was intentional and well calculated. It is intended for those who know what it means. Only.
The one who KNOWS what it means - is my client/customer.
If a person or agency is not familiar with the concept of Brand Name - it is not my client.
If a person or agency does not know the difference between "26 years at RTS" and "school kid with dictionary in his kitchen in Moscow" - it is not my client.
If a person or agency does not know difference between Lexus and Kia or between MeBe and Hyundai - it is not my client.
MY CLIENT knows that I am the ONLY person who can do his particular job.
Others? - It is not their fault that they are at a level where the concept of Brand Name is not known.
I have never had an intention to compete with those desperate poor souls in Moscow or Kiev who beat each other to death to get those 2 c/w jobs.
I am not a competition for them.
And they are not a competition for me. Because none of them will ever be able to do what I can do - with my school, experience and unique competence. We can co-exist. Peacefully. We are created for different clients and different requirements. You have nothing to worry about, my dear friends.
For MY CLIENT a message " 26 years at UN RTS" is more than sufficient and adequate.
But all the inputs and great ideas are well appreciated too. Thank you, folks! You are very great! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | Batichtchev
United States
Local time: 19:07
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 01:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| @Batichtchev | Aug 13, 2018 |
Batichtchev wrote:
The ultra short introductory/marketing message "26 years of work in the Russian Translation Service of the United Nations. UNHQ, New York" was intentional and well calculated. It is intended for those who know what it means. Only.
I agree with your sentiment: one should craft one's profile page to draw only those types of clients that one wants to work for.
But this brings us back to your original question, doesn't it? "Why didn't you get any clients in one year?" It could be because (a) none of your targeted clients ever visited your profile page, or (b) some of your targeted clients did visit your profile page (and understood your secret message), but were otherwise unimpressed with what they saw.
[Edited at 2018-08-13 21:51 GMT]
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| ... and I know it! | Aug 13, 2018 |
Batichtchev wrote:
The one who KNOWS what it means - is my client/customer.
If a person or agency is not familiar with the concept of Brand Name - it is not my client.
If a person or agency does not know the difference between "26 years at RTS" and "school kid with dictionary in his kitchen in Moscow" - it is not my client.
If a person or agency does not know difference between Lexus and Kia or between MeBe and Hyundai - it is not my client.
MY CLIENT knows that I am the ONLY person who can do his particular job.
Others? - It is not their fault that they are at a level where the concept of Brand Name is not known.
For MY CLIENT a message " 26 years at UN RTS" is more than sufficient and adequate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyx6JDQCslE
... but who else knows it?
Thank you, folks! You are very great!
[Bearbeitet am 2018-08-13 22:47 GMT]
| | | | Cheong Park
South Korea
Local time: 08:07
Member (2018)
English to Korean
| What I wonder is | Aug 14, 2018 |
Are those 20-30 times' application is all you have done for a whole year? I'm a newbie now, and I do the same amount in a day. Not only using this platform but also seeking out hundreds of thousands of companies out there and sending them one-on-one email regardless of the possibility.
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
| overqualified gentleman--at large | Aug 15, 2018 |
Alexey, let's assume you don't really care about missing jobs in the whole year and intentionally used lax bio/CV with some pigeon language to attract very specific/dedicated clients with 2+ c/w. Let it be.
While I agree that CV/presentation should be attractive and short, your info is neither specific, nor informative, let alone it's boring and difficult to read implicatives; just an obfuscated tombstone.
However, doesn't it imply either you're just overqualified, or the "Not a single job in the whole year - normal?" topic is but your self-advertisement--to attract those secret clients, yep?
It's a pity I still can't get your initial point (if any), let alone now I can't help thinking about adding some occult keywords FOR MY CLIENTS to look and even become the...
[Edited at 2018-08-16 17:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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