Poll: How many projects do you generally do in a month?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jul 25, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How many projects do you generally do in a month?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 00:02
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Jul 25, 2019

So far this month I’ve done 24 projects, but the number is always variable, some months I have a lengthy series of little projects, other months I have just one or two very long projects. What I really, really, like is having a long term project with a comfortable deadline and in parallel handling a good bunch of shortish projects …

Sabine Braun
Elizabeth Tamblin
Sheila Wilson
Olavo Nogueira
Christine Andersen
Philippe Etienne
Muriel Vasconcellos
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 00:02
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Definition of project? Jul 25, 2019

I have one client who sends 20-30 files every month, all for the same end client. If each one is a project, then the total per month is far higher than if you consider the lot as one project. Thankfully, I don't invoice for each one separately - one line for each on a monthly invoice is far more efficient.

DZiW (X)
Andy Watkinson
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 01:02
Spanish to English
+ ...
I don't keep track Jul 25, 2019

Prithee, fine Sir, what is this "project" of which ye speak? Oh, you mean jobs…

But seriously folks, after a couple relatively quiet months, July is turning out to be one of my busiest this year - I had to refuse offers of work from two agencies, and my regular clients keep sending me stuff. I've done over 10k all in all for my best client, and some stuff from others. Even though I'm supposed to be sort of on holida
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Prithee, fine Sir, what is this "project" of which ye speak? Oh, you mean jobs…

But seriously folks, after a couple relatively quiet months, July is turning out to be one of my busiest this year - I had to refuse offers of work from two agencies, and my regular clients keep sending me stuff. I've done over 10k all in all for my best client, and some stuff from others. Even though I'm supposed to be sort of on holiday, looking after my daughter's place and cat while she is away...

[Edited at 2019-07-25 11:10 GMT]

I don't usually keep count of how many jobs I've had, but I just counted the ones from my main client, and there have been 33 files in total this month, with a total of roughly 10,600 words. The file sizes vary between 32 and 2224 words. It's all grist to the mill. I can't be bothered counting up the other jobs I've done this month, but this should give you a rough idea. I suppose I could count all the jobs from my main client as one "project"… But I don't.
I also do translations for the same client on their online platform, but keeping count of it all is such a hassle that I just bill them for it every six months, so that I only need to do the admin twice a year instead of every blessed month.

[Edited at 2019-07-25 11:22 GMT]

[Edited at 2019-07-25 11:23 GMT]
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Andy Watkinson
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 01:02
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
It varies a lot Jul 25, 2019

neilmac wrote:

Prithee, fine Sir, what is this "project" of which ye speak? Oh, you mean jobs…



Somewhere between zero and twenty… depending what you call a 'project'.
It sounds a very fancy designation for a little file of 54 words, for which I charge my minimum fee, but that is next on my worksheet.

I suppose a book, which extended over three months this spring, but actually amounted to six weeks' solid work, was quite a project, as it involved a fair amount of research and coordination of terminology and dialogue. Maybe also the last job I delivered, about the Berlin Wall and the preceding history, could be called a project.

But most of the time I do more or less straightforward jobs, and it would be far too exhausting to take on more than a couple of the type I call projects in a month.


 
MollyRose
MollyRose  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:02
English to Spanish
+ ...
Number of documents Jul 25, 2019

As in-house translation specialist, the past month I did at least this much:

Reviewed 38 document translations
Translated at least 82 pages
Revised (with track changes) a 15-page template (source language), and they listened!
Addressed at least 2 important errors in source documents (e-mails to various people back and forth) and shared results with the rest of the translators


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:02
Member
English to French
2069 Jul 25, 2019

over the past 8 full years 2011-2018 from 39 different agency clients, of which 21 have ordered 3 jobs or less.
How many invoices? 434
Formal quotations? 20

And a 6-digit income only.

Lemme see... That's between 21 and 22 per month.

2019: between 30 and 31 per month. Average value smaller alas.
And bleeding 47 mostly small jobs in July. Maybe a record for me.

For me a "project" is a paid job (file or set of files) with a deadl
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over the past 8 full years 2011-2018 from 39 different agency clients, of which 21 have ordered 3 jobs or less.
How many invoices? 434
Formal quotations? 20

And a 6-digit income only.

Lemme see... That's between 21 and 22 per month.

2019: between 30 and 31 per month. Average value smaller alas.
And bleeding 47 mostly small jobs in July. Maybe a record for me.

For me a "project" is a paid job (file or set of files) with a deadline.

5 jobs/month would be ideal if they kept me fully busy the whole time.

Philippe
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Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 20:02
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Many Jul 25, 2019

More than 20 for sure, but only because the clients/agencies call anything a "project", even a small file with less than 100 words. I don't quite agree with that. In my opinion, a project is something larger, well organized, with a couple of features that don't apply to just any translation. But it has become regular in our market to call a 10-word document to translate a "project", so what can I do?

Christopher Schröder
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 16:02
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Jul 25, 2019

I tend to get long jobs. This last month I did 32,629 words, but it was only 3 jobs. My actual average number of jobs this year has only been 2, but there were months when the number was higher. Last year I had a month with 8 jobs. Some are easy; some are very hard. My latest job is an 88-page technical manual for MDs on obstetric emergencies. It's badly written and difficult to figure out what the author(s) intended to say -- and it's a subject on which I don't want to make any mistakes!

 
MollyRose
MollyRose  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:02
English to Spanish
+ ...
I wanted to edit my post but it wouldn't let me Jul 26, 2019

I wanted to add that I also went to interpret for about 4 meetings during the past month, along with the rest of the stuff I wrote.

 


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Poll: How many projects do you generally do in a month?






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