| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: What do you think is the slack season in the translation industry? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What do you think is the slack season in the translation industry?".
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| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 12:46
French to English
I do notice lulls during school holidays but last August was my best ever and I have often turned big projects down simply because of holidays. December is often very busy but last year it was quiet. So I would say it's pretty random.
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It’s unpredictable. I have been translating more years than I care to admit and things have changed a lot. Some 20/30 years ago, I used to be fully booked during the first months of the year and had almost no work during the summer months. Nowadays, it varies throughout the year and doesn’t show any noticeable seasonal pattern, though I usually find myself receiving decent offers of summer work when many colleagues are taking time off. The only pattern I have noticed over the years is that a... See more It’s unpredictable. I have been translating more years than I care to admit and things have changed a lot. Some 20/30 years ago, I used to be fully booked during the first months of the year and had almost no work during the summer months. Nowadays, it varies throughout the year and doesn’t show any noticeable seasonal pattern, though I usually find myself receiving decent offers of summer work when many colleagues are taking time off. The only pattern I have noticed over the years is that a down cycle is always followed by an up cycle as if clients agreed among themselves to flood you with work at the same time just to see how resilient you are… ▲ Collapse
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Teresa Borges wrote:
I have noticed over the years is that a down cycle is always followed by an up cycle as if clients agreed among themselves to flood you with work at the same time just to see how resilient you are…
It never fails!
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It used to be January over here, but I've never had a month with such a high turnover as January 2022. There are some months when there's less translation work overall (2nd half of December, and July/August), but because so many colleagues take time off then, I usually get a lot of extra requests then.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:46
Spanish to English
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I don't really know nowadays. I used to think it would be around the end/start of the year. These days, I tend to have regular work pretty much all year round, and the days of feast and famine appear to be a thing of the past, which is nice.
| | | | Toby Wakely
Spain
Local time: 12:46
Spanish to English
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| Unpredicatable and there tends to be two slumps a year | Feb 1, 2022 |
In my experience, January and February have always been slump periods. When spring time comes the slack might continue a bit or it might pick up a lot from March onwards. There then may be a considerable workload until the summer. Things slow down in July and grind to a halt before August. So, I have the summer and winter slumps.
Having said that things do vary from one year to another. Last year June was my busiest month, followed by November.
| | | | | Unpredictable | Feb 1, 2022 |
There may be slack seasons in particular subject areas, but the whole industry is so widespread that there will rarely be a season when everything goes slack.
I remember the first couple of summers after I started working in-house, and the most experienced translator ran from job to job, thinking things would be quieter in his break from part-time teaching. ´We´ve never been so busy in August!´ The third year was just as busy, and he stopped saying it!
January is the... See more There may be slack seasons in particular subject areas, but the whole industry is so widespread that there will rarely be a season when everything goes slack.
I remember the first couple of summers after I started working in-house, and the most experienced translator ran from job to job, thinking things would be quieter in his break from part-time teaching. ´We´ve never been so busy in August!´ The third year was just as busy, and he stopped saying it!
January is the peak season for accounts and annual reports here. It probably comes in the spring in the UK, after the end of the financial year.
I translate a lot of marketing, and there are seasonal cycles, but I rarely see any actual slack season!
Christmas translations peak in the summer and early autumn, and now, as we are tired of winter, the tourist industry is dreaming of real summer holidays. I have just delivered a website about a beautiful holiday centre... out in the country with plenty of space to isolate if necessary - or to have a really big party if that is allowed!
Other things - research, legal negotiations and family law - go on all year round.
I am a generalist, and usually have lots of work! ▲ Collapse
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Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 07:46
Portuguese to English
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| The whole year | Feb 1, 2022 |
The market in Brazil is in a bad situation. Technology and the pandemic are the main causes of this. Traditionally the slow periods have been January and February (they say that nothing starts before Carnival which is usually in February - longer than that in Bahia where the people always find a reason to party) but this has got much worse over the last two years or so.
| | | | | | | None of the year | Feb 1, 2022 |
The market in the UK is in a fantastic situation. Technology and the pandemic are the main causes of this. Traditionally the slow periods have been January and February (they say that nothing starts before Easter which is usually in March/April - longer than that in Westminster where the people always find a reason to party) but this has got much better over the last two years or so.
But at least you’ve got the weather, Paul.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 06:46
German to English
| It's become unpredictable | Feb 1, 2022 |
For years I experienced seasonally-predictable increases and decreases in volume. There would be an uptick in offers from US-based agencies around the time of the ATA convention, a slowdown during the Christmas holidays, a boom during Q! and a definite reduction of offers during the summer school holidays. The situation has changed in recent years.
Normally I receive in excess of 80 assignments in aggregate per year from my main customers (in two commercially unrelated sectors, manu... See more For years I experienced seasonally-predictable increases and decreases in volume. There would be an uptick in offers from US-based agencies around the time of the ATA convention, a slowdown during the Christmas holidays, a boom during Q! and a definite reduction of offers during the summer school holidays. The situation has changed in recent years.
Normally I receive in excess of 80 assignments in aggregate per year from my main customers (in two commercially unrelated sectors, manufacturing and publishing). Logically, this should average out to at least one job per week, generally more. Last year I had no work at all for a month in the winter. The previous year I had a similar multi-week gap in the fall. Since I live within my means and also now receive monthly payments from the US Social Security Administration (American old-age pension system), a month with little or no income isn't a worry.
Predictable shortfalls due to school holidays or changes in seasonal demand can be budgeted for, but unexplained absence of projects can be a shock to the inexperienced translator hanging on by a thread. ▲ Collapse
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No special slack periods.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 13:46
Member
English to Turkish
| Whole year?!? | Feb 1, 2022 |
Paul Dixon wrote:
The market in Brazil is in a bad situation. Technology and the pandemic are the main causes of this. Traditionally the slow periods have been January and February (they say that nothing starts before Carnival which is usually in February - longer than that in Bahia where the people always find a reason to party) but this has got much worse over the last two years or so.
I'm beginning to think that the never-ending economic crisis in Brazil has nothing to do with your financial woes. I'd have thought any native English translator living in a developing country, and as intimately familiar with his source language as you are, would've turned the crisis into an opportunity and thrived on those conditions.
There must be something fundamentally wrong with your approach to the profession or your strategy in general. Are you only targeting the best rate Brazilian agencies and getting paid in Brazilian money?
| | | | John Silva
Brazil
Local time: 07:46
English to Portuguese
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| I don't know about that... | Feb 1, 2022 |
I think that the translation industry does not stop.
[Editada em 2022-02-01 18:24 GMT]
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