| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4 5 6] > | Keep Getting Ghosted By Agencies After I Submit My Test. Should I Keep Trying to Be a Translator? Thread poster: David McAlpine
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Hey guys thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm a new translator -as in I haven't had a paid gig yet- and I'm kind of struggling with my confidence as I have been getting ghosted a bunch; let me explain. I've been trying to be a translator for about 5 months now and I've been building my portfolio by translating articles, and through Proz I've been getting contacted by agencies. They will be very receptive at first, responding very quickly, then the moment I submit the test they send me th... See more Hey guys thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm a new translator -as in I haven't had a paid gig yet- and I'm kind of struggling with my confidence as I have been getting ghosted a bunch; let me explain. I've been trying to be a translator for about 5 months now and I've been building my portfolio by translating articles, and through Proz I've been getting contacted by agencies. They will be very receptive at first, responding very quickly, then the moment I submit the test they send me they immediately stop responding. They don't say I failed, they just stop responding. This has happened the past 3 times in a row and I've taken it to heart as I'm not quite sure what to expect as I am newbie. I'm also still largely unaware of the industry standards, causing me to second guess all my actions down to weather the emails I write sounding professional enough.
My language pair is Chinese to English. I've been studying the language for 10 years and went to university in China. I've been feeling disheartened because even though I've devoted much of my adult life to this skill yet I feel like its still not good enough and I'm never going to be as good as a native Chinese speaker no matter how hard I try. I was under the mistaken assumption that native English speakers who learned Chinese would be in demand, but as time has been going on I can't help but worry I've thrown my life away.
So I wanted to reach out and ask if any of you had some advice? Should I keep trying to be a translator? Or is my language pair too hard? Is it too hard to get started in 2022? Also are there any other Chinese to English translators on this forum? What was your experience becoming a translator?
Thanks in advance for your response. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Hard to know | Sep 15, 2022 |
Two possibilities:
1. Your test was rubbish and you need to give up
2. It was fine and they just haven’t needed you yet
Solution: Stick with it. Meanwhile get someone experienced to look at your work and see if it’s OK.
| | | | | Implement in your tests... | Sep 15, 2022 |
...the usual spelling and grammar errors you find in translations into English produced by non-native speakers of English (in your case: translators from China): Then your contact won't "lose his face" (because you, as a native speaker of English, are clearly unbeatable in English). It's just a cultural matter, I believe. Don't try to be better in your native language than your prospective client, to keep harmony. Remember that it's Chinese translators who do most of the translations from Chines... See more ...the usual spelling and grammar errors you find in translations into English produced by non-native speakers of English (in your case: translators from China): Then your contact won't "lose his face" (because you, as a native speaker of English, are clearly unbeatable in English). It's just a cultural matter, I believe. Don't try to be better in your native language than your prospective client, to keep harmony. Remember that it's Chinese translators who do most of the translations from Chinese into English.
[Bearbeitet am 2022-09-15 20:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Metin Demirel 
Türkiye
Local time: 22:14
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
I cannot know whether your test was satisfying or not. But even if it was not satisfying, you shouldn't give up. I know that even the bad translators find work. I am sure they also take tests and fail. But that doesn't stop them. There are thousands of agencies, and you've been ghosted only by three of them. Usually agencies get back to applicants with a review for their failed tests. Some of them never do.
You said you've been getting contacted by agencies. Maybe you should try tak... See more I cannot know whether your test was satisfying or not. But even if it was not satisfying, you shouldn't give up. I know that even the bad translators find work. I am sure they also take tests and fail. But that doesn't stop them. There are thousands of agencies, and you've been ghosted only by three of them. Usually agencies get back to applicants with a review for their failed tests. Some of them never do.
You said you've been getting contacted by agencies. Maybe you should try taking the first step to establish contact instead of being contacted. If they contact you first, it means they contact other candidates too and maybe they choose one of the others because of lower rates or perhaps higher quality. There are numerous factors affecting their preferences. ▲ Collapse
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| Select a Speciality | Sep 15, 2022 |
Something you should also consider, is the fact that most of translation agencies provide services to companies that require specific type of translation, this means that you have to tell them what fields (segments) you work in, be it medicine, IT, legal translatin, pharmaceuticals...whatever. perhaps by telling them so, you can attract their attention and give open to a possible look at your resume. My advice, try to find out what you're good at and add to your resume. If you have a consider... See more Something you should also consider, is the fact that most of translation agencies provide services to companies that require specific type of translation, this means that you have to tell them what fields (segments) you work in, be it medicine, IT, legal translatin, pharmaceuticals...whatever. perhaps by telling them so, you can attract their attention and give open to a possible look at your resume. My advice, try to find out what you're good at and add to your resume. If you have a considerable knowledge in the segments I mentioned before do no hesitate show it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | David McAlpine
Dominica
Local time: 15:14
Mandarin Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks Metin, your probably right | Sep 15, 2022 |
Metin Demirel wrote:
I cannot know whether your test was satisfying or not. But even if it was not satisfying, you shouldn't give up. I know that even the bad translators find work. I am sure they also take tests and fail. But that doesn't stop them. There are thousands of agencies, and you've been ghosted only by three of them. Usually agencies get back to applicants with a review for their failed tests. Some of them never do.
You said you've been getting contacted by agencies. Maybe you should try taking the first step to establish contact instead of being contacted. If they contact you first, it means they contact other candidates too and maybe they choose one of the others because of lower rates or perhaps higher quality. There are numerous factors affecting their preferences.
Thanks Metin, I appreciate your post. It gives me some relief even poor translators are able to find work as I guess you could say I've been suffering from imposter syndrome every time I do translator work. I've hit up every agency in the Proz directory so far and haven't gotten word back from any of them yet, I've only heard from those that had contacted me out of the blue from Proz or translator cafe. But what you say makes sense. I hear in my language pair there's a race to the bottom for price and I'm not very competitive compared to my peers.
| | | | David McAlpine
Dominica
Local time: 15:14
Mandarin Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Leandro Manuel wrote:
Something you should also consider, is the fact that most of translation agencies provide services to companies that require specific type of translation, this means that you have to tell them what fields (segments) you work in, be it medicine, IT, legal translatin, pharmaceuticals...whatever. perhaps by telling them so, you can attract their attention and give open to a possible look at your resume. My advice, try to find out what you're good at and add to your resume. If you have a considerable knowledge in the segments I mentioned before do no hesitate show it.
Fair enough. My specialization is in cryptocurrency and it makes up the entirety of my translating portfolio. I will say though that most of the jobs I get sent to apply for are in gaming - meaning they read my cryptocurrency translations then go "lets get this guy to do gaming translations," which I then fail on the test for causing them to never speak to me again. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Medicine, IT, Legal seem to be specializations that are very popular here. It does seems like allot to learn from scratch.
Thanks for your response Leandro.
| | | | David McAlpine
Dominica
Local time: 15:14
Mandarin Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER | I don't know about that man | Sep 15, 2022 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
...the usual spelling and grammar errors you find in translations into English produced by non-native speakers of English (in your case: translators from China): Then your contact won't "lose his face" (because you, as a native speaker of English, are clearly unbeatable in English). It's just a cultural matter, I believe. Don't try to be better in your native language than your prospective client, to keep harmony. Remember that it's Chinese translators who do most of the translations from Chinese into English.
[Bearbeitet am 2022-09-15 20:04 GMT]
I'm still new so I'm certain the mistakes will come naturally without me trying. 🤣 I don't necessarily agree that its a face thing, but no doubt some of the agencies I tried to work with based in China have had non-English speakers making and reviewing the test. I can tell because in the English content of one test I did was unintelligible and when I asked about it, they said it was in chinglish and i was being evaluated on weather I could understand that. Because I'm new I really don't know weather this is normal or not. 🤷
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William Hepner
United States
Local time: 15:14
Member (2022)
Spanish to English
| Keep at it, I'd say | Sep 15, 2022 |
I wouldn't worry about a few instances of ghosting, since it does happen sometimes. I'm pretty new to ProZ myself and, though I have a different language pair, I can understand how you feel. Just keep going!
(As a bit of advice: I took a look at your profile and I would suggest taking off the list of professional objectives. I have it on good word from someone more experienced than I am that making this part of the profile public can scream newbie. The profile itself is all about ma... See more I wouldn't worry about a few instances of ghosting, since it does happen sometimes. I'm pretty new to ProZ myself and, though I have a different language pair, I can understand how you feel. Just keep going!
(As a bit of advice: I took a look at your profile and I would suggest taking off the list of professional objectives. I have it on good word from someone more experienced than I am that making this part of the profile public can scream newbie. The profile itself is all about marketing, and you want to come off like a professional. Just a thought). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 22:14
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
| specialization | Sep 15, 2022 |
David McAlpine wrote:
Fair enough. My specialization is in cryptocurrency and it makes up the entirety of my translating portfolio. I will say though that most of the jobs I get sent to apply for are in gaming - meaning they read my cryptocurrency translations then go "lets get this guy to do gaming translations," which I then fail on the test for causing them to never speak to me again. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Medicine, IT, Legal seem to be specializations that are very popular here. It does seems like allot to learn from scratch.
Thanks for your response Leandro.
I translate from two languages, namely English and Italian. I have much more experience in the former and I feel like an impostor in the latter. I translated so many legal documents from English to Turkish that I even did comprehensive readings on the differences between the common law and the continental law. But when I started translating from Italian, I was hoping that Italy having the continental legal system like Turkey would make my job easier. Well, it didn't do that much. Because I didn't receive that many legal documents to translate. Instead I was bombarded with user manuals, because Turkey is a big importer of the Italian machinery. I gradually stopped accepting ENG>TUR legal documents, and focused more on ITA>TUR technical documents. It's easier and much more lucrative. Your expectations may fool you in the market. As for gaming, I am not a gamer, so translation of gaming texts seems harder than legalese to me. The same applies to medicine. I don't even know the names of my organs in my own language. People like me should avoid this particular field. It can be very risky.
| | | | | Hone your skills in the area of 'first impressions'. | Sep 15, 2022 |
They say 'you only get one opportunity to make a first impression'.
Your first post in this thread was your very first opportunity to impress me.
And you did impress me. But not in the way you might have hoped for. For example:
Register: 'Hey guys...', 'paid gig'..., 'I have been getting ghosted a bunch'..., (and others) are not appropriate in any professional forum - and especially not in this one.
Proof-reading: 'causing me to... See more They say 'you only get one opportunity to make a first impression'.
Your first post in this thread was your very first opportunity to impress me.
And you did impress me. But not in the way you might have hoped for. For example:
Register: 'Hey guys...', 'paid gig'..., 'I have been getting ghosted a bunch'..., (and others) are not appropriate in any professional forum - and especially not in this one.
Proof-reading: 'causing me to second guess all my actions down to weather the emails I write sounding professional enough.' (the same weather error is repeated twice in your second post).
If you can't impress your (future) peers, how do you expect to impress paying clients?
JL ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
| That might be the problem | Sep 16, 2022 |
Try submitting some resumes without ANY mention of crypto, anywhere.
A lot of people automatically suspect scams and tune out the moment crypto is mentioned.
Probably because the average person doesn't really know what it is, but DOES know lots of scammers love love love it.
Also, portfolios aren't really something we do in this profession (at least in my language pairs). Perhaps you inadvertently let them know that you are an absolute newbie by mentioning ... See more Try submitting some resumes without ANY mention of crypto, anywhere.
A lot of people automatically suspect scams and tune out the moment crypto is mentioned.
Probably because the average person doesn't really know what it is, but DOES know lots of scammers love love love it.
Also, portfolios aren't really something we do in this profession (at least in my language pairs). Perhaps you inadvertently let them know that you are an absolute newbie by mentioning things that no pros will ever discuss? Then again, maybe the Chinese market is different.
David McAlpine wrote: Leandro Manuel wrote:
Something you should also consider, is the fact that most of translation agencies provide services to companies that require specific type of translation, this means that you have to tell them what fields (segments) you work in, be it medicine, IT, legal translatin, pharmaceuticals...whatever. perhaps by telling them so, you can attract their attention and give open to a possible look at your resume. My advice, try to find out what you're good at and add to your resume. If you have a considerable knowledge in the segments I mentioned before do no hesitate show it. Fair enough. My specialization is in cryptocurrency and it makes up the entirety of my translating portfolio. I will say though that most of the jobs I get sent to apply for are in gaming - meaning they read my cryptocurrency translations then go "lets get this guy to do gaming translations," which I then fail on the test for causing them to never speak to me again. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Medicine, IT, Legal seem to be specializations that are very popular here. It does seems like allot to learn from scratch. Thanks for your response Leandro.
[Edited at 2022-09-16 01:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 15:14
Japanese to English
+ ...
| ghosted by agencies | Sep 16, 2022 |
I would say "stop doing tests". It's just part of a never-ending onboarding process. More and more PMs are turning out to be moonbats.
As the Japanese say: "neko ni koban" ("gold coins before cats"). "Pearls before swine". It's also possible that you are "overqualified" and they do not want to pay an excellent translator. (My personal experience: "you have so experience". "You are overqualified", "Oh, you're a professional translator [so we don't want to pay top dollar]" (Yes!). Also, I w... See more I would say "stop doing tests". It's just part of a never-ending onboarding process. More and more PMs are turning out to be moonbats.
As the Japanese say: "neko ni koban" ("gold coins before cats"). "Pearls before swine". It's also possible that you are "overqualified" and they do not want to pay an excellent translator. (My personal experience: "you have so experience". "You are overqualified", "Oh, you're a professional translator [so we don't want to pay top dollar]" (Yes!). Also, I would also question the ability of many Western agencies to accurately evaluate a translation from Chinese. Many PMs are qualified to work only at Starbucks or McDonalds's. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 22:14
Member
English to Turkish
| Bad translators | Sep 16, 2022 |
Metin Demirel wrote:
I know that even the bad translators find work. I am sure they also take tests and fail. But that doesn't stop them.
I know where you're coming from, but the main reason why bad translators find work is their cheap rates and the fact that the agency has a good, seasoned translator who is willing to turn their rubbish into halfway decent output (as a reviewer/proofreader) at half their translation rate.
Tests are not the most effective way of judging one's competence, how else can you explain Palestinian scammers that steal others' CVs and register themselves as translators of various language pairs (to outsource agency jobs to others on Upwork)? Some of them must take tests (imagine an Arab taking a FR>JP test), doubtless they hire someone to do the test for them. You're right though, it certainly doesn't stop them 
[Edited at 2022-09-16 05:20 GMT]
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 15:14
Japanese to English
+ ...
| ghosted by agencies | Sep 16, 2022 |
"Ten years' study of Chinese", "studied at a Chinese university". This will scare off many agencies as they are looking for mediocre translators whom they can pay peanuts. None of the agencies responded so most likely they received tests from multiple translators and they are just too lazy to respond. In the rare instances when I have been told I did not pass the test, the agencies are totally unwilling to explain why. I have seen proz.com jobs for Japanese medical translation requiring the tra... See more "Ten years' study of Chinese", "studied at a Chinese university". This will scare off many agencies as they are looking for mediocre translators whom they can pay peanuts. None of the agencies responded so most likely they received tests from multiple translators and they are just too lazy to respond. In the rare instances when I have been told I did not pass the test, the agencies are totally unwilling to explain why. I have seen proz.com jobs for Japanese medical translation requiring the translator to have "at least one year of experience". It takes years to learn how to translate Japanese medical texts. I think the intelligence of PMs is vastly overrated. Most likely they were baristas and PM is a step up for them. ▲ Collapse
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