| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: In how many projects are you involved right now? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In how many projects are you involved right now?".
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
| | | | Laureana Pavon 
Uruguay
Local time: 13:07
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
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MODERATOR | How can a freelancer work simultaneously on more than 15 projects? | Dec 11, 2008 |
I'm working on one really big project (very large volume, 5 weeks duration), one really long project I've been working on for months, plus I'm still accepting small projects from regular clients.
In fact, I can't for the Christmas holidays!
Have a great day.
Laureana
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... with deadlines ranging from tomorrow until the morning of 22 December. Hoping it calms down a bit, after that, so I can at least take off completely from the 24th to the 26th.
I'm interpreting the question to mean how many confirmed orders do you have at the moment, obviously you can only physically work on one translation at a time.
[Edited at 2008-12-11 14:56 GMT]
| | | | | The "none" percentage is very high | Dec 11, 2008 |
Around 20%, if we "read" it as unemployment rate (temporary unemployment) it is quiet high....
What do you all think?
[Edited at 2008-12-11 15:18 GMT]
[Edited at 2008-12-11 15:19 GMT]
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| Six confirmed orders | Dec 11, 2008 |
Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
I'm interpreting the question to mean how many confirmed orders do you have at the moment, obviously you can only physically work on one translation at a time.
That's how I interpreted the poll as well.
My latest deadline is December 23rd, and the jobs include proofreading a video game, translating a text on transborder cooperation, a press release, an update of a watchmaker's website, an instruction manual (packaging industry) and another website update (packaging industry too).
Andrea
| | | | Jon O (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:07
Dutch to English
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I'm working on 3, one large proofreading project (FR-EN) and two lengthy translations with thankfully generous deadlines (NL-EN). Another job is also scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
I'm also struck by the high 'none' percentage, perhaps there are too many translators out there in certain language pairs?
| | | | lillkakan
Local time: 17:07
English to Swedish
I have 0 projects currently, just as I had planned. I suppose I could count the project I'm scheduled to start on January 7th, but I don't receive the files until then, so I don't really feel that it's "on" just yet...
Rocio Barrientos wrote:
Around 20%, if we "read" it as unemployment rate (temporary unemployment) it is quiet high....
What do you all think?
Let's not forget that "unemployment" can be intentional. I love being a freelancer and the fact that I can manage my own time just the way I want to.
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Rocio Barrientos wrote:
Around 20%, if we "read" it as unemployment rate (temporary unemployment) it is quiet high....
What do you all think?
[Edited at 2008-12-11 15:18 GMT]
[Edited at 2008-12-11 15:19 GMT]
Worryingly high, I'd say...
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m_temmer
Local time: 10:07
English to Dutch
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| Put things into perspective | Dec 11, 2008 |
Rocio Barrientos wrote:
Around 20%, if we "read" it as unemployment rate (temporary unemployment) it is quiet high....
What do you all think?
[Edited at 2008-12-11 15:18 GMT]
[Edited at 2008-12-11 15:19 GMT]
Are those translators on holiday or not accepting any work for some reason?
Is translation their main occupation? Are there too many translators for their language combination? Are they good translators? Etc.
Don't jump to conclusions based on this poll. There are way too many unknown parameters.
Michael
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I belong to the group of "none". For last 2,5 months I was getting only a few jobs, each less then 1000 words. Old clients have little work for me, possible new clients say I'm too expencive, while a lot of translators here would undoubtedly tell me my rates are low.
I DO worry.
Anni
| | | | | Don't jump to conclusions | Dec 11, 2008 |
Rocio Barrientos wrote:
Around 20%, if we "read" it as unemployment rate (temporary unemployment) it is quiet high....
What do you all think?
I agree with Michael. The poll results shouldn't be interpreted as some negative sign or "unemployment".
I have 3 confirmed jobs at the moment, but already delivered 3 others by this afternoon, before the poll started. So maybe some of the colleagues who voted "none" also wanted to finish as much as possible before the weekend and therefore delivered all their projects today. It is also time to prepare everything for the tax offices, so some might have taken this day to do administrative work or to issue invoices (which is what I am doing at the moment since there hasn't been any time for this for several weeks).
Michaela
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 13:07
Portuguese to English
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| Yes, it's better not to speculate... | Dec 11, 2008 |
At the moment I am working on a book, but if this poll had appeared a few weeks ago I would have checked "none" because I was moving from the USA to Brazil and not working at all (by choice).
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Laura Tridico
United States
Local time: 11:07
French to English
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| Currently 6, all due before December 19th... | Dec 11, 2008 |
Of course if you'd asked me on Monday, I would have said zero, which is unusual and had me feeling nervous. In retrospect I should have enjoyed the day off, though I got a lot of marketing and other things accomplished.
But still, it worries me to see over 20% of respondents currently without work.
| | | | | more than 5 makes me nervous | Dec 11, 2008 |
If I get more than 1-2 long-term projects and a couple of "small potatoes" stuff on my desk at any one point in time, I get really, really anxious about juggling and remembering them all! I think on Tuesday AM I had a brief moment where I could claim 7 active projects (2 really big, 2 medium, 3 small), and it was not a comfortable feeling. Tolerances for how long things are going to take become very tight!
I'm down to 2 projects now, and I'm hoping I can hit zero projects by Dec. 23... See more If I get more than 1-2 long-term projects and a couple of "small potatoes" stuff on my desk at any one point in time, I get really, really anxious about juggling and remembering them all! I think on Tuesday AM I had a brief moment where I could claim 7 active projects (2 really big, 2 medium, 3 small), and it was not a comfortable feeling. Tolerances for how long things are going to take become very tight!
I'm down to 2 projects now, and I'm hoping I can hit zero projects by Dec. 23 (though I have a feeling....)
I remember at some productivity seminar years ago, the presenter told the story of the guy who has a big rock, some smaller pebbles, and a bunch of sand to fit in a jar, and how if you put the sand and pebbles in first, you'll never find room for the big rock.
The moral of the story is that most people tackle the little stuff first and then they never find time to work on the big rock. The *problem* with the story is that if you start on the rock and see it all the way through to the end, you'll never meet the deadlines for the sand and pebble jobs!
It's tricky to balance. I'm trying to train myself to do little projects the minute I get them, if at all possible, because that way they don't get lost in the shuffle (plus, just maybe my 1-hour turnaround on little projects will amaze and astound my clients!) ▲ Collapse
| | | | | None at the moment :( | Dec 11, 2008 |
I translate just since a year, I work for four translation agencies but they almost always give me only short projects and not all the days. I hope in the future I will work more because I like so much being a translator. In the meantime I continue sending job's demands but it's very difficult to find translation agencies that accept a beginner.
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