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Poll: On average, on which day do you receive the most job offers? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "On average, which day do you receive the most job offers?".
This poll was originally submitted by rifkind
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more info... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "On average, which day do you receive the most job offers?".
This poll was originally submitted by rifkind
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
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2006-11-20 17:14] ▲ Collapse
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Stephen Rifkind 
Israel
Local time: 14:23
Member (2004)
French to English
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| Grammatical Correction | Nov 20, 2006 |
Dear Moderator:
Certain hours bring creative thoughts, but also incorrect grammar.
Could you please correct the question to: On which day.
The brain and the hand are not always in sync.
Thank you.
Stephen Rifkind
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| frightening. | Nov 20, 2006 |
what the hell kind of geek keeps track of crap like that?
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Kirill Semenov
Ukraine
Local time: 14:23
Member (2004)
English to Russian
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| It was Friday, but not anymore ;-) | Nov 20, 2006 |
Some of clients preferred to send their jobs on Friday (often, in the evening) and wanted the jobs to be done by Monday morning. After noticing that it had been becoming a routine, I stated it clearly that I charged 30% more when I had to work weekends.
In a magical way, all deadlines became not so urgent , so starting from that moment (it was about 2 years ago) I always include weekends in my deadline evaluations and s... See more Some of clients preferred to send their jobs on Friday (often, in the evening) and wanted the jobs to be done by Monday morning. After noticing that it had been becoming a routine, I stated it clearly that I charged 30% more when I had to work weekends.
In a magical way, all deadlines became not so urgent, so starting from that moment (it was about 2 years ago) I always include weekends in my deadline evaluations and state the fact clearly. Common, ppl, I have a wife who needs a donkey to overload with goods when she goes out for shopping on Saturday! Otherwise I usually discuss a suprlus for urgent jobs - and when they DO need the work to be done by Monday, they don't usually argue. ▲ Collapse
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 14:23
Turkish to English
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I note a marked tendency for job offers to come towards the end of the week, and I rarely receive offers on Monday mornings. I frequently receive requests on Friday afternoons for work that is required first thing on Moday morning.
I disagree with the above comment in that there are clearly discernable patterns to the way job offers come - both in terms of time of day, day of the week and time of the year.
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| In my case it is Friday | Nov 20, 2006 |
Lawyers always send big documents on a Friday that they want translated by Monday. They usually arrive on a Friday evening (6 or 7 p.m.) after the secretary has finished typing them, and after I already thought that I was going to get a free weekend.
Astrid
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| Friday phenomenon | Nov 20, 2006 |
Kirill Semenov wrote: Some of clients preferred to send their jobs on Friday (often, in the evening) and wanted the jobs to be done by Monday morning. After noticing that it had been becoming a routine, I stated it clearly that I charged 30% more when I had to work weekends. In a magical way, all deadlines became not so urgent
Funny to see how our experiences are alike
Friday is certainly the most hectic day - often all urgent jobs have been finished at 2 pm and I can look forward to a weekend far away from office. All of a sudden many clients (as if there were some kind of secret agreement I don't know of) start to sweep their desks, discovering important documents they have had since Tuesday, and need back "urgently" for Monday morning.
In such cases I tell my clients that we need to charge 50 until 100 % extra for this express work. After all, the clients usually don't work at weekend. In many cases the clients can wait until Tuesday.. so after all, the translation wasn't that "urgent".
It's a typical Friday phenomenon, maybe a sign of panic (by the way, you can often notice the same behaviour before longer holidays).
Regards
Erik
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Erik Hansson ( SFÖ )
Technical translator DE-SV
Hansson Übersetzungen GmbH
Website www.hansson.de
ProZ profile http://www.proz.com/pro/21654
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Claire Titchmarsh (X)
Local time: 13:23
Italian to English
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| The same kind of geek that answers these polls | Nov 20, 2006 |
Jennifer Hackney wrote:
what the hell kind of geek keeps track of crap like that?
Why is it crap?
There is a definite pattern to job offers, and if you tune into it, it can help you avoid nasty jobs, late nights or weekend working (by being mysteriously unavailable on a Friday afternoon, for example). (Oops, if any of my clients are reading this, I always pick the phone up the instant it rings, honest!!)
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As soon as I make plans to do something really fun, pleasant and/or interesting. 
[Edited at 2006-11-20 17:11]
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Shaun Avis
Germany
Local time: 13:23
German to English
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| Definitely not crap | Nov 20, 2006 |
Among my clientele, there is a clear trend toward the end of the week, especially Friday. I have the feeling that they pass the projects from desk to desk all week, as if it were a game of pass the parcel, and then on Friday somebody suddenly realises to their horror that the whole thing has to be translated and ready for a presentation at 9 am Monday morning. I assume this is the case from the panicky tone in the secretary’s voice when she phones me at 4 pm Friday afternoon.
Shaun
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| First thing Monday morning! | Nov 20, 2006 |
Maybe this is just Puerto Rico, but in my experience, not much gets done on Friday afternoons. When somebody finds that urgent document, s/he apparently thinks something like, "Uh oh, forgot that. Gotta do something. First thing Monday morning!" So I tend to get a lot of phone calls and emails on Monday and Tuesday.
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| End of the month and the week before a holiday | Nov 20, 2006 |
I don't see a strong weekly pattern. Some days are just panic, and some are quieter. I do lots of quite small jobs, so they do sometimes tend to cluster, especially at the end of the month.
Most years, during the week before Christmas and the week before the summer holidays I am desperately trying to get my work out of the way, and equally desperate PMs are trying to place jobs and explain to clients that translators do not actually work extra when everyone else is on holiday!
... See more
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Often at 4 pm. With a message along the lines of "I know it's almost the weekend but you are really our favorite translator. Can you get it done for Monday?"
Of course, they don't mention anything about my favorite rate for working overtime...
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heikeb
Ireland
Local time: 12:23
Member (2003)
English to German
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| question of perception? | Nov 21, 2006 |
It might also be possible that we notice incoming jobs more clearly on Friday afternoon, when we're mentally already in weekend mode. "Ah. that's so typical, Friday afternoon, here we go again."
The same number of jobs coming in on Tuesday afternoon might be considered completely normal.
I think Erik's description of the weekend mood being suddenly interrupted is quite interesting in this regard:
Friday is certainly the most hectic day - often all urgent jobs have been finished at 2 pm and I can look forward to a weekend far away from office. All of a sudden many clients (as if there were some kind of secret agreement I don't know of) start to sweep their desks, discovering important documents they have had since Tuesday, and need back "urgently" for Monday morning.
I do remember many a Friday when it got pretty crazy towards the end of the day, but there are also many Fridays when I can start the weekend early (by also working a couple of hours over the weekend) since there are no new jobs coming in. That should also average things out quite a bit.
I need to see some numbers and statistics before I can be converted into a believer! 
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Stephen Rifkind
Israel
Local time: 14:23
Member (2004)
French to English
+ ...
To relate to the comment, albeit cleaned up a bit, concerning why this is important, I make it a practice to be near the computer all day Thursday, my most fruitful day in terms of new jobs. I can go to the mall or play with my daughter on Sunday, a working day in Israel, but I am loth to do so on Thursday.
Also, if I have had a slow week, many times it picks up on Thursday, meaning, unfortunately and fortunately, some work on Saturday and Sunday.
I was curious about o... See more To relate to the comment, albeit cleaned up a bit, concerning why this is important, I make it a practice to be near the computer all day Thursday, my most fruitful day in terms of new jobs. I can go to the mall or play with my daughter on Sunday, a working day in Israel, but I am loth to do so on Thursday.
Also, if I have had a slow week, many times it picks up on Thursday, meaning, unfortunately and fortunately, some work on Saturday and Sunday.
I was curious about other's experiences.
Stephen Rifkind ▲ Collapse
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