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Poll: Have you ever submitted a translation test and received no reply?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Apr 4, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever submitted a translation test and received no reply?".

This poll was originally submitted by Osama El Alwany. View the poll results »



 
Angus Stewart
Angus Stewart  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:06
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
Yes, several times Apr 4, 2018

Yes, it happened with the very first test translation I ever did and several times since then. I know now that there are dishonest agencies out there who split up texts to be translated between several translators under the guise of them being translation tests on order to get work for which they are charging their end customers a fee done by translators for free. I imagine that the end result must be like a patchwork since there will be serious issues with consistency in terms of terminology an... See more
Yes, it happened with the very first test translation I ever did and several times since then. I know now that there are dishonest agencies out there who split up texts to be translated between several translators under the guise of them being translation tests on order to get work for which they are charging their end customers a fee done by translators for free. I imagine that the end result must be like a patchwork since there will be serious issues with consistency in terms of terminology and style, but that is their problem. In any event, it is the reason I set a cap on the maximum length of a test translation that I am prepared to do.Collapse


 
Osama Elalwany
Osama Elalwany  Identity Verified
Egypt
Local time: 10:06
English to Arabic
+ ...
You are not walking alone Mr. Stewart. The same problem is happening here in MENA. Apr 4, 2018

Angus Stewart wrote:

Yes, it happened with the very first test translation I ever did and several times since then. I know now that there are dishonest agencies out there who split up texts to be translated between several translators under the guise of them being translation tests on order to get work for which they are charging their end customers a fee done by translators for free. I imagine that the end result must be like a patchwork since there will be serious issues with consistency in terms of terminology and style, but that is their problem. In any event, it is the reason I set a cap on the maximum length of a test translation that I am prepared to do.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 08:06
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Apr 4, 2018

Now and then, though I have received an e-mail saying that my test was approved, work never materialized. Some translation tests seem to be doomed to the same fate as NDAs…

 
Balvir Chand
Balvir Chand
India
English to Punjabi
+ ...
The exact same words! Apr 4, 2018

Angus Stewart wrote:

Yes, it happened with the very first test translation I ever did and several times since then. I know now that there are dishonest agencies out there who split up texts to be translated between several translators under the guise of them being translation tests on order to get work for which they are charging their end customers a fee done by translators for free. I imagine that the end result must be like a patchwork since there will be serious issues with consistency in terms of terminology and style, but that is their problem. In any event, it is the reason I set a cap on the maximum length of a test translation that I am prepared to do.



Indeed, this is an act of unprofessionalism and some even extend their game up to NDA's, MSA's.

[Edited at 2018-04-04 08:51 GMT]


 
Nilton Junior
Nilton Junior  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 08:06
Member (2009)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Apr 4, 2018

I dislike taking translation tests and/or going through endless forms because they rarely turn into actual work. It is usually just a big waste of time.

 
Marjolein Snippe
Marjolein Snippe  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 09:06
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
I don't think so Apr 4, 2018

I don't remember ever sending a translation test with no reply at all, although sometimes the only reply was a confirmation of receipt. I do like tests as a way to evaluate my translation skills, although I have also had quite a few cases where a test has received a good score and then seems to have disappeared in the agency's paperwork and work has never materialised.

 
Anna Herbst
Anna Herbst  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 19:06
English to Swedish
+ ...

MODERATOR
SITE LOCALIZER
Yes Apr 4, 2018

I sent in a few "tests" many years ago, but I can't recall a "test" ever leading to an actual job, but my memory may be failing me.

I no longer accept work for agencies/clients who demand tests. As a professional T/I practitioner I expect to be trusted to have the skills necessary to complete any assignment I express an interest in to the full satisfaction of the end client.

I wonder if I could ask a dentist to give me a free filling as a "test" before deciding whether
... See more
I sent in a few "tests" many years ago, but I can't recall a "test" ever leading to an actual job, but my memory may be failing me.

I no longer accept work for agencies/clients who demand tests. As a professional T/I practitioner I expect to be trusted to have the skills necessary to complete any assignment I express an interest in to the full satisfaction of the end client.

I wonder if I could ask a dentist to give me a free filling as a "test" before deciding whether to pay for any future dental work I might need?
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Jasa Pipan
Jasa Pipan
Slovenia
Local time: 09:06
French to Slovenian
+ ...
Yes. And... Apr 4, 2018

...like many of you already said, in my experience, the agencies who go through great lengths to set you up with complicated translation tests and make you jump through hoops are often the same agencies that never send you work after that. I find myself more and more reluctant to perform any translation tests ...

 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:06
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
What's the point in testing? Apr 4, 2018

Nilton Junior wrote:
I dislike taking translation tests and/or going through endless forms because they rarely turn into actual work. It is usually just a big waste of time.


Dead right, Nilton! I see it as a translation agency falling into the famous 'activity trap'.

At the end of the day, the folks there will be exhausted.

Today we processed 342 new translator applications, and sent them tests. We also had translators grading 209 translation tests we received from applicants in 22 different language pairs. We filed 195 NDAs we received, and added these translators' data to our database.

Q: Did you get any new orders?
No.

Q: Did you receive any finished jobs from translators?
No.

Q: Did you deliver any finished jobs and bill the end-client?
No.

Q: Did you follow-up on any jobs under way?
No, we don't have any jobs under way.

Q: Did you prospect/contact any potential clients?
No, we were too busy with other things.

Q: Did you make any money today?
Not a penny, but we've been quite busy for the past couple of weeks. We can pride ourselves that all translators in our database have been thoroughly tested. They only translate into their native language, and every one of them owns a Trados license, whatever that means. We are headed for success!

Q Are you really?


How/why do translation tests backfire? (all based on real cases I've seen)
  • Butcher / Shyster - a top-flight medical translator fails the 'legal' translation test and gets dumped
  • Cyrano de Bergerac - a fledgling amateur 'tranzlater' gets his/her test done by a skilled friend or relative
  • Black pot/kettle - test is graded by someone less competent than the applicant
  • Tortoise/hare - an amateur passes, though it takes him/her three days to translate those 250 words; a pro delivers the test one hour later, and is flunked on account of two minor typos
  • Kudoz - the same test has been used for so long, that all the tricky parts of it have already been answered on Proz
  • Scriptures - that text is easily found translated into umpteen languages via Google


 
Osama Elalwany
Osama Elalwany  Identity Verified
Egypt
Local time: 10:06
English to Arabic
+ ...
You know, the same happened. I received a sample test from a global brand, a week later replied!! Apr 4, 2018

Teresa Borges wrote:

Now and then, though I have received an e-mail saying that my test was approved, work never materialized. Some translation tests seem to be doomed to the same fate as NDAs…


 
Osama Elalwany
Osama Elalwany  Identity Verified
Egypt
Local time: 10:06
English to Arabic
+ ...
Sometimes I ask them to check my profile and feedback from other companies! But they adore tests hah Apr 4, 2018

Nilton Junior wrote:

I dislike taking translation tests and/or going through endless forms because they rarely turn into actual work. It is usually just a big waste of time.


 
Osama Elalwany
Osama Elalwany  Identity Verified
Egypt
Local time: 10:06
English to Arabic
+ ...
The last sentence kill me laughing hahaha you are completely right. Apr 4, 2018

Anna Herbst wrote:

I sent in a few "tests" many years ago, but I can't recall a "test" ever leading to an actual job, but my memory may be failing me.

I no longer accept work for agencies/clients who demand tests. As a professional T/I practitioner I expect to be trusted to have the skills necessary to complete any assignment I express an interest in to the full satisfaction of the end client.

I wonder if I could ask a dentist to give me a free filling as a "test" before deciding whether to pay for any future dental work I might need?


 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 09:06
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
No Apr 4, 2018

Actually not, and several of them lead to good work.

 
Melanie Meyer
Melanie Meyer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:06
Member (2010)
English to German
+ ...
Once Apr 4, 2018

Over the years, I have taken several short translation tests and many of them have led to regular work (I cannot say the same about filling out endless NDAs and other paperwork which, as other colleagues said above, has hardly ever led to anything, so that I now refuse filling out piles of documents ahead of time).

However, it did happen once that an agency did not contact me after I had taken their test, not even to confirm receipt. At the time, I found that behavior incredibly rud
... See more
Over the years, I have taken several short translation tests and many of them have led to regular work (I cannot say the same about filling out endless NDAs and other paperwork which, as other colleagues said above, has hardly ever led to anything, so that I now refuse filling out piles of documents ahead of time).

However, it did happen once that an agency did not contact me after I had taken their test, not even to confirm receipt. At the time, I found that behavior incredibly rude and followed up with several emails to coax an answer out of them. After many weeks had gone by, they did eventually reply that they liked my test and would be sending work shortly. In retrospect, I should have just let it be though, since their business manners during the test phase pretty much carried over into their attitude regarding paid work: Mainly mass emails stipulating rates considerably below my quoted rates, tedious projects and months to get paid. So after a few small projects, the relationship basically fizzled out.
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Poll: Have you ever submitted a translation test and received no reply?






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