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locarius
Community Member

Is it normal that i dont get a job or there is something wrong with my profile ?

Hello, fellow translators & writers...

 

So to start with im a bit frustrated due to not getting a single client at the end of February and March, now i know it can be my fault or something that i need to change but here is what i usually do when proposals are being send to the client:

 

- Brief proposal / cover letter (at a reasonable price).

- Attach a sample file (if the client added one to the job i use the same as a part of the sample).

 

Now im a translator since i was about 12 years old, i learned english and improved upon reaching my current level of english, and i also know portuguese at a native level, but i dont like to translate into portuguese just yet.

 

Im trying to you know grow in the freelance and upwork community, and my last work was done quick and without any issue, yet the client didn't place any feedback and im not sure if that is also whats affecting me.

 

Hope to get suggestions and anwsers from other translators like myself.

 

Cheers.

 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
samanta_l
Community Member

Hi Ricardo,

 

I'm going to try to help you out, as a fellow Spanish translator, I think Jennifer and Nichola are right. Your profile is underwhelming as it is full of grammatical mistakes, that can be avoided by just running a simple spellcheck.

 

Furthermore, your overview seems incomplete and inconsistent with the services you offer. It easily could make anyone doubt that you are a fluent English speaker, hurting your chances instead of improving them. 

 

The only thing I would add to Nichola's advice is to put more emphasis on your past job experiences and your university degree.  

 

Good luck!


 

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9 REPLIES 9
colettelewis
Community Member

Ricardo,

 

You are in an oversubscribed category, so you are up against some serious competition. You should only be offering translation services into Spanish. Your English is not at native level and you have a test result that reflects this. You should also tighten up your profile in every respect. It is very vague and does not inspire confidence; you have no portfolio to speak of, and your English grammar is simply not up to standard; so you shouldn't be offering proofreading as a skill unless you have experience of this in your own language. 

 

I am sorry if this is too tough, but eventually, a client will call you out unless you can deliver exactly what you claim. I think you need to analyze very carefully your strengths and your weaknesses and take it from there.

I understand where you're coming from, im posting this from my workplace so i dont have a lot of time to do so.

 

As for the other topics, my english is very fluent (that doesn't mean that i dont deliver good translations), im mostly based on English to Spanish, and for the test i feel sometimes theyre not just, the reason im saying this , is mainly due to some issues i encounter of the test bugging out on me, but like i said the few works i've done, they went quite well.

 

Would you be allow to check my bio again and help me on improvements, as for portfolio starting recently online so its hard to show work when i'm not hired, however i can add the work i've done in the past if that helps it.

 

Thanks for you reply , and dont worry i understand it needs to be that way so i can improve.


@ricardo D wrote:

 

As for the other topics, my english is very fluent (that doesn't mean that i dont deliver good translations),


Your English is very fluent? Says who? Ricardo, in no case you can translate into English. Professional translators only translate into a language they master to a native level.

 

From your profile and your messages here in the community, it is clear that in your case, this is far from being true. I wouldn't even rate your English as fluent.

 

Amateur translators sometimes try to sell translation services into their source language. They hurt their own credibility by doing this and are generally rewarded with the results that you are already enjoying... 

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless
jr-translation
Community Member

First of all you should fix the mistakes in your profile. You are no professional translator.

A test result below average for Spanish spelling is no reason to hire you no matter how low your rate is.

samanta_l
Community Member

Hi Ricardo,

 

I'm going to try to help you out, as a fellow Spanish translator, I think Jennifer and Nichola are right. Your profile is underwhelming as it is full of grammatical mistakes, that can be avoided by just running a simple spellcheck.

 

Furthermore, your overview seems incomplete and inconsistent with the services you offer. It easily could make anyone doubt that you are a fluent English speaker, hurting your chances instead of improving them. 

 

The only thing I would add to Nichola's advice is to put more emphasis on your past job experiences and your university degree.  

 

Good luck!


 

Thanks for the help, every aspect will be noted and hopefully its now fixed at least a bit, if there is anything else i can do to improve please do let me know.

 

And on the other hand, is it usually normal to feel a bit frustrated or do i have to keep trying to see if i find work, as the first poster said, it's a really crowded area, but i guess i have to be persistent then.

 

 


@ricardo D wrote:

but i guess i have to be persistent then.

 

 


 You are persistent at least in one thing, but I'm gonna to shut the frak up before they send me to the brig.

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

I've just read the other comment you posted on the thread, i didn't notice it, but you might be right and that's what im trying to fix here, im not selling something i don't know, i can translate English into Spanish just fine, however maybe i'm not taking the details into account when im posting in the forums or in normal conversations.

 

I will be carefull now with the way i say things here and there.

 

Also you probably replied based on my first profile, and im changing it based on the opinions and reviews of the other users on the thread, so hopefully that sets the profile according to my knowledge.

 

Most of the time i anwser is using my phone, and if im totally honest my phone is in spanish and it usually ends up changing the words, that's why i just send them without punctuations or even the " ' " 

 

But i do welcome the feedback thought.Thanks


@ricardo D wrote:

I've just read the other comment you posted on the thread, i didn't notice it, but you might be right and that's what im trying to fix here, im not selling something i don't know, i can translate English into Spanish just fine, however maybe i'm not taking the details into account when im posting in the forums or in normal conversations.

 

I will be carefull now with the way i say things here and there.

 

Also you probably replied based on my first profile, and im changing it based on the opinions and reviews of the other users on the thread, so hopefully that sets the profile according to my knowledge.

 

Most of the time i anwser is using my phone, and if im totally honest my phone is in spanish and it usually ends up changing the words, that's why i just send them without punctuations or even the " ' " 

 

But i do welcome the feedback thought.Thanks


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Ricardo,

 

I use my phone a lot too. I take care to at least punctuate, spell and capitalize correctly. If you write your proposals the way you have written here, or in your overview, any good client will simply write you off as careless and unskilled. One does not become a translator overnight because one can speak another language fairly well. It takes years to learn how to translate, and one also needs to be absolutely fluent in the source language, which not only means understanding meaning, but having a very good grasp of idiom, grammar and spelling.

 

I would say you have a great deal to learn and need a great deal more experience in translating before you offer it as a skill. Perhaps you have another skill which you could offer with English as a bonus.