Telling about your jobs Thread poster: Peter Motte
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Peter Motte 
Belgium
Local time: 17:23
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
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A problem: one of my clients didn't want me to mention the end client in my cv.
I understand that partly, because the in-between usually provides extra checks and so on, but it does pose a problem: how to inform potential clients about the work you do?
| | | | | Confidentiality | Jun 6, 2023 |
You can absolutely not make your clients' confidential information public and that includes information about their end clients – unless you have a written permission. You are not an employee of or supplier to these end clients, and you are not an employee of your own clients.
You should market your services based on your own qualities, not those of your clients or their clients. You need to keep descriptions generic. The exception here in Proz is that you can request WWA from cli... See more You can absolutely not make your clients' confidential information public and that includes information about their end clients – unless you have a written permission. You are not an employee of or supplier to these end clients, and you are not an employee of your own clients.
You should market your services based on your own qualities, not those of your clients or their clients. You need to keep descriptions generic. The exception here in Proz is that you can request WWA from clients and then refer to that. ▲ Collapse
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The only end-clients I mention in my CV are those who are my direct clients, all the others are clients of the agencies I have been working with, not mine…
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 11:23
German to English
| End clients have products | Jun 6, 2023 |
You can provide hints as to the types of translations you've done:
Braking system for high-end Italian sports car
Budget projections for Fortune 100 chemical conglomerate
Oncological clinical trials sponsored by leading Swiss pharmaceutical company
Your friends might be impressed by your prestigious end-clients, but no one else.
Basically, prospective clients don't care about your end clients; they want to know whether you take on projects related to e.g., au... See more You can provide hints as to the types of translations you've done:
Braking system for high-end Italian sports car
Budget projections for Fortune 100 chemical conglomerate
Oncological clinical trials sponsored by leading Swiss pharmaceutical company
Your friends might be impressed by your prestigious end-clients, but no one else.
Basically, prospective clients don't care about your end clients; they want to know whether you take on projects related to e.g., automotive braking systems, financial transactions or pharmaceutical/medical-related material. ▲ Collapse
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 17:23
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| Top five brands | Jun 6, 2023 |
You may use phrasing such as: provided localized copies for some of the biggest brands in X industry. Or top five or something (if applicable).
Surprisingly, agencies usually grant this: you ask them what part of translations you can show as samples, sometimes even your published copies will be granted/approved. So if you show published ones, the client will be visible there. Safest way is to consult the agency.
| | | | | Communication is key | Jun 7, 2023 |
If you cultivate a good working relationship with direct clients, my experience is that some (but not all) are happy to be listed on CVs and/or websites. After all, it’s free publicity for them. BUT: you have to ask first, and you have to be clear about what kind of information will be listed and where.
For new direct clients, my procedure is something like this:
- Complete first job; do follow-up marketing/contact if regular cooperation seems like it would be positiv... See more If you cultivate a good working relationship with direct clients, my experience is that some (but not all) are happy to be listed on CVs and/or websites. After all, it’s free publicity for them. BUT: you have to ask first, and you have to be clear about what kind of information will be listed and where.
For new direct clients, my procedure is something like this:
- Complete first job; do follow-up marketing/contact if regular cooperation seems like it would be positive for both sides.
- After several successful (i.e.: problem-free or especially well-received) projects, ask the project manager whether the company is open to being listed on my CV/website. (About half say yes to this. Usually I don’t ask about ProZ.)
- After at least a year’s successful projects, I consider asking for a reference/testimonial. (This is where most people say no, because it involves some work on their part. To reduce this, if a person has sent a particularly glowing response to a translation, I ask whether I can quote that response as a testimonial without giving details of the project.)
I assume others around here follow a similar procedure, but would be interested to hear if that’s true!
[Edited at 2023-06-07 06:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Respectfully disagree | Jun 7, 2023 |
Kevin Fulton wrote:
Your friends might be impressed by your prestigious end-clients, but no one else.
Basically, prospective clients don't care about your end clients; they want to know whether you take on projects related to e.g., automotive braking systems, financial transactions or pharmaceutical/medical-related material.
In my experience, the prestige of the end client is often seen – rightly or wrongly – as requiring quality in the translation. By extension, the translator is considered to be especially good. Of course, even prestigious companies often have complete dross in their documents, so I personally don’t think client prestige is a reasonable marker of translator skill. But I know that people in the industry use this line of reasoning, so I wouldn’t dismiss it as a marketing tactic.
| | | | | On the other hand… | Jun 7, 2023 |
If I wanted work from Central Bank A, what better way to demonstrate my awesomeness than saying I’ve worked with Central Bank B?
As for work through agencies, no you haven’t worked with the end-client as such but you have actually done the work, and there is nothing wrong with saying you’ve done it unless you’ve agreed otherwise, and even then the embargo of two years or whatever passes surprisingly quickly.
Saying I’ve worked on braking systems for a Fortune... See more If I wanted work from Central Bank A, what better way to demonstrate my awesomeness than saying I’ve worked with Central Bank B?
As for work through agencies, no you haven’t worked with the end-client as such but you have actually done the work, and there is nothing wrong with saying you’ve done it unless you’ve agreed otherwise, and even then the embargo of two years or whatever passes surprisingly quickly.
Saying I’ve worked on braking systems for a Fortune 100 company is so vague and could just be made up, so it seems almost pointless.
All that said, clients normally just come to me and ask me if I can do something. They don’t ask about my credentials. They just assume I’m competent. ▲ Collapse
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| Things like "Marketing materials for the most famous Swedish/Chinese car manufacturer" | Jun 9, 2023 |
should solve the problem.
| | | | | The art of convincing | Jun 9, 2023 |
Ice Scream wrote:
If I wanted work from Central Bank A, what better way to demonstrate my awesomeness than saying I’ve worked with Central Bank B?
I guess it's a bit different with public entities, as they belong to us all.
Saying I’ve worked on braking systems for a Fortune 100 company is so vague and could just be made up, so it seems almost pointless.
You'd be a 'Fortune-teller'😁
Pun apart, anything we write in our profiles could be made up, with or without client names. A profile is not a courtroom providing us with the opportunity to present exhibit A, B, etc. We can display logos and company names galore, but that doesn't prove we've ever delivered as much as a space to them (even if we happened to work with a space agency).
What’s more important is that displaying such company names does not do away with the need to convince the reader that we can deliver what we say we can deliver. I get the courtroom mentality urge to display them: 'Here, my honoured readers and prospective clients, is the irrefutable proof that I, and only I, the abilities of any and all other translators notwithstanding, am the translator to satisfy all your dreams.'
Except that it isn't anything of the sort.
If we do want to hint at world-famous companies for whom we toil away, then shouldn't it be in the power of a translator, who must by the very nature of their profession possess the skill of writing well, to make your reader surmise which company you are referring to, but without saying it, as Wojciech Sztukowski just suggested?
It doesn’t take much skill to display a page full of logos, but does it convince anyone? I myself tend to find it a bit cheesy – a bit in-your-face. A more subtle approach may well give better results.
| | | | Josep Vives (X)
Spain
Local time: 17:23
English to Spanish
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| Hmmm wait, what? | Jun 12, 2023 |
Stating in your CV or anywhere else that "I am an active translator for Ferrari" is in no case a breach of confidentiality. Whoever told you that lied to your face.
If you, however, reveal contents about the brands/files you translate on social media, to your mom, in a bar to the waiter -that is a breach of confidentiality and it is unethical, besides putting yourself in an awkward legal position. You gotta protect to the extent applicable your client's business, and not just by tra... See more Stating in your CV or anywhere else that "I am an active translator for Ferrari" is in no case a breach of confidentiality. Whoever told you that lied to your face.
If you, however, reveal contents about the brands/files you translate on social media, to your mom, in a bar to the waiter -that is a breach of confidentiality and it is unethical, besides putting yourself in an awkward legal position. You gotta protect to the extent applicable your client's business, and not just by translating right.
In case of doubt, read your NDAs. I have never read one where a clause saying "thou shall not mention your final clients" exists. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:23
Serbian to English
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| Wait a bit more ... | Jul 20 |
Josep Vives (X) wrote:
Hmmm wait, what?
Stating in your CV or anywhere else that "I am an active translator for Ferrari" is in no case a breach of confidentiality. Whoever told you that lied to your face.
If you, however, reveal contents about the brands/files you translate on social media, to your mom, in a bar to the waiter -that is a breach of confidentiality and it is unethical, besides putting yourself in an awkward legal position. You gotta protect to the extent applicable your client's business, and not just by translating right.
In case of doubt, read your NDAs. I have never read one where a clause saying "thou shall not mention your final clients" exists.
Wait a bit more ...
I did work once for a client who made me sign the contract with an apparently unrelated "front" company, the NDA very explicitly stating that the identity of the "real/final" client is and must remain confidential.
I don't know how often, but "thou shall not mention your final clients" for sure does happen.
A kind of "super-NDA", a bit like so-called "super-injunctions" in the UK legal system: a newspaper being ordered not to publish some story and also ordered to not tell anyone that they have been ordered to scrap the story.
[Edited at 2024-07-21 08:34 GMT]
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