| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Those "Please schedule a meeting via Zoom and/or Skype!" requests Thread poster: Korana Lasić
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People who've worked with agencies that want a "ten minute" interview, as part of the onboarding process, and your work Skype, please share your insight.
Third time this year, I had a request for a "10 to 30 minute" interview via Zoom or Skype by a PM of a US translation agency.
Each time I've said the same thing. That I feel they want a contractor (with all the perks of not having to pay me a monthly salary, dental and medical, or pension) but they would like to treat ... See more People who've worked with agencies that want a "ten minute" interview, as part of the onboarding process, and your work Skype, please share your insight.
Third time this year, I had a request for a "10 to 30 minute" interview via Zoom or Skype by a PM of a US translation agency.
Each time I've said the same thing. That I feel they want a contractor (with all the perks of not having to pay me a monthly salary, dental and medical, or pension) but they would like to treat them as an employee. I've worded it in the most polite way possible, but that was the bottom line of my reply. I've said something along the lines of: Unfortunately, I don't offer interviews or any sort of Zoom or Skype interactions to the agencies I work with, it's just not part of the services I offer. I feel this is something an employee can and should offer to their employers but as a freelancer, I work with many agencies and unpaid online meetings would only be to my disadvantage. I work with a number of very good agencies, on an ongoing basis, and everything is conducted via email.
Each time they have not pursued any further onboarding and that's really alright by me. I simply am not comfortable with someone who I’m to collaborate with for the first time having that sort of unpaid access to me. If any of the agencies I already work with and am happy with our collaboration wanted 30 minutes of my time in such manner, that be another issues altogether.
Now, we've had a thread here where an OP was sorry she ever got involved with agencies who keep organising unpaid online meetings, webinars and such employee appropriate demands that, IMO, should never be placed on contractors, but I wonder has anyone ever worked with an agency that demanded an online interview and access to their Skype or Zoom and hasn't lived to regret it? This agency proved a good, well organised LSP which sends good, well paid work? If anyone out here has had a positive experience with this, please share.
I am fairly new to the freelancing side of the translation business, and I'm always open to learning new things and challenging my own way of doing business. So, I am trying to make sure I am not writing these agencies off too soon and decide whether perhaps I should give one of these interviews a try, at least with PMs who claim they only need 10 minutes of my time. Even though I'm not sure what they can gather about me professionally in only 10 minutes, and I suspect "10 minutes" is nothing but a euphemism for a 30+ minute waste of my time. Thanks in advance for anyone's informed input.
Edit: Also, if people not having had specific experience with this want to chime in, sure, but I am really interested only in anyone who works for such an agency and hasn't lived to regret it.
[Edited at 2022-08-05 18:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Joakim Braun 
Sweden
Local time: 15:27
German to Swedish
+ ...
During 2020/2021 office type people got used to interacting with Zoom/Skype.
Habits change and I'd consider spending a couple of minutes saying hello to a promising new customer (but not run-of-the-mill "your best rate" agencies).
All further interaction - and expecially any discussion of terms and conditions - is better kept in e-mail, where there's an easy-to-follow audit trail.
| | | | | What's the point? | Aug 5, 2022 |
if I were a client looking for a translator, I wouldn't care about the looks or the voice tone or the color of the eyes of a prospective freelancer. I would look for his/her internet reputation, feedback from clients, visit profile, ask for samples and so on.
I don`t see any point in chatting with a pospective client at all. I would just say there is no need, please email me if you have further questions, and move on.
| | | | Edwin den Boer
Netherlands
Local time: 15:27
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
| Meetings should be paid | Aug 7, 2022 |
I had a good experience in this respect with an agency which required regular Zoom meetings and paid for every minute, including when a meeting took longer than planned. It was useful to discuss many style and terminology issues with other reviewers, for example. And when training new team members, it helps to show how online tools work.
I feel sorry for new freelance translators who don't get the opportunity to work in an office and learn from more experienced people. That was impo... See more I had a good experience in this respect with an agency which required regular Zoom meetings and paid for every minute, including when a meeting took longer than planned. It was useful to discuss many style and terminology issues with other reviewers, for example. And when training new team members, it helps to show how online tools work.
I feel sorry for new freelance translators who don't get the opportunity to work in an office and learn from more experienced people. That was important for my development, while I've never been employed in translation. Until about 5 years ago, it was not unusual to work on location for information security reasons. Online meetings and chat apps like Slack can help them to have more of a quick back-and-forth than is possible in email.
In your case, I'd simply ask them to pay you for your time, to see if they're serious. I don't see this necessarily as a sign of wanting an employee with the status of a contractor. Although I do recognize that tendency in general, especially for what otherwise would be the best jobs.
E-mails may also take up a lot of time. It's not done to ask clients to pay you for answering emails, but I did fire one client because I figured out that their emails took up as much time as all the small jobs I did for them.
[Edited at 2022-08-07 22:50 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-08-07 22:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| maybe it's not bad at all | Aug 8, 2022 |
Most of the agencies I work with never called me on the phone, but only a few did. I had found it weird because if I needed to find a translator, I wouldn't bother calling them instead of emailing. But then I heard about individuals posing as translators (who supposedly translate to and from 7 languages) and outsourcing the projects to the less fortunate ones with a profit margin. So I thought that was the way of agencies to verify the translator's expertise (and existence, of course). As for th... See more Most of the agencies I work with never called me on the phone, but only a few did. I had found it weird because if I needed to find a translator, I wouldn't bother calling them instead of emailing. But then I heard about individuals posing as translators (who supposedly translate to and from 7 languages) and outsourcing the projects to the less fortunate ones with a profit margin. So I thought that was the way of agencies to verify the translator's expertise (and existence, of course). As for the video calls, that's not different than the phone calls. It adds some color and light to the conversation. But 30 minutes is way too long unless it's a very delicate project requiring to settle many details. By the way, I don't mind calls or emails. But some agencies seem to love starting off with a long message citing their history in a biblical fashion as in which company acquired which and so on. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 09:27
Japanese to English
+ ...
Agencies that request Zoom meetings want to see what color you are.
| | | | | It all depends on how much work these agencies are sending you! | Aug 8, 2022 |
Metin Demirel wrote:
Most of the agencies I work with never called me on the phone, but only a few did. I had found it weird because if I needed to find a translator, I wouldn't bother calling them instead of emailing. But then I heard about individuals posing as translators (who supposedly translate to and from 7 languages) and outsourcing the projects to the less fortunate ones with a profit margin. So I thought that was the way of agencies to verify the translator's expertise (and existence, of course). As for the video calls, that's not different than the phone calls. It adds some color and light to the conversation. But 30 minutes is way too long unless it's a very delicate project requiring to settle many details. By the way, I don't mind calls or emails. But some agencies seem to love starting off with a long message citing their history in a biblical fashion as in which company acquired which and so on.
My fear is they might be a disorganised agency that will take up much of my time for little work. I respond to every email within an hour. Nobody really needs access to my Skype and the two agencies I did give my Skype to, they never sent any work because they couldn't pay my very reasonable rate. To be fair to them, they also never bothered me with trying to get unpaid interviews and webinars.
Edit: Thank you all for your input!
[Edited at 2022-08-08 19:48 GMT]
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 15:27
German to Swedish
+ ...
Korana Lasić wrote:
(...) the two agencies I did give my Skype to, never sent any work because they couldn't pay my very reasonable rate.
Treat Skype as a low-rate indicator and you'll be right most of the time.
Skype, Paypal and "your best rate" go together.
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Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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If anybody HAS done these: what was the point?
Did they bring in people proficient in all sides of all your language pairs to verify that you are proficient in the languages you listed?
Did they ask you to place a government ID next to your live face to verify your identity?
If not, what exactly did they want?
| | | | Rebecca Capowski
United States
Local time: 09:27
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
The most recent time I participated in a Skype meeting for onboarding, neither of our cameras was turned on. I was just asked about my work experience, how I got into translation, and then given an overview of the project. I'm not partial to videoconferencing myself, but it was pretty painless. It also wasn't anything that couldn't have been handled through email (or, for that matter, the phone).
I think much of the boom in Zoom/Skype meeting requests is just a matter of people g... See more The most recent time I participated in a Skype meeting for onboarding, neither of our cameras was turned on. I was just asked about my work experience, how I got into translation, and then given an overview of the project. I'm not partial to videoconferencing myself, but it was pretty painless. It also wasn't anything that couldn't have been handled through email (or, for that matter, the phone).
I think much of the boom in Zoom/Skype meeting requests is just a matter of people getting used to a certain type of communication—they got accustomed to videoconferencing during the pandemic; it suits their communication preferences better than written methods; it becomes their go-to method of communication, regardless of whether or not email would be more efficient or if they're using all of its functionalities (such as in my meeting). Some people also place a great emphasis on having some sort of contact beyond email exchanges with a candidate before hiring them, even if the work is remote. Of course, in many cases, the Zoom/Skype interview is corporate policy, but you can chalk that up to corporations and their love of following trends just to be able to say they're on the cutting edge, even if said trend doesn't yield any real benefits for them over the more conventional alternatives. ▲ Collapse
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Michael Newton wrote:
Agencies that request Zoom meetings want to see what color you are.
🙄
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What’s ten or even 30 minutes of your time if you haven’t any work to do?
Maybe they just ask to weed out stroppy/inflexible types who refuse?
And I wouldn’t think they’d want to waste ten or 30 minutes of their own time either, so the chances of it leading to some work should be higher.
I’m quite warming to the concept…
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| Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule |
Adieu wrote:
If anybody HAS done these: what was the point?
Did they bring in people proficient in all sides of all your language pairs to verify that you are proficient in the languages you listed?
Did they ask you to place a government ID next to your live face to verify your identity?
If not, what exactly did they want? Exactly!
| | | | Esther Pugh
United States
Local time: 09:27
Member (2014)
English to German
+ ...
| As always – it depends | Aug 9, 2022 |
I usually don't have any extra time for "nonsense" either, but if (an existing or) a potential client wants to have a little chat just to get to know you, especially if there's potential for a mutually beneficial long-term cooperation, I have nothing against it.
It also tells you a lot about the client. If they didn't take the selection process seriously, they'd just send out mass e-mails to everybody on a generic list. They wouldn't make the effort to actually connect with you, to ... See more I usually don't have any extra time for "nonsense" either, but if (an existing or) a potential client wants to have a little chat just to get to know you, especially if there's potential for a mutually beneficial long-term cooperation, I have nothing against it.
It also tells you a lot about the client. If they didn't take the selection process seriously, they'd just send out mass e-mails to everybody on a generic list. They wouldn't make the effort to actually connect with you, to figure out how well (or how poorly) the conversation flows, or if you connect on a personal level, how you express yourself, etc. etc. I personally think that's important.
Get to know them! There's nothing wrong with that.
I get it though – some translators are real introverts, but sometimes it's OK to "take a risk" (woo-hoo), and actually talk to somebody in person (albeit through a screen), and it's not a question of whether or not you're an employee or a contractor. It's about you as a contractor being willing to meet the client's needs, and if their need is to see you and hear your voice, in order to get a better feel about who you are and what you think, then go for it. It is always interesting to meet new people. Clients are our friends, not our enemies, and they want to be comfortable with the people they contract with.
Sure, there are your typical time-wasters as well, like the one organization that has "tried" now for a fifth time to onboard me, and even though I know they don't "like" my rates, they keep coming back asking for a zoom meeting in order to "discuss further" – and every time I tell them no.
It's your choice who you spend time with, and luckily – as business owners and contractors – we can pick and choose, unlike employees.
Win - win!! ▲ Collapse
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