Beginner at Posting Bids
Thread poster: Will Volny
Will Volny
Will Volny  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 05:27
Member (2018)
Czech to English
+ ...
Sep 7, 2018

I wonder if there is a place on ProZ where I can more accurately learn the process of bidding/responding to projects that come up within my purview. When I click on a job posting, I usually get to an email, respond personally to that email, send, and then hope for the best. In many cases, I never know if it was received. Is there a 'forum' or page in ProZ where we beginners to this ProZ system can discuss?

 
Emma Page
Emma Page
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:27
French to English
+ ...
Try adding read-receipts to your emails? Sep 8, 2018

If what you are worried about is whether emails have been received, it should be possible to change a setting so you can see if things have been delivered or opened.

But I get the sense that you are frustrated because you get responses to so few of your bids. The reality is, most job postings on proz will get many, many more responses than required. Most PMs and clients only respond to the bids in which they are interested. It's a game of applying to as many jobs for which you are
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If what you are worried about is whether emails have been received, it should be possible to change a setting so you can see if things have been delivered or opened.

But I get the sense that you are frustrated because you get responses to so few of your bids. The reality is, most job postings on proz will get many, many more responses than required. Most PMs and clients only respond to the bids in which they are interested. It's a game of applying to as many jobs for which you are qualified as you possibly can, as early as possible, and hoping you get lucky.

Taking a look at your profile, I notice that you don't indicate anywhere where or how you acquired your language skills, and that isn't clear from your CV either (are you a native speaker of Czech and Slovak? Did you learn them at school or while living abroad?). Also, your bio switches back and forth between the first and third person (might want to give that a proofread). Fix those things, and if you can ask a client or two to give you a WWA rating, that may help as well. Good luck!
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Will Volny
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:27
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Send a tailored response Sep 8, 2018

Will Volny wrote:
I wonder if there is a place on ProZ where I can more accurately learn the process of bidding/responding to projects that come up within my purview. When I click on a job posting, I usually get to an email, respond personally to that email, send, and then hope for the best. In many cases, I never know if it was received. Is there a 'forum' or page in ProZ where we beginners to this ProZ system can discuss?

Well, there's a Getting Established forum and it has certainly been discussed there before now. The information in the Site Guidance Centre will also give you some hints and tips, I'm sure. Your profile is vitally important here on ProZ.com, both to allow you to appear in filtered directory searches and to receive notifications or relevant jobs, and also to give clients confidence in your services once you've applied to them. There's a free "Meeting Clients" webinar you can attend - details in the Site Guidance Centre.

For actual wordings it's probably going to be down to you, as every one will be different, of course. What I can say is that it needs to be short (make every word count) and relevant. Your CV should give all the highlights so no need to mention them all in your letter/quote, just the one or two that really back up your claim to be suitable for their job. And of course you need to give your rates (or at least an indication if the job is still unclear) and other terms and conditions - payment methods and deadlines, taxes, possible surcharges, discounts, minimum invoice amount...

As Emma says, most of the time you'll only get a reply if they're interested in hiring you. In an ideal world you'd get a reply every time, but it doesn't happen. Mind you, I've occasionally had silence for several months and then received an email asking if I'm free for some different job. So never give up hope .


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Emma Page
Will Volny
 


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