Poll: When it comes to your work, do you consider yourself a risk taker? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When it comes to your work, do you consider yourself a risk taker?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 16:31
Member (2006)
German to English
I am not sure what risks you can take when translating? My old office chair became a risk befoe I threw it away.....
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I don’t see myself as a risk-taker but the truth is that freelancing is risky business, so I probably am…
| | | | | Not by nature | Dec 2, 2018 |
Like Thayenga, I'm not a risk-taker by nature but there's always an element of risk in accepting work, especially for a new and hitherto unknown customer, however careful one is with one's due diligence. Companies can suddenly go bankrupt, be bought up by other companies and so on.
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Yes, you can say a kindof... because sometimes eagerness for work leads to get work anyhow.. and just beacuse of this i got cheated once or twice.so yes sometimes.....
| | | | | In what context? What does this mean? | Dec 2, 2018 |
It would be good to have some elucidation from the person who put out the poll, to know what angle they are thinking of.
If it comes to actual translations, I don't jeopardize my clients by taking risks that they may affect them negatively. If I may not be able to handle a job, I won't take it, because if I botch it because I 'took a risk', it will hurt their success in whatever they are trying to do.
Giving up the prospect of employment by depending on freelance work ... See more It would be good to have some elucidation from the person who put out the poll, to know what angle they are thinking of.
If it comes to actual translations, I don't jeopardize my clients by taking risks that they may affect them negatively. If I may not be able to handle a job, I won't take it, because if I botch it because I 'took a risk', it will hurt their success in whatever they are trying to do.
Giving up the prospect of employment by depending on freelance work is in itself a risky thing, so in that case by the very nature, it's a risk taking endeavour. We need to know what is meant by the question. ▲ Collapse
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I don't think I have the need to.
| | | | Henry Schroeder
United States
Local time: 10:31
Member (2002)
German to English
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| Basically, it is all risk, as Teresa notes | Dec 2, 2018 |
But in terms of actual translations I only take risks when it is explicitly desired by the client.
German-English clients are not particularly interested in experimental translations (if risk is meant in that way)
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Sometimes I just translate every other page and hope they don’t notice. So far, so good. 🤞🤞🤞
| | | | | You have to be choosy | Dec 2, 2018 |
You have to be choosy, recognise your own worth and be financially able to refuse bad clients. In the "bad client" category are those who require zillions of pages to be filled in online, also those with below market rates, those who (try to) force work on you that you have neither the knowledge nor the time to do and those who expect you to take sitting down their failure to respect the agreements they signed. They are often one and the same, although not always. So no, I do not take a risk wit... See more You have to be choosy, recognise your own worth and be financially able to refuse bad clients. In the "bad client" category are those who require zillions of pages to be filled in online, also those with below market rates, those who (try to) force work on you that you have neither the knowledge nor the time to do and those who expect you to take sitting down their failure to respect the agreements they signed. They are often one and the same, although not always. So no, I do not take a risk with this type of client. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 11:31
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Taking risks in our profession is not a very smart move. We have experience enough to know our standards, capacity, availability, etc. very well. As opposed to other businesses, risk does not represent more profit for us.
| | | | R. Alex Jenkins
Brazil
Local time: 11:31
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
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I'm not actually a very interesting person, but in my mind I like to think I am. In fact, I plod through other people's creativity trying to make their efforts a joy to read for people who can't grasp the language.
I think there may be a bit of confusion between being a non-conformist (which I definitely am) and a risk taker (which I definitely am not, at least not any more).
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Yes: I gave up a cushy in-house job as translator/editor in an international organization in Washington, DC, to marry my husband (whom I had only known for a few months) and live with him in Mexico. There, I started my first freelance career, not knowing what to expect.
No: Two years later we were back in Washington and I returned to the same organization and a similar job. At that point, I stayed long enough to make sure I'd have benefits for early retirement. By the time I left, ... See more Yes: I gave up a cushy in-house job as translator/editor in an international organization in Washington, DC, to marry my husband (whom I had only known for a few months) and live with him in Mexico. There, I started my first freelance career, not knowing what to expect.
No: Two years later we were back in Washington and I returned to the same organization and a similar job. At that point, I stayed long enough to make sure I'd have benefits for early retirement. By the time I left, I had a pension and clients/assignments already lined up for my second freelance career.
[Edited at 2018-12-03 08:21 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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