Should I mention partial clients in a blind CV from a translation agency?
Thread poster: Fredrik Pettersson
Fredrik Pettersson
Fredrik Pettersson  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 00:23
Member (2009)
English to Swedish
+ ...
Feb 11, 2018

I have been invited by a new translation agency to receive work from them, and in their blind CV (no mention of my name, probably they forward this CV to the end client) it says Partial clients.

The first reaction is that of not just state my clients' names as that is a confidential matter for me.

Some reflections that I have are these:

1. How would you do in this situation, would you state some of your clients' names?

2. Would you do it in a C
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I have been invited by a new translation agency to receive work from them, and in their blind CV (no mention of my name, probably they forward this CV to the end client) it says Partial clients.

The first reaction is that of not just state my clients' names as that is a confidential matter for me.

Some reflections that I have are these:

1. How would you do in this situation, would you state some of your clients' names?

2. Would you do it in a CV that was not blind, where your name and contact info also appeared?

3. Would you do the same for 1 and 2 above for both translation agencies you've worked for/work for now and for direct clients, or would it differ between translation agencies and direct clients?

4. Would you do the same for 1 and 2 above regardless of whether you have received work from your customers within at least 1 year or more than 1 year, or would it differ so that you would act differently for customers you have received work from within at least 1 year vis-à-vis customers you only have received work for since more than 1 year back?
(For this item 4 above, I think that for the majority of customers we translators sign contract with, those business relations are very seldom formally terminated in writing, but we simply stop receiving work from that or that customer, which is why I formulate the question like this.)

In my case, I have some customers that are well known and has a strong brand image to everyone in this business, so clearly for this translation agency and end client it would be favourable for me to mention some of my clients' names.

It's the first time I've encountered a translation agency wanting me to state some of my customers' names though.

There is an interesting discussion about this subject here:

https://www.proz.com/forum/getting_established/281521-mentioning_company_names_in_cv.html

[Edited at 2018-02-11 16:45 GMT]
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Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 00:23
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
My two cents Feb 11, 2018

I believe in privacy in our profession, and so do all our clients, I think. I never state actual customer names in my CV and, when asked why, I explain that all clients, old and new, deserve the same level of privacy, i.e. 100% privacy of their business and their dealings with me.

What I do, and most prospects accept gladly, is a broad definition of the type of customer, of the likes of "Large electrical engineering company operating globally", "Leading German automotive manufacture
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I believe in privacy in our profession, and so do all our clients, I think. I never state actual customer names in my CV and, when asked why, I explain that all clients, old and new, deserve the same level of privacy, i.e. 100% privacy of their business and their dealings with me.

What I do, and most prospects accept gladly, is a broad definition of the type of customer, of the likes of "Large electrical engineering company operating globally", "Leading German automotive manufacturer", or "Medium-sized translation agency in the US."
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Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
What are “partial clients”? Feb 12, 2018

And what are they partial to? Chocolate? S&M?

 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:23
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
NDA's Feb 12, 2018

Aside from possibly having signed NDA's with some of your clients, by giving you the information required to do a translation your clients expect you to keep it confidential, and also their names.

Unless you're an agency, the mentioning of your clients' names is, IMO, unethical. The only time you are allowed to mention a client's name is when they have sent you a letter of recommendation, and stated that you are allowed to forward it to any potential customers.

"Partia
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Aside from possibly having signed NDA's with some of your clients, by giving you the information required to do a translation your clients expect you to keep it confidential, and also their names.

Unless you're an agency, the mentioning of your clients' names is, IMO, unethical. The only time you are allowed to mention a client's name is when they have sent you a letter of recommendation, and stated that you are allowed to forward it to any potential customers.

"Partial client" is a truly odd term. The only halfway sound explanation for this would be that the client is both a customer and an agency. Other than this the term makes no sense.
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Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 00:23
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
No Feb 12, 2018

Not sure what a 'blind' CV is either, but if it does not have your name and contact info, don't give it to them at all would be my reaction. I would say definitely no mention of clients of any kind.
I do not name any of my clients to the others, full stop.

I am guessing that the agency you are dealing with is putting in a tender for some contract, and needs to show it has qualified translators lined up if it wins. But a CV without your name on it is asking for trouble.
<
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Not sure what a 'blind' CV is either, but if it does not have your name and contact info, don't give it to them at all would be my reaction. I would say definitely no mention of clients of any kind.
I do not name any of my clients to the others, full stop.

I am guessing that the agency you are dealing with is putting in a tender for some contract, and needs to show it has qualified translators lined up if it wins. But a CV without your name on it is asking for trouble.

I have no evidence whatsoever that it happens, but there is a story that agencies bid very low prices to win contracts, undercutting those who pay the translators properly. Once the contract is won, agencies find cheaper translators...

A CV without your name and address? Have you never heard of cutting and pasting or identity theft?

I hate to sound cynical and suspicious, but please make sure you know what you are doing!
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 00:23
Spanish to English
+ ...
Partial Feb 12, 2018

I suspect Fredrik doesn't understand "partial clients" either. It's possibly not his term, but could be theirs, and maybe flawed. What I assume they mean is "occasional clients". I can't think of any client I would describe as a "partial client", though. Either it's a client or it ain't.

As for the Blind CV, I didn't get that one either, and I find it's a CV with no name, no pack drill, no educational qualifications, no sex, no age, no nothing. Can't understand how they find it usef
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I suspect Fredrik doesn't understand "partial clients" either. It's possibly not his term, but could be theirs, and maybe flawed. What I assume they mean is "occasional clients". I can't think of any client I would describe as a "partial client", though. Either it's a client or it ain't.

As for the Blind CV, I didn't get that one either, and I find it's a CV with no name, no pack drill, no educational qualifications, no sex, no age, no nothing. Can't understand how they find it useful for anything, but it's a buzzword which is well named, because they might as well be blind reading it.

[Edited at 2018-02-12 10:41 GMT]
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Jessie LN
Jessie LN  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:23
Spanish to English
+ ...
:) Feb 12, 2018

Chris S wrote:

And what are they partial to? Chocolate? S&M?



 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:23
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Blind CVs + partial clients Feb 12, 2018

In over 40 years of professional practice, I was asked for the first time quite recently for a blind CV. Is this a new thing? I haven’t a clue what is meant by a “partial client” and I interpreted it as being an agency client. To my surprise, a... See more
In over 40 years of professional practice, I was asked for the first time quite recently for a blind CV. Is this a new thing? I haven’t a clue what is meant by a “partial client” and I interpreted it as being an agency client. To my surprise, a Google research gives 91,200 results…
https://www.google.pt/search?q="partial%20client"&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=R3uBWsHtHJPY8ge5goSABw
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Should I mention partial clients in a blind CV from a translation agency?







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