translation rates in CV : is it advisable ? Thread poster: Angel Llacuna
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Do you specify your translation rates in the CV that you send to the agencies ?
Not a CV that you send in answer to a job offer, but to look for clients
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Angela Malik 
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:52
German to English
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...is the short answer.
Don't lock yourself into one rate -- you have no idea what type of text/project is coming.
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I would always give an agency my price up front. It screens out the low-payers straight away.
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Angel Llacuna
Spain
Local time: 06:52
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER | some thougts that I have read on the web ... | May 9, 2018 |
Some agencies want to spend as little time as possible assessing freelance translator CVs, so they sure don’t want to have to spend extra time asking for your rates.
Others simply won’t consider a CV that doesn't state the translator's rates.
As a compromise, I decided to state my rate, but adding the expression negotiable
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:52
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Not the way I work | May 9, 2018 |
Angel Llacuna wrote:
Do you specify your translation rates in the CV that you send to the agencies ?
Not a CV that you send in answer to a job offer, but to look for clients
No, because it may vary from one client to another, and from one country to another
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 06:52
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Rate & business brochure | May 9, 2018 |
Since I don't want my business brochure floating around, I always state my rates before I send my bb out in the second step. This way bottom feeders don't even get my business brochure.
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Roisin Ni Cheallaigh (X)
Ireland
English to Irish
+ ...
| "translation rates in CV: is it advisable?" | May 9, 2018 |
I have never done it, but I think it is a good idea.
I would also do it for proofreading rate.
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Eva Stoppa
Germany
Local time: 06:52
English to German
+ ...
| hardcore bottom feeders won't be impressed by rates given | May 9, 2018 |
Chris S wrote:
I would always give an agency my price up front. It screens out the low-payers straight away.
Really? I have had bottom-end payoing agencies not being impressed by my rates, but promising me more jobs instead if I accepted the rates "Accepted by our translators". Or I also have had the answer: "We pay XXX.XXXX. This is not negotiable".
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| "negotiable" seems like a bad idea to me | May 9, 2018 |
Angel Llacuna wrote:
As a compromise, I decided to state my rate, but adding the expression negotiable
If I were the person at a translation agency responsible for hiring freelancers and my main concern were spending as little money on them as possible, wouldn't I interpret that as: "Under no circumstances should you pay me more than x, and please make an attempt to get me to work for you at a lower rate!"
If you consistently don't have enough work at the moment, then it makes perfect sense to send out a relatively low offer and then sort things out when you are in a position to bargain effectively.
If someone likes your CV but not your rate, then negotiating to make the best out of a less than ideal situation also seems fine, but directly inviting potential clients to negotiate your rate down seems like shooting yourself in the foot.
There is also no reason not to send different offers to different potential clients based on your assumptions about what they will be willing to pay and your current need to work for those lower rates.
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| Absolutely not | May 9, 2018 |
Rates belong in a separate message, e.g. in an e-mail a CV is attached to, but never in the CV proper. The reason is simple - outsourcers sometimes contact you based on your CV they have been keeping for several years. If you have increased your rates in the meantime, the old rates in the CV may cause a serious misunderstanding between the oursourcer and you. Furthermore, depending on the client and the jobs you are expecting to get, you may want to vary your rates up or down.
[Edited at ... See more Rates belong in a separate message, e.g. in an e-mail a CV is attached to, but never in the CV proper. The reason is simple - outsourcers sometimes contact you based on your CV they have been keeping for several years. If you have increased your rates in the meantime, the old rates in the CV may cause a serious misunderstanding between the oursourcer and you. Furthermore, depending on the client and the jobs you are expecting to get, you may want to vary your rates up or down.
[Edited at 2018-05-09 21:19 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 06:52
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Angel Llacuna wrote:
Do you specify your translation rates in the CV that you send to the agencies?
Yes, but I call it my "usual rate" as a hint that the actual rate may be different. The actual rate may be higher or lower than the usual rate.
Angel Llacuna wrote:
As a compromise, I decided to state my rate, but adding the expression negotiable.
I would never use the word "negotiable". The word "negotiable" means "I will actually work for less, if only you ask me to".
[Edited at 2018-05-10 09:59 GMT]
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Angel Llacuna
Spain
Local time: 06:52
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER | thank you all ... | May 10, 2018 |
for your insights. I conclude that is preferable to give our translation rate on request.
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