Be what you want others to be
I don't think I would really want to be an attractive redhead… oh wait, never mind. Errr, where were we?
Punjabi Translation wrote:
This post is regarding the ethics followed by translation agencies towards the translators. Almost every agency expect high quality and timely delivery from translators. They want 24X7 support from them. They even want confirmation to every email. And, I have no issue with that as it is important for clarity. But, when it comes to translator's expectations, he/she don't find the same level of activeness in the same agencies. Now, translator look for the agencies, send them reminder emails, ask for confirmation but to his/her surprise agencies disappear with their activeness.
I am not generalizing the issue. But most of the agencies in India are doing this. If they want their expectations from translators to be fulfilled, they will also need to take care of the expectations of translators because they are not machines.
There is currently a lot of asymmetry in the market because it's buyer-controlled, so not only can buyers — whether end buyers vis-à-vis agencies or agencies themselves vis-à-vis translators — get away with a lot, they can also begin feel entitled and eventually lose their grip on reality somewhat.
To counter that, you need to move upmarket and strengthen your market presence and appeal to a point where you just can't be dismissed as yet another nameless generic 'resource'.
And some agencies/PMs need handling, meaning you need to train them a bit to do what you need them to do (confirm receipt, drop a line when job no longer available etc.).
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