Charging clients for training time spent? Thread poster: Gloriana Cocozza Garro
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Hi everyone,
I've had this question for a long time and I would like to know your insights based on your experience.
Usually, as an LPM, I invoice all my effective working hours, even training time. I am not sure if also as a freelance translator you would report the time spent on your training.
I recently joined this new client and he only sent me the preparation materials to get ready for real projects. It was a very out-of-the-blue email, so I simply ... See more Hi everyone,
I've had this question for a long time and I would like to know your insights based on your experience.
Usually, as an LPM, I invoice all my effective working hours, even training time. I am not sure if also as a freelance translator you would report the time spent on your training.
I recently joined this new client and he only sent me the preparation materials to get ready for real projects. It was a very out-of-the-blue email, so I simply accepted the training task.
The truth is that I have spent over 8 hours reading through all the information, but now I wonder whether I should charge for this or not...
How do you usually deal with this? Would you simply email the client back saying "I spent x amount of hours"?
Thanks for your help! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:29
Member (2008)
Italian to English
This (prospective) client has already wasted enough of your time. You may never get any work from him. If I were you I would drop him - now.
| | | | Adieu 
Ukrainian to English
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But we don't necessarily read it either
Style guides get skimmed through if you work for a client regularly or get a huge job
Bundled pdfs are largely ignored unless you're very confused or the job is very big (or very tiny w/ a significant pay bump due to minimum fees)
Then again... we usually try to stay in very familiar lanes and avoid learning anything new unless we plan to commit to it and are fairly confident it will bring us tens of thousands of doll... See more But we don't necessarily read it either
Style guides get skimmed through if you work for a client regularly or get a huge job
Bundled pdfs are largely ignored unless you're very confused or the job is very big (or very tiny w/ a significant pay bump due to minimum fees)
Then again... we usually try to stay in very familiar lanes and avoid learning anything new unless we plan to commit to it and are fairly confident it will bring us tens of thousands of dollars in jobs.
Example: my dear mother regularly sends me links to stuff with emails like "omg wouldn't it be so cool to work for NASA?". Short answer: NO, it really, really WOULDN'T be. It sounds like a nightmare.
Learning new stuff is a gigantic hassle and usually takes months of dedication to become equally lucrative vs. jobs you feel familiar with. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Or was this software training?
In that case, if you learned how to use Trados or MemoQ, this was definitely free training but worthwhile, and if you learned something else, it was probably a gigantic waste of time.
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| Preparation or training? | Jan 8, 2022 |
Agencies sometimes ask for incredible amounts of documents to be read before working with them.
If this company has not given you any work, they are a "potential" client. Be very careful about how much time you spend.
If it is background information on the company and their business, then it may be useful to you as general knowledge of the field. I would never ever expect to spend 8 hours reading material for a potential job with a potential client.
As a self-employed person,... See more Agencies sometimes ask for incredible amounts of documents to be read before working with them.
If this company has not given you any work, they are a "potential" client. Be very careful about how much time you spend.
If it is background information on the company and their business, then it may be useful to you as general knowledge of the field. I would never ever expect to spend 8 hours reading material for a potential job with a potential client.
As a self-employed person, you cannot afford to think like an employee. Training is done on your own time. It can be a good thing, but it is something you chose to do as an investment for improving your knowledge and skill set that will help you grow your business.
If the documents are in fact contractual materials, then consider carefully whether you want to work with a potential client who provides materials that take a whole working day to read through - with no guarantee of any work whatsoever.
Advice for similar situations in the future:
Read the titles and the subheadings. If it's pre-contractual material, skip directly to the terms and conditions of payment. Adopt a business approach to running your business. As an employee, I don't imagine your employer asked you to spend a day reading material that might be useful. If you were asked to spend a day on something, he was certain it was useful. This was not the case here.
If it is technical material, then in the longer term, you may have gained something in the time spent.
Either the client was not clear about how the materials were to be used or there was a misunderstanding. Either way, trust your instincts.
[Edited at 2022-01-08 13:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Billable time | Jan 8, 2022 |
If such training is specifically intended to get to know the client's software, systems, procedures, etc., including long-winded style guides, the writers of which often mistakenly seem to think that their role is to teach the translator how to write the latter's own language from second-grade level, I make it clear from the beginning that it is billable time. They can take it or leave it.
In practice, that sort of client is best avoided. Even if they pay for the time, that type of ... See more If such training is specifically intended to get to know the client's software, systems, procedures, etc., including long-winded style guides, the writers of which often mistakenly seem to think that their role is to teach the translator how to write the latter's own language from second-grade level, I make it clear from the beginning that it is billable time. They can take it or leave it.
In practice, that sort of client is best avoided. Even if they pay for the time, that type of client tends to think they need to micromanage everything, with the result that it becomes very tedious and frustrating to carry out the work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 00:29
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Gloriana Cocozza Garro wrote:
Usually, as an LPM...
What is an LPM?
I am not sure if also as a freelance translator you would report the time spent on your training.
You can charge for training time if this has been agreed to beforehand. Otherwise, generally, the client assumes that you are thankful for the free training, and that's that.
I recently joined this new client and he only sent me the preparation materials to get ready for real projects.
Potential clients do sometimes send information to all their prospective translators to explain their processes and their preferences. However, they generally assume that you would read that material in your own time. I have worked on projects where I was paid for time spent on training (i.e. learning how to use their systems) but the fact that I would be paid for that was always specified in advance.
...so I simply accepted the training task.
You say that you "accepted" the task. This is a phrasing that one would normally only use when an job offer (or work request) was made. What do you mean by "accepted"? What action did you undertake when you "accepted" the task? Did you write back and said "I accept this task" and "I confirm the rate for this task is X per hour"? Is the client aware that you "accepted" the task?
Also, you call it a "task". What was it that made you use that word? Did you agree anything with the client w.r.t. your payment for this "task"?
The truth is that I have spent over 8 hours reading through all the information, but now I wonder whether I should charge for this or not...
Unless you and the client had specifically agreed that you would charge for time spent reading the materials, I think the reality is that you have just spent 8 hours of your own time, unpaid.
[Edited at 2022-01-08 17:06 GMT]
| | | | matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 00:29
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
| Agree on everything beforehand | Jan 10, 2022 |
You should discuss all terms and conditions before starting anything, and raise any queries you may have with the other party. This goes for any task you may be asked to do, whether paid or unpaid.
As for training, I would guess it is unpaid. It may still be a great opportunity for you though. But in order to remove that nagging doubt about whether you are going to be paid for it or not, you really need to ask them.
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Mihai Badea (X)
Luxembourg
Local time: 00:29
English to Romanian
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| Paid training/preparation not the norm | Jan 10, 2022 |
However, in more complex projects, a client can arrange for training (for instance, in order to introduce a new piece of software that will be mandatory to use) which is paid: a PO is issued like for any other work.
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In case ProZ.com staff follows this topic, may I suggest the creation of a non-public designated forum area for project specific advice. Thanks.
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