| Pages sur ce sujet: < [1 2] | Request for copies of diplomas/certificates Auteur du fil: Annie Sapucaia
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| Paranoid too... | Nov 12, 2013 |
Personally I think it does not make sense for agencies to hold that kind of information in their freelance databases.
First, if you ask me, agencies today do not have a real need to keep databases of freelancers, since a host of freelancer profiles are already at their fingertips thanks to portals like Proz.com. Only very few agencies in the world need to keep the full details and documents of hundreds of translators. Most agencies simply do not have work for so many people, and onl... See more Personally I think it does not make sense for agencies to hold that kind of information in their freelance databases.
First, if you ask me, agencies today do not have a real need to keep databases of freelancers, since a host of freelancer profiles are already at their fingertips thanks to portals like Proz.com. Only very few agencies in the world need to keep the full details and documents of hundreds of translators. Most agencies simply do not have work for so many people, and only hire the same people time and time again. PMs very rarely check the databases.
Second, if an agency does not trust your statement that you have such and such diplomas, they should never hire you in the first place. I think it would be stupid for anyone to say that they have a diploma they don't have, wouldn't it?
And last but not least, the rates and amount of work you can reasonably expect from an agency are inversely proportional to the amount of information, signatures, and documents they request from you in order to have you in their database. Almost 20 years of experience are enough proof for me.
So for those of you who favour a short position statement at the end of longish postings... Copies of diplomas to agencies in today's world.... "no way, Jose!" ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Pays-Bas
Local time: 15:03
Membre (2006)
anglais vers afrikaans
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Annie Sapucaia wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
(or: what does "transcripts" mean in your country?)
It means all the grades/marks for the courses you took. The only other thing I have is the actual diploma, though, which is large and not very easy to scan.
Well, I suppose you could send them the statement of grades, to prove to them that you really did study all those subjects, but it should not be necessary. As for your diploma, go to any library with a photocopier and tell the thing to reduce the copy from A3 to A4, and then scan that A4 in.
They asked me if I have a proofreader, and that they prefer I do. I thought that was a bit strange. Isn't it their job to have a proofreader?
Tell them you don't have a proofreader and that they should have all your work proofread by a separate person themselvels. Yes, it is their job to get the proofreader... but sometimes translators work in teams and it is just simpler for the agency to use the team. If you know of someone who might be a good proofreader for them, refer that person to them. Hopefully they'll use that person.
| | | | Theo Bernards (X)
France
Local time: 15:03
anglais vers néerlandais
+ ...
| Well, that is a no go area for me | Nov 12, 2013 |
...., asking that I send ... three references.
I see this part is not addressed yet. References? Really? I operate under a strict self-imposed non-disclosure principle (which any agency that I approach should be aware of, provided they take their time to read my website) and references are a definite no-go area for me...
| | | | Elda Veiga
Portugal
Local time: 14:03
anglais vers portugais
| Certificates yes, Refences Nay | Dec 12, 2013 |
I have shown my certificates before, but I'm also unease with the "references" thing, mostly because if they ask me to sign NDA's, shouldn't they presume others asked that as well? I believe that if an agency wants to know whether they can trust your translation or not, they should give you a translation test, and perhaps look you up on the Internet? We also have WWA's here on ProZ.
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| As the others said... | Dec 12, 2013 |
Annie Sapucaia wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
(or: what does "transcripts" mean in your country?)
It means all the grades/marks for the courses you took. The only other thing I have is the actual diploma, though, which is large and not very easy to scan.
Would it be possible to take a good quality photo of it, if Samuel's idea doesn't work?
I wouldn't send transcripts either, but I occasionally am asked for a copy of a diploma and I have no problem with that. I actually have a special pdf where page one is a scan of my diploma and page two -- a sworn translation to English.
References -- no, no. I always say that signed NDA's don't allow me to share such information. I find it quite amusing when I write it to an agency that asks me to sign such an NDA too.
| | | | Neil Coffey
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 14:03
français vers anglais
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| Agreed- paperwork inversely proportional to actual paid translation work | Dec 13, 2013 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
And last but not least, the rates and amount of work you can reasonably expect from an agency are inversely proportional to the amount of information, signatures, and documents they request from you in order to have you in their database. Almost 20 years of experience are enough proof for me.
Agreed! If an agency urgently has volumes of work to allocate to you, then the focus of the conversation will be on the actual work, not on spurious pen pushing...
I'm in two minds about sending copies of degree certificates. On the one hand, I agree that it doesn't really contain any secret information at the end of the day-- if anything, quite the opposite-- but on the other, it seems reasonable to have ONE third party to vet copies of credentials (i.e. ProZ.com in this case) on behalf of all and sundry rather than JPEGs of one's degree certificate circulating in the wild, "just in case"...
| | | | Neil Coffey
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 14:03
français vers anglais
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| Verification... | Dec 13, 2013 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
I think it would be stupid for anyone to say that they have a diploma they don't have, wouldn't it?
And presumably those with a pathological urge to lie about having a fictitious diploma are precisely the same people who would have no moral problem with manufacturing the fake paperwork to go with it in any case. In reality, an agency asking for a copy of a degree certificate probably isn't actually an authority on detecting fake certificates in any case.
| | | | Niina Lahokoski
Finlande
Local time: 16:03
Membre (2008)
anglais vers finnois
+ ...
I don't have a problem with sending out a copy of my diploma, although very few clients have ever asked for it. As it happens, just today I got a request for a witnessed copy, though, which is going a bit far in my opinion.
As to references, nowadays I just refer anyone asking for them to my Proz.com WWA section and LinkedIn profile, where I have a couple of recommendations. I don't feel comfortable with giving out the contact details of my clients in general.
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MariusV
Lituanie
Local time: 16:03
anglais vers lituanien
+ ...
| my two cents | Jan 23, 2014 |
I decided to make it very simple - all information about me and my services (the information actually needed) is on my website (language pairs I do, education, expertise, contact information). All the rest, I do not think is much relevant - I cannot understand (nor will ever understand_ how such information from the basic CV like date of birth, place of birth, nationality, name, family name, etc. can be related to professional experience. Let alone, all those demands for those "references" I fin... See more I decided to make it very simple - all information about me and my services (the information actually needed) is on my website (language pairs I do, education, expertise, contact information). All the rest, I do not think is much relevant - I cannot understand (nor will ever understand_ how such information from the basic CV like date of birth, place of birth, nationality, name, family name, etc. can be related to professional experience. Let alone, all those demands for those "references" I find even unethical. First of all, I have strict NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) signed with the majority of the clients, so first, I need to ask their permission to disclose such information to any third parties (and those third parties may be their competitors). Let alone, references are usually provided by major/permanent clients. And I really do not want to disclose this information "as such" to any third party. Which (in turn) can be MY OWN competitor (and please believe me, there are lots of "data harvesters" online). Moreover, CVs contain SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION.
And I noticed one clear tendency - the agencies / clients which really need the service, usually do not have time for play and all those formalities. They just ask for the basic things and order the job. And those time wasters are more and more inventive - send them your CV, send them your "recent projects" list, send them references, sign their NDA of several pages, sign their Framework Agreement of dozens of pages with idiotic conditions, then do a test translation as they are "ISO-certified" (of course, do this for free), spend several hours of your time FOR NOTHING - as a rule those time wasters never ever give any jobs.
I think it is enough. And time for us to respond and react - let them also send the CVs of their staff, let them fill in and sign some crazy forms and agreements, let them do non-refundable test money transfers (we also need to be sure their accountants are true professionals, right?)... ▲ Collapse
| | | | MariusV
Lituanie
Local time: 16:03
anglais vers lituanien
+ ...
| proofreaders | Jan 23, 2014 |
Elda Veiga wrote:
I have shown my certificates before, but I'm also unease with the "references" thing, mostly because if they ask me to sign NDA's, shouldn't they presume others asked that as well? I believe that if an agency wants to know whether they can trust your translation or not, they should give you a translation test, and perhaps look you up on the Internet? We also have WWA's here on ProZ.
I think that any decent agency has its own "revisers" and they revise all texts received from translators, esp. "new translators". And if they just receive translation files, download them, re-attach them to their email to their clients, and do not even know how the target language looks like, no test translations, no references, nothing will help...
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