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There’s a New Phenomenon among Freelance Translators on LinkedIn

Like every professional, I use LinkedIn to make professional connections and hunt for new business opportunities.

What I have recently noticed is that many translators, mostly freelancers, try to trick fellow translators that they need to outsource translation jobs to them, just so they could get their email addresses and send them their resumes looking for work themselves.

The scenario goes pretty much as follows (this is just an example):

Freelance Translator 1: posts the following on LinkedIn: “Looking for a professional Arabic to English translator”.

Freelance Translator 2: sends message with email address.

Freelance Translator 1: sends email to Freelance Translator 2, asking for a collaboration, instead of offering a job.

Didn’t they get the memo that this is unprofessional and sends the wrong message to someone about them? Why not write a post showing their skills or better yet, contact companies and translation agencies directly? I’ll tell you why: Because they know damn well that 95% of the time, they won’t get a reply. That’s why. So instead, they fish for work in a very fishy manner, might I say, by lying and misleading their fellow translators.

I’ve had this happen to me so many times that I stopped commenting on such posts. It’s a waste of my time, and I wish they knew it’s actually a waste of their time as well.

In our line of business, integrity is one of the pillars of a successful career. If you’re not an honest translator, you won’t be able to sell your services. Clients simply won’t buy it (pun intended).

Rania

rania@transpremium.com

I AM RANIA MERCHAK ANDRAOS, A CAREER MOM WITH A PASSION FOR WORDS, FITNESS & HEALTH, AND FOOD! STICK AROUND AND ENJOY THE RIDE AS YOU GET A GLIMPSE OF MY WORLD!

1 Comment
  • Rani Nouaimeh.

    Thanks for the info.

    August 9, 2017 at 9:14 am Reply

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