How should I get paid as a project manager? દોર પોસ્ટ કરનાર: Rea Bartlett Tandon
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Hi everyone!
So I’m a translation student (Master’s level, if that makes any difference) and am just starting a freelance partnership with a company. On top of performing translations for them myself, they also want me to act as a project manager for the language combinations I cannot translate between personally.
As I am charging per word for my translation services, I’m not sure how I should charge for the project management part for other translations. A small... See more Hi everyone!
So I’m a translation student (Master’s level, if that makes any difference) and am just starting a freelance partnership with a company. On top of performing translations for them myself, they also want me to act as a project manager for the language combinations I cannot translate between personally.
As I am charging per word for my translation services, I’m not sure how I should charge for the project management part for other translations. A small percentage of the overall project price, or a small price per word? Does anyone have and ideas or experience with this kind of setup?
Thank you in advance! ▲ Collapse
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I would charge by the hour. All other forms of pricing are just an approximation of an hourly labour rate anyway.
I’m intrigued by this arrangement though. It is pretty unusual...
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Good point, thank you
Yeah it's not something I've come across much before either. As it's a startup web-based company I'll be working with, I think they just want to employ someone to deal with the whole translation side of things while they work on developing the actual product.
Thank again for your input!
| | | | Joakim Braun 
સ્વીડન
Local time: 07:37
જર્મન થી સ્વિડીશ
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| By project + percentage? | Nov 13, 2020 |
Your customer will strongly prefer a fixed cost.
I suggest a base fee per project, covering perhaps half an hour's work, plus a percentage of the project price (when price > some amount).
Or, if you're a gambler, a (higher) fee per project.
Maybe agree to this for X projects (at least 20-30) with the understanding that you may want to renegotiate later. If you turn out to have been wildly optimistic, that's a useful beginner's experience.
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IrinaN
યૂનાઇટેડ સ્ટેટસ્
Local time: 00:37
અંગ્રેજી થી રશિયન
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| Do you know what you are about to manage? | Nov 13, 2020 |
Sorry but I doubt that you fully realize what project management is. Their approach is very strange indeed. This is the case when you have nothing to guess about until the client presents an offer followed by a very detailed and specific description of duties and responsibilities.
Half an hour? Are you about to deal with translators, editors, proofreaders and end clients? Monitor deadlines, invoices and payments? Handle delivery of glossaries, take calls and emails with questions? B... See more Sorry but I doubt that you fully realize what project management is. Their approach is very strange indeed. This is the case when you have nothing to guess about until the client presents an offer followed by a very detailed and specific description of duties and responsibilities.
Half an hour? Are you about to deal with translators, editors, proofreaders and end clients? Monitor deadlines, invoices and payments? Handle delivery of glossaries, take calls and emails with questions? Be available 24/7 before the project is all done and delivered? Or simply work as the last in the assembly line and a shipper after everyone else did their job?
Without knowing the above there are no boundaries to how they can take advantage of you in the future. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
કેનેડા
Local time: 23:37
ડચ થી અંગ્રેજી
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Don't start a sentence with 'So' - it is superfluous.
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Rea Bartlett Tandon wrote:
As it's a startup web-based company I'll be working with, I think they just want to employ someone to deal with the whole translation side of things while they work on developing the actual product.
(emphasis mine)
Having read Rea's comment and her profile, it appears that she will be helping the company with their machine translation development and set-up across a number of languages, even 'those language combinations I cannot translate between personally' (quoted from Rea's initial post).
As a (human) translator, I am strongly averse to MT and MTPE (which I truly abhor, having had a few nightmarish experiences in the past), so all I can do is wish Rea good luck.
Barbara out!
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
સ્પેન
Local time: 07:37
સ્પેનીશ થી અંગ્રેજી
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So difficult to decide? I don't think so. You're being paid by the word on the other bit, right? Then, as Chris S said right at the beginning here, you just work out how much you earn in an hour from that, add a bit on because why not, they'll never know, and keep a close watch on your hours. At the beginning, tell them you did X hours today, Y hours yesterday, and Z hours the day before, to give them an idea of what you're going to be charging, to give them the chance to say, What, whoa ...!. <... See more So difficult to decide? I don't think so. You're being paid by the word on the other bit, right? Then, as Chris S said right at the beginning here, you just work out how much you earn in an hour from that, add a bit on because why not, they'll never know, and keep a close watch on your hours. At the beginning, tell them you did X hours today, Y hours yesterday, and Z hours the day before, to give them an idea of what you're going to be charging, to give them the chance to say, What, whoa ...!.
"act as a project manager for the language combinations I cannot translate between personally."
Do you even know how many languages there are, or what kind of workload you'll have? Best to ask right at the start. Most translation outfits "handle" translations from just about any language to just about any language.
[Edited at 2020-11-14 10:31 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Ivana Kahle
જર્મની
Local time: 07:37
સભ્ય (2007)
જર્મન થી ક્રોએશિયન
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