is it important to bid quickly? Thread poster: Marco Dozzi
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Marco Dozzi 
United States
Local time: 14:40
German to English
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Hi everyone,
I'm still new to proz, and I'm wondering whether responding quickly to a posting for a project enhances one's odds of being selected for the project. Do employers tend to have a "first-come, first-serve" approach, or do they more frequently wait until the end of the bidding window to select who to offer a project to?
Thanks!
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 14:40
Japanese to English
+ ...
Agencies tend to wait for the lowest bid and then move.
| | | | yogim
Local time: 14:40
Arabic to French
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| I still looking for the answer | May 16, 2016 |
I rarely get an answer, even thanks for your bid!
I am disappointed because I can not understand what are my mistakes?
Good luck and be Patient.
Regards
Yogim
[Edited at 2016-05-16 06:17 GMT]
| | | | | Many follow "first come first serve" and most only search for lowest price | May 16, 2016 |
Many agencies look for "first come first serve" without thinking that everybody couldn't be online all the time.
And one more thing I have found here that most of agencies only search for cheaper rates, without thinking about quality, very often it effects outcome, but I think agencies have care, even they have nobody who even understand the other language. It is very common for Hindi language market, even now overseas companies are following the same as well as Indian agencies.
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Maija Cirule
Latvia
Local time: 21:40
German to English
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| If you are not ready | May 16, 2016 |
Marco Dozzi wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm still new to proz, and I'm wondering whether responding quickly to a posting for a project enhances one's odds of being selected for the project. Do employers tend to have a "first-come, first-serve" approach, or do they more frequently wait until the end of the bidding window to select who to offer a project to?
Thanks!
to work for peanuts, the best modus operandi is not responding to these postings at all. I have obtained several good clients who visited my profile and no clients via these postings.
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My experience is, as others have said, that most of these postings are looking for the lowest bid and that is why nowadays I tend to ignore them. Nevertheless, I must say that most of my new clients have come through Proz (some directly after visiting my profile and others via these postings many years later).
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I think it can be important to bid quickly. Especially if the job is an urgent one outsourcers take on one of the first translators who answer and do then close the job.
| | | | | Is it "bidding"? | May 16, 2016 |
I see a lot of requests for translation services. I state my fee, turnaround time, like for any other request. It's not a bid - it's a response. The term "bidding" has the connotation of competing based on price. In normal bidding people offer to pay more and more for a product. In this kind of bidding, people offer to work for less and less money. Is that actually a good idea? Just thinking out loud.
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Marco Dozzi wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm still new to proz, and I'm wondering whether responding quickly to a posting for a project enhances one's odds of being selected for the project. Do employers tend to have a "first-come, first-serve" approach, or do they more frequently wait until the end of the bidding window to select who to offer a project to?
Thanks!
Hi!
It's different for e-mail inquiries than it is for jobs posted on the Proz.com job system.
For e-mail inquiries, yes, it's all about speed. They simply want to get it over with and move on to the next project that needs to be assigned and then the next etc. They won't necessarily assign the job to you right away, but they are likely to assign it within 10 minutes to whomever's the most desirable out of those who replied by that time.
In the job system it shouldn't matter whether you are first or last, as long as you fit within the allotted quoting deadline (visible next to delivery deadline). Some companies probably take the posting down once they find a suitable candidate, if they aren't interested in maximizing the margin at the expense of significant time spent comparing the bids as opposed to moving on to other work. Someone who believes in maximization/rigorous optimization will not.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 19:40
Member (2007)
English
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| It depends on the client | May 16, 2016 |
(NB They aren't our employers, as we're self-employed. They are our clients.)
Some agencies post jobs with little information, close deadlines and an emphasis on "best rates". If these interest you then bash off a quick standard response. They'll pick the first one they can afford.
Others, agencies and direct clients, take the trouble to give us all the information we need to judge whether it's a good job for our skills. They are likely to wait a while to choose the bes... See more (NB They aren't our employers, as we're self-employed. They are our clients.)
Some agencies post jobs with little information, close deadlines and an emphasis on "best rates". If these interest you then bash off a quick standard response. They'll pick the first one they can afford.
Others, agencies and direct clients, take the trouble to give us all the information we need to judge whether it's a good job for our skills. They are likely to wait a while to choose the best candidate. So it's worth taking the time to write a good quote. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | To bid or not to bid | May 16, 2016 |
Bidding, by its very nature, implies presumption that the client is looking for the lowest price.
I guess your question was more about quoting rather than bidding. No, I do not believe whoever quotes first gets the job. Sure, you are expected to quote within a reasonably period of time, but if the job is not urgent and you quote within an hour or so after the job was published, and you meet the criteria, no reason to think you may not get the job.
Bidding is terrible. ... See more Bidding, by its very nature, implies presumption that the client is looking for the lowest price.
I guess your question was more about quoting rather than bidding. No, I do not believe whoever quotes first gets the job. Sure, you are expected to quote within a reasonably period of time, but if the job is not urgent and you quote within an hour or so after the job was published, and you meet the criteria, no reason to think you may not get the job.
Bidding is terrible. I still get emails from certain agencies who publish jobs for us to bid. Jobs start at 0.14 USD/word and someone ends up taking it at 0.011/word and sometimes even lower. Time will come this 0.011/word "tranzlinatears" will start paying for doing a job.
Quoting for a job is right. Bidding is terrible. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Why ever not? | May 16, 2016 |
Merab Dekano wrote:
Bidding is terrible. I still get emails from certain agencies who publish jobs for us to bid. Jobs start at 0.14 USD/word and someone ends up taking it at 0.011/word and sometimes even lower. Time will come this 0.011/word "tranzlinatears" will start paying for doing a job.
I am sure soon enough some clever business mind comes up with a platform that gets people to pay for being given translation jobs. I can think of a few reasons why people might want to pay for that.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 20:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| @Merab: surely not at ProZ.com...? | May 16, 2016 |
Merab Dekano wrote:
I still get emails from certain agencies who publish jobs for us to bid. Jobs start at 0.14 USD/word and someone ends up taking it at 0.011/word and sometimes even lower.
How do you know this? ProZ.com does not show the winning bid, so how would you know this?
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 20:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Bid quickly, but smartly | May 16, 2016 |
Marco Dozzi wrote:
I'm wondering whether responding quickly to a posting for a project enhances one's odds of being selected for the project.
I think that if the client is in a hurry, he's more likely to take the first translator that complies with most of his requirements. So yes, in such cases it would be advisable to bid quickly. If the client is not in a hurry, then he's more likely to choose a translator who fits most of his requirements (and one of the requirements will obviously be the rate offered, although it's not the only criterion). So, it's best to be able to respond quickly, but in such a way that you will make a good impression.
Do employers tend to have a "first-come, first-serve" approach, or do they more frequently wait until the end of the bidding window to select who to offer a project to?
I don't think they wait until the quoting deadline. I think they either choose very quickly, or they choose after they've received a certain minimum number of replies.
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Samuel Murray wrote: Merab Dekano wrote:
I still get emails from certain agencies who publish jobs for us to bid. Jobs start at 0.14 USD/word and someone ends up taking it at 0.011/word and sometimes even lower. How do you know this? ProZ.com does not show the winning bid, so how would you know this?
Oh, this is not from ProZ.com. This is from an agency. I happened to get registered on their website, without knowing the way they operate. It works like that:
1. You (as well as everybody else) get an email with some details (word count, sometimes also some instructions, language pair).
2. You log on and download the file (I have not signed NDA nor did I do any test, so you imagine how "sure" they are of the translation quality they deliver to their client).
3. If you feel comfortable with the document, you place a bid (there is an initial price that's usually quite high).
4. You can "track" the bids and see how low it gets, and then you can "improve" you bid (i.e. bid lower price).
The 0.011 was not a made up number. It gets that low.
Obviously, had I known this agency worked like that, I wouldn't even have touched their website with a barge pole. Now I simply delete their emails (which I only receive once in a while, so they mustn't be doing very well).
Without mentioning the name of the agency, which I would like to but am not allowed to, I think this is horrible and dangerous way of working.
[Edited at 2016-05-16 22:13 GMT]
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