| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Don't email hundreds of agencies looking for work Thread poster: Tom in London
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Rita Pang 
Canada
Local time: 06:55
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
+ ...
Moderator of this forum
Instead of calling it a "crime", I'd focus on the efficiency of spending mass emails. To avoid starting off your email with "Sir/Madam", can you imagine the amount of time you'd need to look up the name(s) of the PM/person in charge and draft an email genuine enough to not sound overly generic?
This practice may land a job or two for some, but sending hundreds of emails take time. It's easy to tell if your email was "bcc" - wouldn't it make more sense to focus on a couple of agencie... See more Instead of calling it a "crime", I'd focus on the efficiency of spending mass emails. To avoid starting off your email with "Sir/Madam", can you imagine the amount of time you'd need to look up the name(s) of the PM/person in charge and draft an email genuine enough to not sound overly generic?
This practice may land a job or two for some, but sending hundreds of emails take time. It's easy to tell if your email was "bcc" - wouldn't it make more sense to focus on a couple of agencies instead? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ineffective, but not completely | Aug 21, 2018 |
I would estimate that I receive between five and twenty unsolicited applications per week through the translator collective I'm part of. We have a general "Contact Us" form on our website, and we're listed on the Proz.com list of agencies.
As the person who receives the applications directly in his email box, I can tell you that 95% of them are a complete waste of time, both for the translator sending the applications and the "agency" receiving them. We only work with a small subset... See more I would estimate that I receive between five and twenty unsolicited applications per week through the translator collective I'm part of. We have a general "Contact Us" form on our website, and we're listed on the Proz.com list of agencies.
As the person who receives the applications directly in his email box, I can tell you that 95% of them are a complete waste of time, both for the translator sending the applications and the "agency" receiving them. We only work with a small subset of languages (mainly European), but many, many freelance translators write us with language combinations we have no use for. I've thought about creating a form email ("Thank you for your interest, but we're not currently looking for any collaborators at the moment."), but given that most of the emails are obviously little more than mass mailings, I haven't bothered yet.
One thing that drives me crazy: non-native speakers claiming to be able to translate into English. I can generally find at least one mistake or grammatical/lexical infelicity within the first sentence or paragraph: incorrect punctuation, misspellings, grammatical errors, etc. I used to write to such translators, politely pointing out that there were problems in the cover letter, but no one seemed to appreciate the little bit of free advice.
Once in a blue moon, however, I see a carefully drafted cover letter written by someone with an interesting CV. I have an email folder where I save such applications, and I go to it when I'm looking for a translator (before posting a job announcement on proz.com for example). So it's not always a complete waste of time. Maybe one out of a hundred get through this way.. ▲ Collapse
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So the conclusion is that people *should* email hundreds of agencies, because (a) it's not actually against the law and (b) it increases the otherwise slim chances of a response.
| | | | | You have to make an effort | Aug 21, 2018 |
Chris S wrote:
(b) it increases the otherwise slim chances of a response.
With the caveat that the email be thoughtful, relevant and well written, yes. The large majority of what I see, however, isn't.
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