ProZ.com Translation Forums

finding work in 2025 | My 2 cents

Ella_C — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:04:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Ella_C
Post title: My 2 cents

I don't think it has anything to do with Austria.

Presumable factors:
- AI, with translators being forced to switch to MTPE for lower rates or receiving such job ads as "help us train AI in your language".
- competition in the form of people performing translations as a side gig and not their main job. Again lower rates.

A few months ago, I only knew about ChatGPT and DeepL. Now, if I run a search using the words "language + translator", there are several sites opening up and offering MT on the spot.

[Edited at 2025-08-28 15:21 GMT]

finding work in 2025 | I don't get it

Peter Motte — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 09:47:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Peter Motte
Post title: I don't get it

What do you mean by that?

finding work in 2025 | who's not posting complaints here

Zea_Mays — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:16:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: who's not posting complaints here

[url removed]

finding work in 2025 | Blurring of moral standards

Peter Motte — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 09:16:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Peter Motte
Post title: Blurring of moral standards

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

I have just been experimenting: asking ChatGPT to write a few paragraphs in the style of some of my favourite authors.

It's VERY scary. My authors are not big-budget bestselling blockbuster authors. I also tried in Italian with a particularly challenging author - Carlo Emilio Gadda.

Here's what they did with one of my favourite American authors, Richard Ford:

I left the house later than I meant to, the morning already spilling into early afternoon. The dog looked at me with that expression dogs get when they know you’ve forgotten something important but can’t quite tell you what. I drove through familiar streets, noticing the same cracked sidewalks, the same cars parked in the same awkward angles, and I felt the familiar tug of ordinariness pressing in from all sides. People were doing their errands, or pretending to, shuffling along sidewalks, bumping into one another, offering small courtesies that seemed rehearsed. I wondered how much of it they noticed, how much they felt the weight of being alive in the same narrow patch of time and space.

At the grocery store, I lingered in the produce section longer than I intended. A woman was fussing with a cantaloupe as if it were the hinge on which her entire day turned. I watched her, noting the tiny scowl she gave the clerk who handed her the wrong basket, and I felt that quiet, half-amused empathy that comes from seeing someone else wrestle with the trivialities that somehow matter. I thought about the ways we impose significance on the small details, how each choice—buying the right melon, letting the dog out in time, replying to a casual email—seems monumental when you step back and look at the architecture of your day.

Driving home, the streets were almost empty. I passed the strip of shops I’ve passed a thousand times, the same signs faded and the same dogs barking in the same yards. I thought about the life I’m living, the life I might have lived, and how easy it is to slide into a kind of observation without acting, a quiet complicity in the ordinary. There’s irony in it, yes, but also a strange satisfaction: surviving the day, keeping the balance, noticing the absurdities and the little triumphs, and somehow still moving forward. And when I pulled into my driveway, I realized that maybe that’s enough—to be here, aware, awake, and not entirely fooled by the illusion of control.

[/quote]

Does ChatGPT say from where it retrieves the data? I mean, would anybody be able to use it publicly without having copyright issues or without acknowledging the original author/publisher?

This is dangerous, not because AI is good at mimicking humans, but because it diminishes all property rights, which are sort of at the base of most Western societies' laws.
And, in the future, it could backfire on AI itself. I mean, if anybody can ask AI to do a piece of coding "in the style of" any software, anybody can create new software without having to pay for the use of the original code. So, human coders will become AI reviewers, creating another entire field of jobless people.
[/quote]

The only possible way to defend AI using other material is a blurring of moral standards, which has been going on in IT since decades. It goes very slowly, and the big IT companies use their piles of money to spread propaganda so that people can't noitice anymore something is wrong.
What OpenAI has been doing, is what Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz had been doing, but he was put in prison for it, and committed suicide afterwards.

finding work in 2025 | Sounds typical

Peter Motte — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 09:09:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Peter Motte
Post title: Sounds typical

[quote]Jennifer Levey wrote:

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

I have just been experimenting: asking ChatGPT to write a few paragraphs in the style of some of my favourite authors.

It's VERY scary. My authors are not big-budget bestselling blockbuster authors. I also tried in Italian with a particularly challenging author - Carlo Emilio Gadda.

Here's what they did with one of my favourite American authors, Richard Ford:

I left the house later than I meant to, the morning already spilling into early afternoon. (...)
[/quote]

It's surely only a matter of time until ChatGPT joins Richard Ford on the list of Pulitzer Prize winners. [/quote]

Off-topic: but Richard Ford sounds typically P Prize winner: too many words to tell so called "wise remarks" which are actually not wise at all.
Like: "The dog looked at me with that expression dogs get when they know you’ve forgotten something important but can’t quite tell you what."
Dogs don't know that, come on...

finding work in 2025 | "In the style of" MTPE

Maria Laura Curzi — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 23:40:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Maria Laura Curzi
Post title: "In the style of" MTPE

[quote]IrinaN wrote:

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

Even now, I had heard no knock upon the door, yet Holmes had already set the scene for the drama about to unfold. [/quote]

This last sentence in particular made me cringe... Holmes setting the scene, yuk. [/quote]

AI does this piece of work "in the style of" some author, and then some poor human has to do MTPE "in the style of" that same author for $0.01 per word.

What an awesome "revolution" to promote the reading of foreign authors. Makes me think of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

finding work in 2025 | Maybe it's me

IrinaN (X) — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 12:38:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: IrinaN (X)
Post title: Maybe it's me

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

Even now, I had heard no knock upon the door, yet Holmes had already set the scene for the drama about to unfold. [/quote]

This last sentence in particular made me cringe... Holmes setting the scene, yuk.

finding work in 2025 | I'm intrigued

Rachel Waddington — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 09:33:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Rachel Waddington
Post title: I'm intrigued

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

“My dear Watson,” he said, “do you observe the mud upon those boots?” He nodded toward a pair of shoes left haphazardly near the fire. “It is not of London’s streets, nor yet of any road within ten miles. You will note the peculiar reddish tint and the fragments of heather clinging to the sole. Clearly our visitor, when he arrives—as he must within the hour—will have come from the western uplands, and in haste.” I confess I marvelled, as I so often did, at the ease with which Holmes drew entire histories from the faintest traces. Even now, I had heard no knock upon the door, yet Holmes had already set the scene for the drama about to unfold. [/quote]

Now I want to know why the visitor has left his muddy boots near the fire when he hasn't arrived yet.

finding work in 2025 | Legal

Tom in London — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 17:54:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Legal

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

Does ChatGPT say from where it retrieves the data? I mean, would anybody be able to use it publicly without having copyright issues or without acknowledging the original author/publisher?

[/quote]

Apparently there is a big class action coming up that will (hopefully) terminate AI

[url removed]

finding work in 2025 | Copyright?

Maria Laura Curzi — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 16:05:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Maria Laura Curzi
Post title: Copyright?

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

I have just been experimenting: asking ChatGPT to write a few paragraphs in the style of some of my favourite authors.

It's VERY scary. My authors are not big-budget bestselling blockbuster authors. I also tried in Italian with a particularly challenging author - Carlo Emilio Gadda.

Here's what they did with one of my favourite American authors, Richard Ford:

I left the house later than I meant to, the morning already spilling into early afternoon. The dog looked at me with that expression dogs get when they know you’ve forgotten something important but can’t quite tell you what. I drove through familiar streets, noticing the same cracked sidewalks, the same cars parked in the same awkward angles, and I felt the familiar tug of ordinariness pressing in from all sides. People were doing their errands, or pretending to, shuffling along sidewalks, bumping into one another, offering small courtesies that seemed rehearsed. I wondered how much of it they noticed, how much they felt the weight of being alive in the same narrow patch of time and space.

At the grocery store, I lingered in the produce section longer than I intended. A woman was fussing with a cantaloupe as if it were the hinge on which her entire day turned. I watched her, noting the tiny scowl she gave the clerk who handed her the wrong basket, and I felt that quiet, half-amused empathy that comes from seeing someone else wrestle with the trivialities that somehow matter. I thought about the ways we impose significance on the small details, how each choice—buying the right melon, letting the dog out in time, replying to a casual email—seems monumental when you step back and look at the architecture of your day.

Driving home, the streets were almost empty. I passed the strip of shops I’ve passed a thousand times, the same signs faded and the same dogs barking in the same yards. I thought about the life I’m living, the life I might have lived, and how easy it is to slide into a kind of observation without acting, a quiet complicity in the ordinary. There’s irony in it, yes, but also a strange satisfaction: surviving the day, keeping the balance, noticing the absurdities and the little triumphs, and somehow still moving forward. And when I pulled into my driveway, I realized that maybe that’s enough—to be here, aware, awake, and not entirely fooled by the illusion of control.

[/quote]

Does ChatGPT say from where it retrieves the data? I mean, would anybody be able to use it publicly without having copyright issues or without acknowledging the original author/publisher?

This is dangerous, not because AI is good at mimicking humans, but because it diminishes all property rights, which are sort of at the base of most Western societies' laws.
And, in the future, it could backfire on AI itself. I mean, if anybody can ask AI to do a piece of coding "in the style of" any software, anybody can create new software without having to pay for the use of the original code. So, human coders will become AI reviewers, creating another entire field of jobless people.

finding work in 2025 | Arthur Conan Doyle

Tom in London — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:59:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Arthur Conan Doyle

It was on a damp October morning that I found Holmes standing at the window of our Baker Street rooms, his lean figure silhouetted against the grey light. He had not spoken for some time, but the restless tapping of his long fingers against the glass betrayed the activity of his thoughts. A pipe, half-forgotten, smouldered on the mantel, and the room was thick with the familiar haze of his meditations. When at last he turned to me, his eyes shone with that peculiar brightness which always heralded a new case.

“My dear Watson,” he said, “do you observe the mud upon those boots?” He nodded toward a pair of shoes left haphazardly near the fire. “It is not of London’s streets, nor yet of any road within ten miles. You will note the peculiar reddish tint and the fragments of heather clinging to the sole. Clearly our visitor, when he arrives—as he must within the hour—will have come from the western uplands, and in haste.” I confess I marvelled, as I so often did, at the ease with which Holmes drew entire histories from the faintest traces. Even now, I had heard no knock upon the door, yet Holmes had already set the scene for the drama about to unfold.

finding work in 2025 | Wake up call for writers?

Jennifer Levey — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:37:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Jennifer Levey
Post title: Wake up call for writers?

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

I have just been experimenting: asking ChatGPT to write a few paragraphs in the style of some of my favourite authors.

It's VERY scary. My authors are not big-budget bestselling blockbuster authors. I also tried in Italian with a particularly challenging author - Carlo Emilio Gadda.

Here's what they did with one of my favourite American authors, Richard Ford:

I left the house later than I meant to, the morning already spilling into early afternoon. (...)
[/quote]

It's surely only a matter of time until ChatGPT joins Richard Ford on the list of Pulitzer Prize winners.

finding work in 2025 | Authors

Tom in London — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 11:43:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Authors

I have just been experimenting: asking ChatGPT to write a few paragraphs in the style of some of my favourite authors.

It's VERY scary. My authors are not big-budget bestselling blockbuster authors. I also tried in Italian with a particularly challenging author - Carlo Emilio Gadda.

Here's what they did with one of my favourite American authors, Richard Ford:

I left the house later than I meant to, the morning already spilling into early afternoon. The dog looked at me with that expression dogs get when they know you’ve forgotten something important but can’t quite tell you what. I drove through familiar streets, noticing the same cracked sidewalks, the same cars parked in the same awkward angles, and I felt the familiar tug of ordinariness pressing in from all sides. People were doing their errands, or pretending to, shuffling along sidewalks, bumping into one another, offering small courtesies that seemed rehearsed. I wondered how much of it they noticed, how much they felt the weight of being alive in the same narrow patch of time and space.

At the grocery store, I lingered in the produce section longer than I intended. A woman was fussing with a cantaloupe as if it were the hinge on which her entire day turned. I watched her, noting the tiny scowl she gave the clerk who handed her the wrong basket, and I felt that quiet, half-amused empathy that comes from seeing someone else wrestle with the trivialities that somehow matter. I thought about the ways we impose significance on the small details, how each choice—buying the right melon, letting the dog out in time, replying to a casual email—seems monumental when you step back and look at the architecture of your day.

Driving home, the streets were almost empty. I passed the strip of shops I’ve passed a thousand times, the same signs faded and the same dogs barking in the same yards. I thought about the life I’m living, the life I might have lived, and how easy it is to slide into a kind of observation without acting, a quiet complicity in the ordinary. There’s irony in it, yes, but also a strange satisfaction: surviving the day, keeping the balance, noticing the absurdities and the little triumphs, and somehow still moving forward. And when I pulled into my driveway, I realized that maybe that’s enough—to be here, aware, awake, and not entirely fooled by the illusion of control.

finding work in 2025 | Authors

Tom in London — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 11:41:00 +0000

finding work in 2025 | AI bubble

Maria Laura Curzi — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 19:56:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Maria Laura Curzi
Post title: AI bubble

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

As AI is developing fast in other languages too, it opens the door to different possible jobs besides translation/MTPE, such as prompt writer/reviewer, or jobs related to refining the speech-to-text or image-to-text AI development. So, if we want to work with AI, we have to be creative and change our POV to find other jobs related to it.
[/quote]

These tasks actually require excellent language skills, but are they also paid accordingly? Anyway, if things evolve further, there won't be anyone left with the necessary skills to do them in a few years. So... [/quote]
...
it usually takes at most 2 minutes. (...) On some platforms, those tasks are paying $0.03 per task. = $0.90 per hour (sic!)
it takes about 2 minutes (...) paid up to $0.05 per task. = $1.50 per hour (!)

I think they pay more than many of the MTPE jobs posted here, and for me, are easier/faster tasks.[/quote]

Doesn't look so - and I think those rates are also pretty low in your country. Even with MTPE paid $0.01 (which is nearly slavery), you'd get a still abysmal $5.00 per hour with 500 hourly processed words (with good MT output the processing speed is higher).[/quote]

It depends on productivity, I guess. I'm not made for MTPE; it's tiring. I need to read the same paragraph 3-4 times, and my brain gets numbed, so I can't do it for several hours. Instead, with the clips review, I can work 6-7 hours, so in the end, I feel more productive and at ease doing those tasks.

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote: IMHO, the more AI tools are developed, the more human specialists will be needed to review/correct/adapt the outputs.[/quote]

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:
The point of my previous post is that there won't be any such specialists left in the near future, as 1) good language experts won't work for such low rates in the long term and will rather opt for changing profession, and 2) it will be hard for a newcomer to become such a specialist without extensive experience in the field = years of direct translation.
Therefore, I think that AI quality will spiral downwards in the medium/long term.
There are already signs of quality decline, as the bots are increasingly fed with their own output - garbage in, garbage out. The technology may already be in a deadlock.
[/quote]

I see, then time will tell, but I can't help but think that AI won't reach that stage. Perhaps I'm optimistic or just sick of the damn hype...
I mean, AI development is expensive in money and time, from building the hardware to finding the human coders, to creating/searching for good raw data to feed it. We saw how OpenAI spent +2 years and many bucks on GPT-5, which turned out to be useless trash. So, how many investors/entrepreneurs/companies will be willing to repeat this experience? And if so, how many times will they be willing to repeat it? They need ROI, and the current state of AI is not providing any.
Therefore, I'm sure that the AI bubble will burst and many AIs will vanish (like NFTs) and probably will drag many abusive businesses (low-paying agencies/LSPs) too, but humans will remain. They will all outlive the AI bubble and set the rates straight. The challenge is to hang on and not quit.

finding work in 2025 | QED

Zea_Mays — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 16:34:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: QED

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

As AI is developing fast in other languages too, it opens the door to different possible jobs besides translation/MTPE, such as prompt writer/reviewer, or jobs related to refining the speech-to-text or image-to-text AI development. So, if we want to work with AI, we have to be creative and change our POV to find other jobs related to it.
[/quote]

These tasks actually require excellent language skills, but are they also paid accordingly? Anyway, if things evolve further, there won't be anyone left with the necessary skills to do them in a few years. So... [/quote]
...
it usually takes at most 2 minutes. (...) On some platforms, those tasks are paying $0.03 per task. = $0.90 per hour (sic!)
it takes about 2 minutes (...) paid up to $0.05 per task. = $1.50 per hour (!)

I think they pay more than many of the MTPE jobs posted here, and for me, are easier/faster tasks.[/quote]

Doesn't look so - and I think those rates are also pretty low in your country. Even with MTPE paid $0.01 (which is nearly slavery), you'd get a still abysmal $5.00 per hour with 500 hourly processed words (with good MT output the processing speed is higher).

[quote]IMHO, the more AI tools are developed, the more human specialists will be needed to review/correct/adapt the outputs.[/quote]

The point of my previous post is that there won't be any such specialists left in the near future, as 1) good language experts won't work for such low rates in the long term and will rather opt for changing profession, and 2) it will be hard for a newcomer to become such a specialist without extensive experience in the field = years of direct translation.
Therefore, I think that AI quality will spiral downwards in the medium/long term.
There are already signs of quality decline, as the bots are increasingly fed with their own output - garbage in, garbage out. The technology may already be in a deadlock.

finding work in 2025 | Like MTPE or a little more

Maria Laura Curzi — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 15:43:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Maria Laura Curzi
Post title: Like MTPE or a little more

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

As AI is developing fast in other languages too, it opens the door to different possible jobs besides translation/MTPE, such as prompt writer/reviewer, or jobs related to refining the speech-to-text or image-to-text AI development. So, if we want to work with AI, we have to be creative and change our POV to find other jobs related to it.
[/quote]

These tasks actually require excellent language skills, but are they also paid accordingly? Anyway, if things evolve further, there won't be anyone left with the necessary skills to do them in a few years. So... [/quote]

I think they pay more than many of the MTPE jobs posted here, and for me, are easier/faster tasks.

There are monolingual tasks where I hear the clip once while reading the transcription made with AI. Depending on the length of the clip, it usually takes at most 2 minutes. When I read some part that doesn't match the audio or is misspelled/ungrammatical, I select/change it accordingly. On some platforms, those tasks are paying $0.03 per task.
And there are the bilingual tasks where I hear the clip once while reading the translated transcription made with AI. Then it's the same, it takes about 2 minutes (that's the usual length of the clips/videos) and I select/change any issue accordingly. I've been paid for those tasks up to $0.05 per task.

Sadly, it seems that if the tech moguls keep forcing the use of AI in anything even if it makes no sense (like those AI glasses of the poll), the danger of dumber human brains is high, but we have to remember that we do not need to use AI in anything the whole time. As it's good to turn the TV/streaming off and read a book on paper, it's also good to disable AI.

Then, we have another resource to our advantage: languages are living things that change with time, and **we** are the speakers who make them change. Native speakers will always be a little ahead and will have a slight time advantage until the data are fed into the machine.

In the end, I think that human reviewing/correcting/adapting machine outputs (whether it is in languages, or in facial recognition, or whatever other tasks) will remain a needed/must-do job in the future.
IMHO, the more AI tools are developed, the more human specialists will be needed to review/correct/adapt the outputs.

finding work in 2025 | the skills paradox

Zea_Mays — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:40:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: the skills paradox

[quote]Maria Laura Curzi wrote:

As AI is developing fast in other languages too, it opens the door to different possible jobs besides translation/MTPE, such as prompt writer/reviewer, or jobs related to refining the speech-to-text or image-to-text AI development. So, if we want to work with AI, we have to be creative and change our POV to find other jobs related to it.
[/quote]

These tasks actually require excellent language skills, but are they also paid accordingly? Anyway, if things evolve further, there won't be anyone left with the necessary skills to do them in a few years. So...

finding work in 2025 | Creativity

Maria Laura Curzi — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 23:55:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Maria Laura Curzi
Post title: Creativity

[quote]Paulo Roberto wrote:

For example, a Brazilian newspaper published that a vehicle was made with “coal fiber” (ouch) instead of carbon fiber because that newspaper was using AI translation without proofreading.

AI is often incorrect, but confidently so. And I don't consider it the main cause of this crisis.

When this downturn we are experiencing now is over, most jobs will likely involve proofreading AI or MT drafts (because it is cheaper).
[/quote]

The current state of AI translation varies depending on the language pair. Since most AI companies are from the USA, the development involving English (either as a source or a target language) is far more advanced than in other language pairs.
As AI is developing fast in other languages too, it opens the door to different possible jobs besides translation/MTPE, such as prompt writer/reviewer, or jobs related to refining the speech-to-text or image-to-text AI development. So, if we want to work with AI, we have to be creative and change our POV to find other jobs related to it.

I think that no AI can match human creativity. And nobody knows what will happen with AI development after the bubble bursts - it could all backfire, like with GPT-5; it could face tariffs; it could be reduced by higher costs; or it could be regulated to reduce energy waste - so we just have to hold on to our human skills and use them because no machine has them.

finding work in 2025 | Bad job market everywhere - And what I believe the future holds.

Paulo Roberto — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 23:16:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Paulo Roberto
Post title: Bad job market everywhere - And what I believe the future holds.

Colleagues, let me put my two cents in, as I am also worried about this 2025 that is so different from my previous years.

The economy is going through a cycle of very high inflation and high-interest rates, making jobs scarce across many industries, not just ours, so it's even difficult to change careers (if you are thinking about it), not impossible though.

Companies will keep laying people off for some time, and when unemployment rates are high enough (I have no idea when it will be), inflation is likely to decrease as overall consumer demand tends to decline.

Then central banks will be able to lower interest rates without increasing inflationary pressure, which will bring optimism to the market and boost economic activity.

However, it is essential to end the ongoing tariff war before considering interest rate reductions, as these tariffs contribute to inflationary pressure.

As interest rates fall, companies will start hiring again and expanding their businesses, and we'll have more jobs again, because reputable companies won't put their image at risk with automatic translations.

For example, a Brazilian newspaper published that a vehicle was made with “coal fiber” (ouch) instead of carbon fiber because that newspaper was using AI translation without proofreading.

AI is often incorrect, but confidently so. And I don't consider it the main cause of this crisis.

When this downturn we are experiencing now is over, most jobs will likely involve proofreading AI or MT drafts (because it is cheaper).

Using AI without proofreading is “a scythe fight in the dark” for companies, just too dangerous.

[Editada em 2025-08-22 00:47 GMT]

finding work in 2025 | boh

Zea_Mays — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:30:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: boh

[quote]Alessandro Marchesello wrote:

the patronizing approach you and Lieven have taken so far[/quote]

I can't remember being patronizing. The discussion started when I said that we as freelancers set our own rates and/or negotiate them, and that if a job looks really interesting, there are ways to get in touch with the recruiter and so on. I know a German communication approach is sometimes perceived as a bit 'rude', but is the substance wrong?
I look at things with almost two decades of experience and have seen what usually works and what not. I also know the crowded Italian market, but what I dislike most about it is the often aggressive manner among 'colleagues'.
Overall, I am still convinced there's a global economic crisis, that's an aspect I also consider here, and tarifs slowly being reflected in consumer prices in the US will not make things better for their businesses. On the other hand, Europe could be recovering slowly.

finding work in 2025 | No, thanks...

Alessandro Marchesello — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 13:55:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Alessandro Marchesello
Post title: No, thanks...

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:

[quote]Alessandro Marchesello wrote:

it was all going great until about eight months ago[/quote]

US market? [/quote]

Honestly, given the patronizing approach you and Lieven have taken so far, I don’t feel comfortable sharing any further information about my situation.
The assumption that “you have problems with clients because you’re doing something wrong” is irritating, insensitive given the topic, and short-sighted, because it completely ignores the extremely fragmented nature of our profession.
As I’ve already said, I had my best years while my direct competitors were already struggling, but I didn’t come here saying “I’m better than you, that’s why you’re struggling,” or “You're struggling because you're not professional enough,” because that would be inhumane and ultimately wrong.
So, thanks for your analysis (and no, it’s not a regional issue), but I’ll look elsewhere for a solution.

finding work in 2025 | .

Lieven Malaise — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:54:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: .

[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:
So, it’s not “I don’t have any competitors”, it’s “I have superior communication skills”. Says who? Much like people grading their own entries in ProZ translation contests, you are evaluating your own communication skills? Shouldn’t that be evaluated by others?[/quote]

Every professional translator worthy of that name has (at least written) superior communication skills. It's not that difficult.

On a more general note: why don't you try to keep your assumptions to yourself and start reading what people actually write? Or ask for clarification if you have doubts? You always tend to create your own misinterpreted reality. Bonus: it might help you professionally.

[Bijgewerkt op 2025-08-20 16:24 GMT]

finding work in 2025 | let's explore possible reasons

Zea_Mays — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:39:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: let's explore possible reasons

[quote]Alessandro Marchesello wrote:

it was all going great until about eight months ago[/quote]

US market?

finding work in 2025 | Hopeless

Lieven Malaise — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 09:57:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: Hopeless

[quote]Alessandro Marchesello wrote:
Step down from your pedestal and stop boasting about merits you don’t have.

[Edited at 2025-08-20 09:16 GMT] [/quote]

Denying merits to a quadrilingual translator with 25 years of experience that is still doing good (unlike a lot of Dutch/Flemish colleagues, so there goes your "privilege") amidst an apparent pool of dark misery. Talking about arrogance. 😂

Anyway, time to call it a day. You're full of baseless assumptions (with "you don't know what competition is" being the absolute showpiece) and are basically ignoring every aspect that might improve your situation. No surprise you're struggling, to be honest. Good luck, you'll need it.

finding work in 2025 | It’s not

Lingua 5B — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 09:36:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Lingua 5B
Post title: It’s not

So, it’s not “I don’t have any competitors”, it’s “I have superior communication skills”. Says who? Much like people grading their own entries in ProZ translation contests, you are evaluating your own communication skills? Shouldn’t that be evaluated by others?

I thought I kind of asked people who are not native Dutch to step in and say how they are doing. But again, I got the opposite. Ah yes, 18k people in a different language pair are doing bad because none of them has good communication skills. Got it.

finding work in 2025 | Again, arrogance before any other consideration!

Alessandro Marchesello — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 09:12:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Alessandro Marchesello
Post title: Again, arrogance before any other consideration!

[quote]Lieven Malaise wrote:

And how large is the Italian economy compared to the Dutch/Flemisch one? And how large is the Italian population compared to the Dutch/Flemish one? One of us clearly knows very little about some basic concepts, indeed. [/quote]

The Italian GDP is “just” twice that of the Netherlands, and—more importantly—the per-capita GDP is 50% higher in the Netherlands!
I’m not going to go into the other huge advantages of the Dutch economy over the Italian one in terms of B2B services, because this isn’t the right place.
And you should add the Belgian economy too.
So, again, no consideration of the bigger picture—which is definitely not the approach of a self-declared businessperson.

[quote]Well, everybody needs luck, that's for sure. But having 3 language pairs instead of 1, having 15 specialization areas instead of only a few, being prepared to work long hours every single day, having a high daily output, being extremely available to customers, responding to every e-mail within minutes and having an excellent price-quality ratio has got nothing to do with luck. [/quote]

Of course you think no one but you offers that level of service, don’t you? (maybe including weekends and night sessions on requests)
And you certainly “strategically” decided to be born in a bilingual country, didn’t you?
Typical of someone who doesn’t even know what real competition is.
Step down from your pedestal and stop boasting about merits you don’t have.

[Edited at 2025-08-20 09:16 GMT]

finding work in 2025 | .

Lieven Malaise — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 08:17:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: .

[quote]Alessandro Marchesello wrote:
There are 37,700 English-to-Italian linguists registered on ProZ.com, 7,483 English-to-Dutch, and 2,105 French-to-Dutch.
You work in a niche and clearly show that you know very little about this industry overall.[/quote]

And how large is the Italian economy compared to the Dutch/Flemisch one? And how large is the Italian population compared to the Dutch/Flemish one? One of us clearly knows very little about some basic concepts, indeed.

[quote]Alessandro Marchesello wrote:
Get your head out of your lucky cocoon before a painful reality check. [/quote]

Well, everybody needs luck, that's for sure. But having 3 language pairs instead of 1, having 15 specialization areas instead of only a few, being prepared to work long hours every single day, having a high daily output, being extremely available to customers, responding to every e-mail within minutes and having an excellent price-quality ratio has got nothing to do with luck.

But please, stay focused on all those external factors you mention. It will undoubtedly make you feel better.

finding work in 2025 | Ridicolous... your arrogance and abismal knowledge of your industry

Alessandro Marchesello — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 07:47:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Alessandro Marchesello
Post title: Ridicolous... your arrogance and abismal knowledge of your industry

[quote]Lieven Malaise wrote:
There are hundreds and probably more than 1000 freelance translators into Dutch. If you are only able to find a few of them, then you might want to question your project management skills. [/quote]

There are 37,700 English-to-Italian linguists registered on ProZ.com, 7,483 English-to-Dutch, and 2,105 French-to-Dutch.
You work in a niche and clearly show that you know very little about this industry overall.

It’s very easy to win new clients with your amazing communication skills when you have no competition whatsoever.

I would be very curious to test your superior business approach in an environment with five to fifteen times your current competition.

You’re actually ignoring the most basic rules of supply and demand, not to mention the basic rules of discussion, which would require you not to treat your counterparts as mere idiots, and to consider the broader market conditions.

Get your head out of your lucky cocoon before a painful reality check.

finding work in 2025 | Ridiculous

Lieven Malaise — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 07:21:00 +0000

Forum: Getting established
Topic: finding work in 2025
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: Ridiculous

[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:
When I was a project manager, we routinely had problems finding Dutch and German translators, there were just a few. Comparing to other pairs, the demand-supply ratio was misaligned in these pairs. This of course led to an increase in price in these two pairs. When there is a shortage of supply, the price goes up (101 business course). You don’t even need a business knowledge or sense for this, just the math from primary school. [/quote]

There are hundreds and probably more than 1000 freelance translators into Dutch. If you are only able to find a few of them, then you might want to question your project management skills.