This message goes out to every “prospective client” I choose not to do business with (you read that right it works both ways).
You may want to grab your coffee ☕️ or tea 🫖 this is going to take a minute.
If you’ve been following my content, you already know that I’m all about collaboration, partnerships, and alliances especially with the purpose of serving the underserved minority and/or Limited English Proficient communities.
I’d like to personally thank every organization, institute, agency, and hospital that has chosen my team and I to work with them and continues to find ways to mutually add value. You know who you are and I will tag you on other posts as I don’t want you associated in any way with what I’m about to share now.
As disturbing as this is, I will not identify any particular offender(s) by name. It’s not necessary, I’m better than that, and sadly, this is not an isolated case or exclusive to the organization(s) that unintentionally inspired my post.
Let’s change the paradigm of how language professionals are treated particularly by large companies that like to use their size to pressure, exploit, or otherwise take advantage of small businesses or freelancers by simply not budgeting or paying for what these services are worth.
That being the case, here is my “prospective client” anti-bullying 🚷checklist:
❌ NO. I will not cut my prices by 30% or more just because you promise “a lot of volume” for us. Try using that line at your favorite restaurant and see how that works for you.
❌NO. I will not ask anyone on my team, but especially a less common language interpreter to drive more than 100 miles round trip without a 2 hour minimum or mileage reimbursement. PERIOD⚫️
❌NO. I can’t just take a “quick glance” at your attempt to GOOGLE translate documents that require professional review, localization, and possible transcreation. Reverse engineering doesn’t work in this case, please just send the originals.
❌NO. I will not twist myself into a pretzel or grovel just because you did more than 1/2 a billion dollars in annual revenue last year. That only proves my point which is you need to show me the money.
❌NO. I will no longer provide countless hours of free consultations (because I live this #LiTranslators life) to any organization that completely ignores said advice and doesn’t follow best practices. You’re not taking my lunch 🥪 money.👎🏽
If any of the above bully behaviors apply to you or as the saying goes “if the shoe fits…” do better‼️
To all my fellow interpreters and translators, I hope you are enjoying your coffee ☕️ or tea 🫖 and are keeping your lunch money safe 😉.
Best,
Johnny Romero, InterSys, LLC www.myintersys.com copyright 2023