Sep 7, 2011

Have you considered applying for the Certified PRO Network?


Dear test123,

From the information available in your profile, I see that you offer translation services in German to English, a language pair that is currently under-represented in the ProZ.com Certified PRO Network. In the first part of this year, 1312 jobs in German to English were posted at ProZ.com, but there were only 104 members in the Certified PRO Network to respond to them. As you can see, then, this might represent an excellent growth opportunity for you.

If you would like to be included in the Certified PRO Network and increase your opportunities to meet clients at ProZ.com while distinguishing yourself as a professional, please complete your application here:


Make sure you also watch this short video on how to complete your application before submitting your application for review: http://www.proz.com/videos/Tutorials%20on%20ProZ.com/746

Find out more about the ProZ.com Certified PRO Network here: http://www.proz.com/pro-tag/info/about

Looking forward to welcoming you to the network!

Kind regards,

Maria Kopnitsky
ProZ.com Certified PRO Network

ProZ.com
The translation workhouse
-------------------------
ProZ.com Headquarters
P.O. Box 903
Syracuse, NY 13201 USA

The preceding letter was copied exactly from the mail forwarded to me by a former ProZ moderator. The account "test123" is a testing profile set up years ago to explore certain new features of the site. He and I are both amused and puzzled by the invitation for a nonentity to join the fabled red pee network. If it is in fact true that there are only 104 "approved" red bubbles (as he calls them) for a language combination as common as German to English, it makes you wonder what's up. I know there has been a huge exodus of talent from the platform, especially in European countries where the disregard of data privacy and security concerns runs strongly counter to laws and expectations. In fact, a lot of the best translators I know for German and English are no longer ProZ members, and outsourcers who restrict their listings to the membership or the red bubbled ones are simply shutting themselves away from a lot of the best talent now.

It's also clear that these invitation processes are not personally reviewed by those responsible. I really can't imagine that Ms. Kopnitsky believes that "test123" is even a serious alias. Many of us now use aliases on PrAdZ to keep the search index trash for repetitive content in Tamil and god-knows-how-many-other languages from burying real content we rely on for professional publicity. But "test123"? It takes a special kind of faith to believe in that.

6 comments:

  1. You may be right that the invitations are auto-generated based on profile info, but I can tell you from personal experience that the granting of the red P does involve actual human beings. I have this designation and had to prove that I have the degrees I state in my profile, provide references, and a translation sample.

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  2. I received the same request (but to my actual name) and couldn't hit the delete button fast enough. I've noticed an increase in advertising e-mail from ProZ recently. It's getting pretty annoying.

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  3. Jill, might you be referring to all the mail sent to the ProZ lists telling us how we're missing out by not being pros in the Lionbridge GeoworkZ brothel? At this rate, ProZ management might soon be subject to warrants for human trafficking. Hope they have enough capacity in The Hague after all the former Libyan government officials are collected.

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  4. Dear Kevin,

    Take a look of this report of our very first powwow meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, then you will understand how they came to the idea of making a business out of "accreditation."

    Mark and I wanted to do something for freelancers in Taiwan and I have support from our government back in 2005. We were thinking of a "transparent" system of certifying competent translators. We did not achieve the goal of establishing an association of freelance translators in Taiwan, but we have achieved a system of accreditation at our governmental authority.

    PrAdZ took the concept and made a business out of it, in which there is no "Honesty, Transparency and Fairness" in their system. Do you happen to know how many people got a scarlet P badge without the process of "involving actual human beings," as Jenn maintains? Besides, does anyone know how the process actually goes?

    Translators like you, me, Jill and many others do not need such accreditation at all. We are well known and established in our fields of translation. But many yellow beaks need a start and they believe that a scarlet P would help them to better chances and that´s a good business for PrAdZ.

    Do you remember what I wrote about the blatant lie of "Honesty, Transparency and Fairness"? We were eager looking for a Translatopia and forgot the nature of a dotcom. Like many enthusiast who served as moderators and helped PrAdZ come to power and money, we had been contributing to their benefits and hurting our translation colleagues.

    However, there are still enough "Deppen, Naivlinge und/oder Hüpfer" who mistake PrAdZ for some kind of authority for translators. Damn it! It is a dotcom, not an association of translators which is suppose to act in accordance with a democratic constitution.

    Believe me, the increase in advertising e-mail tells a hidden story like so many hidden stories that are marked with "Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site." Critical minds are not welcome there. But do they believe that there is a great percentage of translators who are stupid enough to keep on contributing to their benefits of power gain and money greed?

    We will see in a few years when the ex-moderators start to talk openly.

    Cheers,
    Wenjer

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  5. I am unaware of the present Pro Network selection prozedures. All I can say is that in in the past, membership of this elite has kept me happy and saved me from such frightful embarrassment as having to mix with the 'riff-raff'. Additional features such as VIP collection at airports etc, was always a welcome plus point. http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd76/Textklick/10cc7314.jpg

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  6. but why are you still on Proz, kevin?
    I don't know you very well, but I think that your ethic/professional "stature" is a bit higher than that place ...
    ;-)

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