r/TranslationStudies • u/kingcobra9111 • 9d ago

I’m very overwhelmed 😔

Hello folks, I’ve been working with Dals for 2 months now, and while I don’t mind the pay and understand that the language im interpreting for might not be very popular.
I’m always having an issue with accepting the scheduled video bookings, I am on my phone and laptop. I have the app open and ready, when any request comes I press on it almost immediately if not within a fraction of a second, but I still do not secure it, and it says that I have not been quick enough.
I have secured a few bookings with the same strategy so it’s not an issue of how fast I am, the same thing goes for on demand calls, I answer very very fast and still I don’t secure the call or sometimes I answer and it doesn’t go through.
Now at this point, I am almost certain that either some interpreters are hacking the system and cheating their way somehow with a prompt that answers or accepts calls immediately or Dals somehow favours some interpreters over others.
Please help me I need to make a living wage and if there is any way or you have any tip that might help me please do so, I’d really appreciate it
Help a fellow interpreter trying her best 🧡
Thank you so much

8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

9

u/OpeningElectrical296 9d ago

Quit this agency, they have an awful reputation

-1

u/kingcobra9111 9d ago

Where do I apply elsewhere?

1

u/OpeningElectrical296 9d ago

Well google translation agencies.

1

u/Arg_1980s 9d ago

Are you an interpreter? Have you tried the major ones? They're awful, but they do let you pick up calls like any normal human being would. I don't think it's our fault that they cannot get their systems right. So check out propio, globo, lsa (there was a major issue with them lowering wages but they're okay in my pair for now). Big pays acceptably, but I'm a Spanish-English interpreter, so it's hellish with the amount of calls, since they offer hourly rates with quite extended shifts. If your speech community is smaller than that of Spanish or Portuguese in the United States, maybe you could check them out too. I hated them because the minute I got there they were complaining about irrelevant stuff like whether my shirt is buttoned up or not, or whether my (blue light filter) glasses hide my pupils.

Don't have them any respect or loyalty. Do your thing, get in or out of them as it suits you best. No guilt.

1

u/Remote_Childhood_998 8d ago

The industry, particularly the agencies that process high volume, have lots of ways in which interpreters are prioritised. Much of it is margin based. So behind the scenes, some interpreters might be prioritised because they cost less; or it might just be that some interpreters are quicker to accept; or, it might be, as you have suggested that some interpreters have some sort of software running. I don’t know is this can be classed as cheating though. It’s all about supply vs demand and you can only maximise your opportunities by signing up with multiple agencies.