ProZ.com Translation Forums

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | No,

Rita Faleiro — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:58:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Rita Faleiro
Post title: No,

[quote]Daryo wrote:

[quote]Rita Faleiro wrote:

[quote]Samuel Murray wrote:

[quote]Rita Faleiro wrote:
The thing is: there is a paragraph on Pro Bono Ethics material that states the following... [/quote]
Yes, so from what I can tell, the content that you translated is confidential, but the fact that you had done a pro bono translation for this company is not confidential. So you may add information about this job to your résumé, but make your description of it as vague as possible. What I would do, if the client is not a large multinational organization, is not to mention the name of the client but describe them instead. [/quote]

However, I found that the documentary I translated the subtitles for is posted online ( [url removed] ), so I assume it's safe to say that at least that documentary is open to being included in the portfolio. Am I thinking correctly?

Thank you for all the help :) Pro Bono is still really new to me and I'm learning to navigate through it :) [/quote]

As you have done the subtitling FOR FREE have they at least credited you for the subtitling in the video? Or they decided on your behalf that you're just an 'anonymous donor' of your time and knowledge?
[/quote]

No, I don't get credits, I think. Being voluntarily and pro bono, I think that what I gain is experience - not expecting to get credits for it.

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | Previous post applies

William Bowley — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:41:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: William Bowley
Post title: Previous post applies

This is a prime example of what I was stating in my previous post - terms such as this are vaguely or poorly-written in the hope of having overarching control over a translator, more so than they actually have, expecting them to "over-comply", which is simply unreasonable. Your work is your work. As per my previous post, using your work but blocking out any personal or client-specific information is reasonable.

[Edited at 2026-07-24 13:43 GMT]

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | Just curious ...

Daryo — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:49:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Just curious ...

[quote]Rita Faleiro wrote:

[quote]Samuel Murray wrote:

[quote]Rita Faleiro wrote:
The thing is: there is a paragraph on Pro Bono Ethics material that states the following... [/quote]
Yes, so from what I can tell, the content that you translated is confidential, but the fact that you had done a pro bono translation for this company is not confidential. So you may add information about this job to your résumé, but make your description of it as vague as possible. What I would do, if the client is not a large multinational organization, is not to mention the name of the client but describe them instead. [/quote]

However, I found that the documentary I translated the subtitles for is posted online ( [url removed] ), so I assume it's safe to say that at least that documentary is open to being included in the portfolio. Am I thinking correctly?

Thank you for all the help :) Pro Bono is still really new to me and I'm learning to navigate through it :) [/quote]

As you have done the subtitling FOR FREE have they at least credited you for the subtitling in the video? Or they decided on your behalf that you're just an 'anonymous donor' of your time and knowledge?

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | Documentary Trauma Talks

Rita Faleiro — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:21:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Rita Faleiro
Post title: Documentary Trauma Talks

[quote]Samuel Murray wrote:

[quote]Rita Faleiro wrote:
The thing is: there is a paragraph on Pro Bono Ethics material that states the following... [/quote]
Yes, so from what I can tell, the content that you translated is confidential, but the fact that you had done a pro bono translation for this company is not confidential. So you may add information about this job to your résumé, but make your description of it as vague as possible. What I would do, if the client is not a large multinational organization, is not to mention the name of the client but describe them instead. [/quote]

However, I found that the documentary I translated the subtitles for is posted online ( [url removed] ), so I assume it's safe to say that at least that documentary is open to being included in the portfolio. Am I thinking correctly?

Thank you for all the help :) Pro Bono is still really new to me and I'm learning to navigate through it :)

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | @Rita

Samuel Murray — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:11:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: @Rita

[quote]Rita Faleiro wrote:
The thing is: there is a paragraph on Pro Bono Ethics material that states the following... [/quote]
Yes, so from what I can tell, the content that you translated is confidential, but the fact that you had done a pro bono translation for this company is not confidential. So you may add information about this job to your résumé, but make your description of it as vague as possible. What I would do, if the client is not a large multinational organization, is not to mention the name of the client but describe them instead.

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | My only question is this one:

Rita Faleiro — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:40:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Rita Faleiro
Post title: My only question is this one:

The thing is: there is a paragraph on Pro Bono Ethics material that states the following:

So I'm not really sure on how to proceed.
I already contacted them. Let's see...

[Editada em 2026-07-24 11:48 GMT]

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | Is it a secret?

Samuel Murray — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:35:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: Is it a secret?

[quote]Rita Faleiro wrote:
Work done through ProBono, being voluntary, and with humanitary purposes, can I add it to my Portfolio? [/quote]
Is the fact that you did the translation a secret? If not, then you can add it to your portfolio.

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | Your work

William Bowley — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:53:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: William Bowley
Post title: Your work

NDAs tend to be misunderstood and misused in this industry.

The idea of NDAs is to prevent the sharing of sensitive, private information, rather than to allow an entity to have general overarching control over a translator (for example, to issue rules on intellectual property rights or personal information that is inherently private, but not rules on a translator's work).

Some terms may be unenforceable if they are not specific and fair. There are no universal "rules" as such.

You're generally free to use your own work as a sample of your translation ability, ensuring that any personal information is redacted.

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | Use it

The Shredder — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:19:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: The Shredder
Post title: Use it

If you haven’t signed away your rights, you are free to use it as you see fit.

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio? | Kind of same situation

Gregor Trebec — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:22:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Gregor Trebec
Post title: Kind of same situation

This week, from eleven candidates i was the chosen one for translating a book for deaf people. My first book. It came out nice.
I am thinking to do it pro-bono. I was once on 100% invalidity and what i learned is a pensioner is always in need of money.

Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?

Rita Faleiro — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:06:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Doubt - NDA's/portfolio?
Poster: Rita Faleiro

Hello everyone,

I've just finished yesterday my first ProBono work - 9000 words of subtitles translation for a certain project/documentary.
My doubt is:

Work done through ProBono, being voluntary, and with humanitary purposes, can I add it to my Portfolio?

I don't want to infringe any rules.

Also, when text-translations via ProBono are made, can they be used as translation samples in order to improve our certified pro application?

Thank you all for your help,

Rita

Certification for diploma (Eng > Ita)

A.M. M. — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 00:49:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Certification for diploma (Eng > Ita)
Poster: A.M. M.

Ho bisogno solo della firma per la certificazione, la traduzione del diploma e transcript è già fatta..

Mentoring | Translation skills development possible, career mentoring unlikely

Siobhán Fulton — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 22:58:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Siobhán Fulton
Post title: Translation skills development possible, career mentoring unlikely

Don't worry too much about failing an agency's test, but issues with the ATA practice exam should be taken seriously.
Evolution of the language services environment (Pessimists might call it a downward spiral) has increased in velocity during the past several years with the advent of AI Strategic wisdom and skills that were valid even 10 years ago hardly apply currently. Apart from being honest and doing good work, much career advice that might have worked in the past is not particularly relevant today. Many professionals nowadays are doing all they can to keep their heads above water while putting funds away for retirement, leaving little time for career mentoring. Formerly, successful translators often shared their overflow which created opportunities for less experienced people, something that benefited me personally The dearth of jobs has made that type of outsourcing increasingly rare.

When I was in my twenties, people my age were urged to pursue their dreams; the money would follow. Now the choice is either to follow the dream or follow the money.

Mentoring | Alisha,

IrinaN (X) — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 12:57:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: IrinaN (X)
Post title: Alisha,

I hate to sound harsh, but you need to accept one thing: it’s not that you “wouldn’t be able otherwise” but “you can’t, and you won’t be able to”, and you will not survive in California as a rookie freelancer in an overwhelmingly common and generally underpaid pair without some very serious specialization and experience - something that would make you competitive in the first place. You need to get a full-time job ASAP if you want to eat. There is no dilemma.

How do you even envision a pro bono mentor who would improve your translation skills? Within what time frame, by what means? Giving you random tasks and editing your work for free? Sharing small bits of his workload without pay but providing you with comments and advise instead? Sorry but what's in it for the mentor? You are packed with theory already; practice, years of it, aka more jobs will be your only mentor from now on, preferably under the good, professional editors, the only kind of mentors worth having but… both are hard, if not impossible to get these days. Especially editors. Those great multimillion dollar in-house project times are gone for good. Project editors were interested in training and seasoning their team because a) they didn’t have a choice, b) they didn’t have to worry about their own places under the Sun, and c) it helped them to save their own sanity. Or... maybe the times of humans editing humans are fading into the oblivion altogether and MTPE is indeed the only future??? Can't say, just happy that I'm not a part of it, sorry for saying such selfish thing.

Please, stop wasting your time gathering some non-existing statistics, average or standard rates, news from “someone from Argentina” etc etc. There are people who still get paid 23 cents/word with full word count and no CATs, and people who are happy with $.06 and 90% CAT or whatever discounts in the same pair, or have changed the trade completely. You are all alone in the jungle.

Look into interpretation. Legal and immigration systems in California should be able to help you to make some living in EN>SP pair. California courts mandate court-certified interpreters only, research the opportunity. Stanford constantly requires medical interpreters. Try to investigate government opportunities in both translation and interpretation. In the meantime, look for a full-time job that can be the first step into an interesting future career where your linguistic skills will not be wasted but will be helpful and useful instead without being a translator proper, or something part-time that wouldn’t burden your brain and heart too much😊, put some extra cash in your pocket and give you ample time to pursue your translation ambitions – research, marketing, occasional gigs and maybe some AI/MT workshops/classes. Those nasty bugs are not going anywhere, your generation of translators will not escape it so get a good grip on it. I am so allergic to it that I just quit but I could afford it after 35 years in business, and I’m still doing my beloved interpretation. Add the infamous OPI, it can give you $1000-$2000 extra per month depending on the time you’ll be able to spare. Not even enough for rent in CA, right? Maybe, but better than nothing. In any case, you'll have to work you tail off paving your way to successful freelancing while feeding yourself and paying your bills.

(Oh well, I was previewing the text, stopped and asked myself - is there such thing left at all for the newcomers??? I don't have an answer :-( )

If I'm not mistaken, you have been mentioning something about not willing to work long hours but rather live your life too... A dead wrong attitude, a recipe for utter and complete failure. I had my first vacation after 9 years in the US and many 50-60-hour work weeks plus self-study. The main difference is... the work was actually there for me.

Best of luck and please, wise up!
Sincerely,
Irina

Mentoring | .

Rachel Waddington — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 11:14:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Rachel Waddington
Post title: .

[quote]Alisha Rice wrote:

I would say I am looking to better my translation skills because I did fail a translation test I was given by a company and did poorly on the ATA practice tests so that I believe falls under the category of mentoring but also find better ways to market myself so I can obtain some translation jobs. As far as my rate that was addressed in a post, I got a different response from someone in Argentina telling me that is a competitive rate for those language pairs. I seem to be getting different responses on rates for translators and I look on people's profiles and people charge all kinds of rates for my language pairs and their years of experience vary. I could lower my rate to as low as .08 USD but I would never make it on that where I live in California. The cost of living has skyrocketed. I wouldn't be able to be a freelancer. That's the dilemma I have. It seems like in this industry translators cannot demand higher pay for reasons I am still unsure of. I think maybe because we have international translators who are willing to charge much less than U.S. translators so then U.S. translators cannot demand higher pay. I wish changes could be made so translators are paid what they deserve. I think I was also told things have worsened lately over recent years. [/quote]

I do think that if you are looking for a mentor you need to be clear about what kind of mentoring you are looking for - because your first post implied you needed help with finding work but now you say you want to improve your translation skills. Expecting a single mentor to do both is too big an ask, in my opinion, as is expecting your mentor to know what you need when you can't clearly define it yourself.

If you can approach a mentor with a very tightly defined need you want to work on is going to make it easier to find someone who is willing/able to help you.

Mentoring | many aspects to consider

Zea_Mays — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 08:05:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: many aspects to consider

[quote]Alisha Rice wrote:

I would say I am looking to better my translation skills because I did fail a translation test I was given by a company and did poorly on the ATA practice tests ... [/quote]

In that case, as a first step I would try to improve my skills - a mentor could be really helpful here. As a _good_ translator your chances are way better. Then maybe do some pro bono translations you can provide as examples.
I would also avoid making similar statements in public under my real name - I think agencies will do their due diligence and see what they can find about you on the web.
There's also the fact that you've chosen a really difficult time to start your career as a translator, with machine translation, large language models and a weak economy not really working in your favour at the moment.

Mentoring

Alisha Rice — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 17:31:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Alisha Rice

I would say I am looking to better my translation skills because I did fail a translation test I was given by a company and did poorly on the ATA practice tests so that I believe falls under the category of mentoring but also find better ways to market myself so I can obtain some translation jobs. As far as my rate that was addressed in a post, I got a different response from someone in Argentina telling me that is a competitive rate for those language pairs. I seem to be getting different responses on rates for translators and I look on people's profiles and people charge all kinds of rates for my language pairs and their years of experience vary. I could lower my rate to as low as .08 USD but I would never make it on that where I live in California. The cost of living has skyrocketed. I wouldn't be able to be a freelancer. That's the dilemma I have. It seems like in this industry translators cannot demand higher pay for reasons I am still unsure of. I think maybe because we have international translators who are willing to charge much less than U.S. translators so then U.S. translators cannot demand higher pay. I wish changes could be made so translators are paid what they deserve. I think I was also told things have worsened lately over recent years.

Mentoring

Rachel Waddington — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 12:06:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Rachel Waddington

[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:

What you describe sounds more like business consulting rather than mentoring as you are asking how to get your hands on more jobs. Mentoring is more about subject-matter skills or increasing subject-matter expertise (in your case it'd be Spanish-English translation or similar).

[Edited at 2024-11-05 11:39 GMT] [/quote]

Mentoring is a general term - it can be about anything, including business skills.

Mentoring | Mentoring or business advice?

Lingua 5B — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 11:38:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Lingua 5B
Post title: Mentoring or business advice?

What you describe sounds more like business consulting rather than mentoring as you are asking how to get your hands on more jobs. Mentoring is more about subject-matter skills or increasing subject-matter expertise (in your case it'd be Spanish-English translation or similar).

[Edited at 2024-11-05 11:39 GMT]

Mentoring | Rate

Lieven Malaise — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:44:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: Rate

Do I remember it well that your rate was quite high (something along the lines of 0.12)? That alone might explain a lot of your problems finding jobs. It's difficult to compare rates in different countries and different language pairs, but if I would start to ask a rate like that I'm pretty sure I would be completely out of (agency) work really soon.

[Bijgewerkt op 2024-11-05 09:44 GMT]

Mentoring | ProZ?

Rachel Waddington — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 08:58:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Rachel Waddington
Post title: ProZ?

ProZ has a mentoring scheme. Have you tried that?

If you're in a professional association they probably offer a mentoring scheme too.

It sounds like you are looking for mentoring in business skills and marketing so maybe it doesn't even need to be someone in your language pair.

Mentoring

Alisha Rice — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 20:32:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Mentoring
Poster: Alisha Rice

I have found it hard to find someone who is willing to serve as a mentor for the language pairs Spanish to English and Portuguese to English. I am fine if I can find a mentor for each language pair. I am really struggling to find work out there and I don't think the methods in which I am searching for work are working. I think someone more experienced in the field could help provide some guidance in how I can navigate this field because I am sure I am doing something wrong. I would appreciate anyone that can point me in the right direction of any mentorships out there. I have to go with mentorships though that do not cost as I am not working right now. Thanks!

A forum for all Pro Bono volunteers and anyone interested. | Thank you Andrew

Josephine Cassar — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:02:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: A forum for all Pro Bono volunteers and anyone interested.
Poster: Josephine Cassar
Post title: Thank you Andrew

I hope there will be someone else for EN < MT.

A forum for all Pro Bono volunteers and anyone interested.

Andrew Morris — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 07:36:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: A forum for all Pro Bono volunteers and anyone interested.
Poster: Andrew Morris

Hi all

As mentioned in this week's newsletter, feel free to use this forum for any questions regarding the program, Crowdin, or anything else related to pro bono. I'll be checking the forum regularly and will answer questions, as well as contributions from anyone else who knows the answers!

Look forward to hearing from you...

Andrew

This forum is great

Claudia Brauer — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 17:19:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: This forum is great
Poster: Claudia Brauer

Thanks Claudia!

New pro bono website out today | Nice ideas

Andrew Morris — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 07:42:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: New pro bono website out today
Poster: Andrew Morris
Post title: Nice ideas

[quote] How about branding it as ProZ Bono? Unless "ProZ.com" in and of itself is already the brand. That would sound weird.[/quote]

We did toy with that idea, but of course that wordplay would only mean something to people already familiar with ProZ.com. Our target here is more all those nonprofits who have never heard of us but know what pro bono is. So we finally decided that would be one pun too far...

[quote]
Also, when assigning these pro bono projects, may I suggest you to prioritize translation students and new translators who just recently graduated and achieved their translation degrees? By doing so, you let them build portfolios they can showcase to potential customers. That's going to serve them better than all those best rate offers and scams that are so abundant online.[/quote]

Well we welcome anyone who's interested. There are many among our volunteers who are indeed starting out, but we're also delighted to involve experienced translators who want to give up. There's room for everyone.

[quote]Also also, why trying to edit your post and then cancel it still counts as an edit? What's the point of having a cancel button, then? [/quote]

No idea. Will ask.

New pro bono website out today | Suggestions

Mr. Satan (X) — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 13:35:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: New pro bono website out today
Poster: Mr. Satan (X)
Post title: Suggestions

[quote]Andrew Morris wrote:
Any comments or feedback welcome.[/quote]

How about branding it as ProZ Bono? Unless "ProZ.com" in and of itself is already the brand. That would sound weird.

Also, when assigning these pro bono projects, may I suggest you to prioritize translation students and new translators who just recently graduated and achieved their translation degrees? By doing so, you let them build portfolios they can showcase to potential customers. That's going to serve them better than all those best rate offers and scams that are so abundant online.

Also also, why trying to edit your post and then cancel it still counts as an edit? What's the point of having a cancel button, then?

[Edited at 2023-03-10 01:01 GMT]

New pro bono website out today

Andrew Morris — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 09:15:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: New pro bono website out today
Poster: Andrew Morris

The ProZ.com Pro Bono Project is designed to support non-profits around the world by offering voluntary translations and interpreting services.

The big news today is that we now have our own Pro Bono website!

At this early stage we've kept it simple, but I hope you'll agree it's smarter and more professional than the previous landing page, and is now something we can show with pride to nonprofit clients who often have excellent sites of their own.

We'll build it up over time in terms of added content. Any comments or feedback welcome.

Hope you like it!

[url removed]

Pro Bono Newsletter No. 2

Andrew Morris — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 07:36:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Pro Bono Newsletter No. 2
Poster: Andrew Morris

The latest Pro Bono Newsletter is out today. In case you didn't get it via email, the link to the blog is below...

[url removed]

Translation Commons: an important new pro bono client. | The people doing the work, and the people benefitting from the work.

Andrew Morris — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 14:53:00 +0000

Forum: Pro Bono Project
Topic: Translation Commons: an important new pro bono client.
Poster: Andrew Morris
Post title: The people doing the work, and the people benefitting from the work.

I clearly wasn't clear enough :). No these guides are produced for the community of people who themselves are digitalising local languages, rather than the Indigenous Peoples themselves. The latter group will in fact be the beneficiaries of the digitalisation process, but our work in this case consists of supporting those with the skills to do the work of creating scripts whereby Indigenous Peoples will at last be able to use their languages onscreen.