You know that glorious moment when you’re all up caught up with scoping jobs? One minute you’re celebrating, the happiest that you’ve been all week, and within an hour, you’re a giant ball of stress, wondering where you’re going to find your next job.
I’ve been there, too. Unfortunately, it’s the life of a freelancer.
So with limited time to spare, you start looking for a new client who can fill the gap.
You advertise your services and receive a reply.
He/she agrees to your rates and policies and is excited to work with you.
You receive your small job, open it up, only to find…
The transcript from hell.
Copious amounts of untranslates, horrible audio, and no readable sentence in sight. You quickly calculate an estimate and soon realize you’ll be lucky if you make $5 an hour on this job.
Once you’ve decided the job isn’t worth your time or sanity, it’s important to turn it down quickly and professionally.
Sending the Job Back
While it’s tempting to not make waves, it’s important to state the real reason you’re sending the job back.
Here’s an example of something you could say:
Hi, (Name). Unfortunately, I won’t be able to scope (Job Name) for you. This job requires a transcriptionist, and my business doesn’t offer transcription services at this time.
Thank you for your inquiry and good luck with your search.
No amount of money is worth the kind of exhaustion and frustration that a job like that can bring you. Remember, when choosing your clients, it pays to be picky!
So instead of feeling annoyed that you wasted your time, enjoy the rest of your day, or use it to put systems in place that will save you time in the future.
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About The Author
Natalie
Natalie is an Eclipse scopist from Dallas, Texas, and is the founder of thehelpfulscopist.com
This is so true, Natalie. One of the first jobs I took was the transcript from hell. A 4 hour hearing with terrible audio in an old courtroom – – it sounded like the attorneys were speaking with their backs to the mic and through a tunnel. The voice recognition software got maybe 20% of the verbiage. I was definitely doing straight up transcription. I was pulling my hair out and in tears, ready to quit the business entirely. I calculated my hourly pay once I was done and it was disgusting.
Now I know to request an audio sample before I start so I don’t find myself in that situation again.