So have you ever hand back a job without completing for any reasons, like health problems or other issues? I'm curious how you cope with it ?

vertaaltnu Luckily it never happened to me, it would be a nightmare ? But I guess it's a possibility you can never rule out 100%...

vertaaltnu Very interesting question, @vertaaltnu ! Just like @eleonorang above I was quite lucky so far and I never had to return the job for unforeseen reasons. I guess you can't be ready for unforeseen things such as illness, accidents or forces of nature. What you can do, however, is to plan ahead and make sure you don't bite more than you can chew. This is exactly why I refuse to do urgent jobs with unrealistic deadlines. I always prefer to be on a safe side and whenever I propose a deadline I often give myself some sort of a buffer in case there's an emergency and I don't have access to my computer.

vertaaltnu This happened to me once many many years ago: I took on a client and shortly afterwards I realised that I didn't have enough time to collaborate with the company. I wrote them back immediately and apologised. This was a big lesson for me, and it never happened again. Some years later, I was contacted by someone with a long term collaboration and they really insisted that I work with them. I had to refuse the offer very firmly, because I knew I didn't have the time. Instead, I recommended a colleague. ?

Have you ever had to return the job without completing it?

vertaaltnu

So it happened to me twice due to health reasons. It feels really bad to let a client down, especially when the reasons are related to being over-worked. Hope it won't happen anymore.

ClaudiaBefu

vertaaltnu At the beginning of my career in localization, I worked the first years Monday to Sunday, at least 12h daily. At some point I had to stop and look at the bigger picture. ?

Dmitry

vertaaltnu So it happened to me twice due to health reasons. It feels really bad to let a client down, especially when the reasons are related to being over-worked. Hope it won't happen anymore.

I certain hope so to, @vertaaltnu! We really need you safe and sound! Please, don't work yourself into the ground, it's so not worth it! ?

Gentiana

I have been lucky not to experience incomplete delivery. I have worked in tight deadlines but I have managed to deliver my work. Anyway, now I'm getting very careful when handling projects. I don't accept urgent translations. I'd rather play on the safe side.

ClaudiaBefu

Gentiana Fortunately for you, you're not part of the group that learns the hard way ?

Time management is a great skill to have, especially in our trade.

Gentiana

ClaudiaBefu Well, I have been close to failure sometimes, but I have managed to work almost 20 hrs/day even when I have been sick or mourning a dear one. Obviously, had to take one week to recover from those extreme hours of work. In our profession, we have to learn by failing sometimes. It's part of the process. ?

Teresa

It almost happened to me once, I was lucky that the deadline was flexible, unless I wouldn't have made it ? It happened when I had just started to get a kind of steady workflow, so I was too eager to take on as many projects as possible (fearing dry spells). Needless to say, this taught me to never to overdo it and that sometimes you need to say 'no'. Quality is obviously better than quantity, plus you might lose a project if you turn it down, but earn clients in the long run by always taking the time to do an excellent job.

Dmitry

Teresa

Teresa I had just started to get a kind of steady workflow, so I was too eager to take on as many projects as possible (fearing dry spells).

When this happens @Teresa that's a good indication that it's time to raise your rates ? (especially if you're getting more requests from new clients and prospects).

That way you wouldn't have to take everything that comes your way and yet you'll still be able to make a decent living. ?

Dmitry

Gentiana

Gentiana In our profession, we have to learn by failing sometimes. It's part of the process. ?

I agree with you @Gentiana! Failure is very important part of learning. Also, all successful people have failed at one point or another, so it's not something you should be afraid/ashamed of. ?

ClaudiaBefu

Dmitry Please, don't work yourself into the ground, it's so not worth it!

This is so true! There's nothing like a healthy body and a peaceful mind ?

Dmitry

Some horror stories from Alexey in a comment on Facebook (he shared a story about taking a project that turned out to be a Chinese-English machine translation and it was back in the days when we had no machine learning or neural machine translation (so you can imagine the quality):

Did something like that happen to any of you? ?

ClaudiaBefu

Dmitry Alexey's story is simply hilarious! You have a source text that makes no meaning, but whatever, just send it for translation. That poor guy or girl will manage to type some sense into it... Very not clever!

_marocca

I've had a time when I had to send a file back without having finished. It was in the months I was still beginning, and fortunately my "client" (or boss) was also my mentor and he was studying with me, so he knew how crazy our university was and he was very VERY understanding. He had more hands on deck to help him finish the work in time for the end client.
But I've never done that since... If emergency strikes and I feel like I won't make it, I try to negotiate an extension on the deadline, all the communications happening while I'm working extra hours to make sure I won't need such extension in the end ?
It's hard to foresee sickness and the likes when all you have to care for is your business, now add a family with small children to that! Mission Impossible ?
Dmitry's advice is great: before negotiating deadlines with clients, give yourself a buffer!