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How to Write a Cover Letter and CV

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When approaching translation agencies or potential customers, such as through my service to more than 10,000 recipients, there are ways you can prepare your cover letter and CV for greater success.

Here are some tips I send to customers using my service:

  • be concise and to the point. The subject of your email should be the same, quickly mentioning your language combinations, specialisations, and price if possible (keep in mind that the visible part of the subject is often limited, depending on recipient email software). Most agencies will respond with an automated email based on the email subject. Your cover letter should not be long winded but simply state your strongest points, naming your number of years experience, specialisations, link to online CV or proz account, and starting or approximate price. The attachment and provided links are already there for details, so best to help them quickly decide how to respond to your approach letter. Send your cover letter to me as an attached Word file so that it copies well into the campaign software.
  • by default the sending software sends your cover letter (the content of your email – not an attachment) without formatting, but if you’d like to present yourself better, simply create a webpage formatted as you like, with pictures and font formatting – the system will send the emails to match exactly that. Or we can convert your letter to an online webpage for $20. To see a test sample of the formatting outcome before campaign launch, temporarily subscribe to the recipient list.
  • CV attachment should be in Word (preferably .doc, not .docx) or PDF format (pdf looks more professional – there are many free services on the internet to convert your Word file to PDF format) – and not too large (instructions here how to resize embedded pictures)
  • you may have multiple attachments, such as your diploma etc., but keep the overall size to less than 300kb (many recipients might not have a fast internet connection and resend having to download large attachments).
  • because of all the fake translator application bombarding the industry, it is better not to use a yahoo, gmail, hotmail or outlook email address as your Reply To, as this is what the spammer agency uses and many recipients might ignore applications coming from those addresses. For a small fee you can buy a permanent forward from me from any of my domains, such as <your.name>@kenax.net, @translationstop.com or @translationpayments.com. This would only be for the initial campaign, after which you can ask your new customers to write directly to your regular account, for faster delivery.

For ideas and samples you may view CVs of previous campaigners
or some of their cover letters.

A new trend has been to create CVs according to Europass format, and some agencies or tenders even require submissions in that format.

In summary, keep in mind that everyone is busy these days and that most agencies will quickly skim through your application and send you an autoresponse of what to do next (such as fill in their online application form and undergo some translation tests in subjects of your choice). Smaller agencies though might be more discerning and only respond to those applicants whose approach and credentials shine. In which case presentation and a well written cover letter and CV, without grammatical errors, is important (I would proofread your submissions and offer you suggestions for improvement).

Cover letter samples – 9

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Good Day,

Kindly find hereby attached a copy of my most updated Resume. I am an experienced language specialist and I would like to offer my translation and editing services to you.

Here is my professional profile:

Language Combinations:

English-Italian, French-Italian and Dutch-Italian
English-Swiss Italian, French-Swiss Italian and Dutch-Swiss Italian

Specialisms: Legal, Business, IT, SAP, Computers, Logistics, Environment, Tourism and Marketing;
Qualified to translate at professional level by SSML University Institute of Linguistic Mediation in Varese, Italy;

Fields translated: business and SAP documents, contracts, patents, financial and corporate literature, employee communications, presentations, invoices, e-mails, travel agency leaflets, marketing documents, birth certificates, university degrees / diplomas and equivalences, CVs, websites, books, vessel technical documents, religious articles and books, cosmetics, and so forth;

I work with translation agencies and direct customers all over the world.
I have SDL Trados Studio 2014 Freelance Plus and Deja VU X2 Professional.
Possibility to use Easyling software (http://www.easyling.com/website-translators-agencies/) to translate websites. Easyling can give an instant quote by doing a quick word and repetition count for any website with a single click.

For the rest, I was born in Varese (where I lived for 26 years), which is a small town 7 km from the Swiss border, in which case I am also familiar with Swiss Italian, which is the Italian spoken in “Canton Ticino” Switzerland.

As I am really passionate about translating, and that for me high quality and accuracy are the keys, I am sure you will be very satisfied with my work for you.

Looking forward to starting business with you,
Kind Regards,

Susanna
PROZ PROFILE: http://www.proz.com/profile/1362125
LINKED IN: http://nl.linkedin.com/pub/susanna-castaldini/5/12/669

Fields of Expertise:

Legal (specialized in Contracts)
Business (documents, general, financial, corporate literature and documentation, employee communications, presentations, invoices, e-mails)
Logistics
Marketing
Communication Technology
Politics
Environment
Finance
EU
Electrical Industry
Technical
Food Industry
Mechanical / Devise Engineering
Sport & Tourism
Social Sciences
Arts and Humanities (biography, short stories, novels, literary and arts extracts, comics, books)
Official Documents, certificates, university degrees / diplomas, equivalences
Websites
Manuals
Education & Trainings
Psychology
Demurrage
Naval / Maritime
Religion
Cosmetics
Patents

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Dear Recruitment Manager,

I am seeking freelance work as a translator or interpreter between Mandarin (Traditional or Simplified), Cantonese and English.  I am a native speaker of these Asian languages, and English is our family’s primary language, as I am married to an American citizen.

Due to my 18 years of on-the-job experience with international trade companies in the U.K, U.S.A and countries in the Far East, I am highly experienced in business communications and have carried out numerous commercial and legal interpretations and translations in my work.  I am also an extremely hard-working, responsible and mature worker, who enjoys working in a team as well as autonomously.  If you are looking for someone who can deliver excellent work to your commercial clients, then you need not look further.

I would love the opportunity to contribute to your translation success.  Please find attach my resume, I look forward to discuss further with you.

GIA

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a foreign correspondent by trade and have graduated with good grades, passing the State Exam with the German Chamber of Commerce in 1985. I managed to complete the four-semester course in only one year.

I then worked for many years either employed or self-employed in the administrative, translation or  foreign correspondence sectors and built myself a successful business after the birth of my son in 1990, when I translated nearly exclusively for the German Police and Magistrates Courts.
In 1996, I emigrated to the UK and managed an equally successful career abroad, learning the Welsh language as well. Even more so, I passed my Welsh O and A Levels at University with exceptionally good grades. I climbed up the ladder from a Sales Representative to Deputy Manager in Social Services and finally to Registered Manager of a Children’s Home. I felt very honoured when I, as a German national, was entrusted with the post of Representative for the Conservation of the Welsh Language.

However, when the economic crisis took hold of Great Britain I had to return to Germany to help my son continue his studies at University.

I possess a natural talent for languages and certainly succeed to express myself precisely and eloquently within all levels, including writing correspondence, minutes, reports and contributions to newsletters, websites and other areas. I worked in different settings throughout my life and acquired a lot of knowledge necessary for a perfect translator.

I always work efficiently, am target-orientated and certainly adhere to confidentiality.
Looking forward to hearing from you I remain with

kind regards,

Nicole

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Dear Agency Manager,

I would like to offer my services as a highly motivated freelance translator. I am a native Czech speaker, have passed the English language state exam in 1998, and have worked for several foreign companies, polishing my level of English to near fluent. I have more than 12 years of experience as an English/Czech translator. I have acquired translation experience in the following fields: trade marketing, marketing, history, prose fiction, religion, tourism, recreation, ecology, psychology, sociology, life style and many more. My areas of specialization have always been marketing, sales and history. Thanks to my university studies I am also experienced in psychology, sociology, anthropology and religion.

I am currently looking to expand my list of clients and I would be pleased if you could consider me for translations from English into Czech. I am highly responsible, goal-oriented and stress-resistant. My daily capacity is 2500 words and my rate is 0.04EUR/0.06USD per source word, but we can always negotiate on the price. In cooperation with an experienced graphic designer, I can also put all the text into the required layout.

For more information please refer to my attached CV. If you need any additional information, please let me know. References available on request. I am also willing to take a test to prove my qualification.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely

Sarka

Cover letter samples – 8

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Dear Sir/Madam,

Some brief information about me that may be of interest to you.

I’m a professional linguist and I have been working as a full-time freelance translator for over 20 years. Born a Mexican, I am a native speaker of Spanish.

For translations, I use Trados 2014. I have developed and implemented a standard translation procedure that ensures quality and consistency.

I can offer professional, punctual, and reliable translation services at the most competitive prices: 0.07 USD source Word.

With state-of-the-art hardware, I have a redundant backup to avoid accidents and a cable internet connection that ensures reliable communication.

Currently, I can schedule over 6,000 or more words for translation per week.

If you need an experienced linguist for your translations, my more than 20 years of experience as a Professional English to Spanish (LA/MX/US)Translator make me the ideal candidate that suits your needs. I translate ideas, not just words.

For references, questions, or for more information, please feel free to ask!

Emilio
www.proz.com/translator/1002461

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Dear Sir/Madam

Do you have regular translations from English into German?
Are you are tired of negotiating about each and every single job with different translators? Are you reluctant to hire new translators because their CVs look like clones?

Kubus Translations is here to help you. We have been in the translation business since 1994, both as a subcontractor and as a single language vendor (English-German).

We are a core team of 3 professional translators and produce about 1 million words of translation per year.

Kubus Translations is specialized in hi-tech translations, in particular in tender documentation and in operating manuals of medical equipment.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require our German translation services. You may find more information through the following link:

http://www.proz.com/profile/2500

Yours faithfully,

Wieland
URL: http://www.kubus-translations.com

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I’m a native Spanish speaker certified by the University of Texas and living in Mexico. I have 17 years of experience as a translator covering a wide scope of subjects, such as legal documents, websites, marketing material, user manuals, medical, engineering, IT and more.
I have worked as in-house translator for more than 8 years in the manufacturing industry.

Certificates:
Certified Translator English – Spanish, University of Texas USA
Certified Medical Administrative Technologist – in the USA
Certified Travel & Tourism Agent  – in the USA

CAT Trados 2007
MemoQ 2013

I am capable of translating from English into U.S., South American and Mexican Spanish.

Please find my CV attached and I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

Rosalicia
http://www.proz.com/profile/118807

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Dear Sir/Madam,

It is my honor to introduce our company.

We are a translation company with 10 years of experience in translation from English into Korean and other language pairs related with Korean. All translations are provided by native translators of the target text. We are familiar with subjects on websites translation, technical and financial fields, manuals, general business correspondence, localization, trade, literature, IT, legal, medicine, and many other areas.

We understand that a good translation with industrial, cultural and professional backgrounds of the language pair is the key to the success.

Our prices are as follows:

English > Korean   Usd 0.07 per English source word
Japanese > Korean   Usd 0.03 per Japanese Character
Chinese > Korean   Usd 0.03 per Chinese Character
Korean > English   Usd 0.04 per Korean Character
Korean > Japanese   Usd 0.04 per Korean Character
Korean > Chinese   Usd 0.04 per Korean Character

We are particularly specialized in English to Korean translations.
We undergo the strict TEP process for usd 0.07/w.

If you need other translations related with the Korean language, please let me know.
I will satisfy your quality and price expectations to the full measure.

Regards,

Jung
http://www.langup.com

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Hi!

I’m writing you for some updates on my capacities and rates.
As you may know, my native language is Romanian, so I can personally deal with English, French and German to Romanian, while my wife works with English into Russian and Ukrainian. All these with the rate of euro 0.04 ± 0.005 – 0.01, depending on variables (deadline, job size and text complexity)

Above all these, I coordinate an in-house team of native translators for:

  • English into Hungarian (rate euro 0.045±)
  • English into Italian (euro 0.05±),
  • English into Spanish (euro 0.05±),
  • English into German (euro 0.06±), and
  • English into French (euro 0.05±).

I do work also with other pairs with personally tested high-end freelance linguists in various languages (Bulgarian, Serbian, Czech, Greek, Turkish etc.). If you require a different pair, don’t hesitate to write and we’ll see if we currently work with it or not.

Thank you and hope to extend our future work together.

My Best Wishes,

– Adrian –
You can visit me at http://www.prematrans.com

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Dear Recruiter:

I am writing to express my interest in collaborating with your organization. For your review and consideration, I have enclosed my resume which details my background and career highlights, and it is in complete confidence that I present them as a representative of the value I will consistently bring to your company.

I come to you with unique and distinctive credentials among your typical applicants. Over almost a decade of collaborating with the most important international translation agencies, I have established myself as a highly successful freelance language consultant. If you are currently working with a client who would benefit from a language executive and experienced translator with outstanding qualifications spanning all aspects of language consulting, we should talk. I am eager to put my skills to work for the benefit of your firm.

In advance, thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to your response and the opportunity to discuss the ways my expertise may best serve your corporation.

Sincerely,

Roxana

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Good day,

I am a 27-year-old young man from Johannesburg, South Africa and am offering my services as a freelance German-English translator.

I am fluent in German and English on a native level (German is my mother tongue; I attended the German School in Johannesburg, South Africa and have lived in Johannesburg almost all my life). I will be very honest and only accept jobs that I am confident of being able to complete to a high standard. If I have any doubts I will definitely discuss this with you first. I am flexible with my rates and would accept payment via PayPal. I currently do not own a CAT-tool, but would consider investing in one.

I have been the team leader for a small team of German-English translators. I am comfortable working on general texts as well as texts related to travel and tourism, the automotive sector, education and psychology. I would not be comfortable working on legal texts at all.

Due to the shifts I work being predominantly early in the day I would have time to work on translations most afternoons (South African time).

I have attached my CV to this email.

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information:

dirrw [AT] yahoo.co.za (email preferred)

With thanks and kind regards,

Walter

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a Spanish, French and Catalan into English-US translator based in Andorra and I would
like to offer my services to your company.
My specializations include accounting & business, medical & life sciences, fashion, insurance,
marketing & communication, government & politics, automotive, oil & shipping, advertising &
public relations, market research and tourism translations.
In addition to my experience, I am a member of the Proz.com Certified Pro Network, and a
Proz.com Trainer. Please feel free to visit my profile to view feedback and references from
previous clients:

http://www.proz.com/translator/124383
http://www.proz.com/wwa/124383

You may also refer to my resume (attached) for further information.

Please let me know if I can provide you with any additional information.

Best regards,
Edith

Cover letter samples – 7

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Hello,

About a year ago, I’ve been in touch with you to offer you my services as a senior Ph.D. level freelance translator French/Dutch/English. I’d like to repeat my offer below, and have re-attached my CV.

Also, and this is very important, my e-mail address has changed. You can henceforth reach me at dejong [AT] tradcrocus.com. My old e-mail address, dejong [AT] videotron.ca is not valid anymore. Furthermore, I have moved back to the Netherlands. My full address details are at the end of this message.

I’d really appreciate if you could confirm you have updated my data in your database. Please also don’t hesitate to be in touch in case you’d like to receive further information on my translation experience: I’m definitely interested in collaborating with your business.

And finally, here you have the message I had sent you last year:

**************************************************

I’d like to offer my services as a highly motivated Ph.D. level freelance English/French into Dutch senior translator/proofreader/localizer. I can offer you the following:

  • Ph.D. level quality
  • 25 years of experience
  • Vast experience with many well-known large and smaller companies
  • Vast experience with Translation Memory tools
  • Certified translations (member of OTTIAQ in Québec)
  • Top-notch, grammatically and stylistically impeccable translations
  • Excellent IT skills (including good programming knowledge)
  • Excellent research skills
  • Good, friendly and efficient communication
  • Long experience as a linguistics professor at different universities in the Netherlands and Canada

You’ll find further information in the attached resume. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch should you need any further information.

Kind regards,

Daan

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To Whom This May Concern,

Please find attached my resume for your review.

I have more than 20 years in translation and conference interpretation, and work in the following linguistic combinations:

French to English; English to French; Italian and Portuguese to French;

I hope that my educational and professional background would be of interest to you, and look forward to the next steps of collaboration.

Very best,

Morenike

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am an English to Russian translator with over 13 years of experience. Russian is my native language.

I mostly specialize in IT (large-scale software and website localization projects), security systems, and business and marketing translations. I also work on many projects related to social science and psychology.

My clients include Microsoft, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Apple (iTunes), Axis Communications, Chevrolet, Volvo, Magna, Allianz, Novartis, Abbyy, RIA Novosti and more.

Please find attached my CV. If you need any additional information, please let me know. I would be glad to undergo a translation test to prove my qualification.

Thank you!

Best regards,
Vladislav

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Good day;

I am a Spanish to English native translator with over 12 years of experience, based in Houston, Texas.

My language combinations are Spanish into English (primary) and English into Spanish.
I have ample experience in the legal, business, technical, and medical realms.

My translation rates are US$ 0.10 per word into English, and US$ 0.08 per word into Spanish.
My editing/proofreading rate is US$ 30.00 per hour.

Please see my attached CV for further details and information.
References available upon request.

I look forward to working with you.

Best regards,

Henry

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I would be pleased to join your team of skilled and experienced translators, I am myself an expert in many fields, such as logistics, marketing and advertising, or technical, industry and financial translations.

I translate from German and English to Polish, my native language, and excel in conveying the style and tone of a document to match the idioms and cultural references, ensuring an accurate and faithful translation.

My six years of translation experience follow a university education in Political Science, International Relations and Supply Chain Management. I have translated at least 2,000 pages and can produce at least three professional references. My work experience includes over six years as a buyer for KLAFS, a German company which is the global market leader in the area of sauna, pool and spa.

I have recently left my position so that I can focus my energies full-time on the translation.

My postgraduate studies have also broadened my knowledge in logistics processes. My rate per source word is €0.07 and no job is too small or too large for me, although I do charge a minimum fee of €10.00 per order.

I am happy to provide a CV, a free translation sample, samples of previous translations, or references on request.

Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Dawid

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Dear Madam/Sir,

I’m taking the liberty of sending to you my CV and this e-mail as an application to join your team of freelance linguists. I am interested in working as an EDITOR and/or PROOFREADER from English into Greek in the Medical/Pharmaceuticals fields.

My name is Vickie Dimitriadou, aged 55, a native Greek living and working in Greece. I have been working as a full-time professional freelance translator, editor, proofreader, and linguistic consultant for 29 years, and I am specialized in the Medical/Pharmaceutical fields.

My experience in the Medical and Pharmaceuticals fields is very long, as I started working as a medical translator and editor in 1985 with local private clients and translation companies, and also with translation companies in the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and other European countries. For 29 years I have been working on these fields on a daily basis. Many companies, acknowledging the high quality of my work and my experience in medical translation, entrusted me with the editing/review and Quality Assurance check of their translators’ work.

Thank you very much in advance for your consideration.

Kindest regards,

Vickie
Web Site: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/vickie-dimitriadou/46/55a/588

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I am a German to English translator with technical background, living in Switzerland and with more than 30 years of translation experience.
I offer fair rates, quick turnaround and discounts for large volumes.
I have extensive experience in technical and business subjects, IT, electronics, patents and contracts, manuals and textbooks, and also general correspondence, birth and marriage certificates, and CVs. Certification is available, if desired, by local notary.

Enclosed please find a copy of my profile

I look forward to hearing from you.

Gunther Roth
**********
Gunther

Set up an email filter to automatically delete spam or fake translator applications

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The free system explained on this page works with gmail and can be used in combination with your own email address. It uses an XML file to filter out applications from existing spammers. But since these scammer companies constantly create new fake profiles, you may filter out new existing ones here.

The spammer email addresses are drawn from this site, while I prepare and update the XML file mentioned below. I also forward applications I suspect are fake, which he examines and may add to the growing list.

Following are instructions how you can apply the XML file to filter out these emails. Unfortunately, the scammer agency is regularly creating new addresses and the filter must be continually updated, but I have devised a functional filter through my server that can take care of new ones. For updates of the XML file (new records only) or for more info on my filter, please contact me.

When logged into your gmail account (make sure you are in Standard View and not Basic Html view – the latter being faster and much less resource intensive, but does not have the feature you need for this purpose), click on the Settings button  near the top right of the screen, and then the Settings link from the resulting dropdown menu. Once there press the Filters link along the top selection of links.

If you already have some filters set up you can select some of them and press the Export button when you scroll down to the bottom. This will create an XML file and show you what format the XML file should look like. If you are computer savvy enough you can use Word with its search and replace tool to convert a list of email addresses into this same format. For this I like to use the free version of html kit, for better visibility.

Once you have created your XML file (you can probably use Notepad to do this as well, or any other text editor), go back to your gmail account and press the Import Filters link at the bottom of the same window that you exported your filters from. Note that it can create duplications, so when you do import, it is better to make sure you only import updates and not the entire list all over again (you can download the occasional update from this site, before it is added to the entire list).

Since I usually have many programs on my computer and myself am pretty resource intensive in the computer’s use, I like to downscale wherever possible, which is why I prefer to view my gmail account in Basic Html view. Refresh your gmail browser tab (F5 in may browsers) and, as it is loading, you should see the Load Basic Html (for slow connections) link at the bottom right. If you have a lightning internet connection, you may need to respond quickly. Once in that mode you can press the link “Set basic HTML as default view”.

Gmail has many free and powerful features, for which reason I use it as a redundant backup. You can use it with your existing email account. Some advantages of using gmail:

  • You can create as many accounts as you like and forward mail sent to them to your existing account. So if you advertise your email address on the net, you can create a gmail account for that and forward/redirect all mail sent to it to your existing email address. You can use its powerful filter function (explained below) to screen out unwanted emails. If the email address gets bombarded beyond usability, you have the option of deleting it and starting all over again.
  • You are given 15gb of free space, great for redundancy purposes (instructions on what you can do if you start running out of space below).
  • Since all your emails are stored in the clouds on a powerful computer, its search tool can prove useful and very fast when looking up previous correspondence.
  • It has a good mobile phone feature, so you can check and respond to your emails out of the office without having to download any attachments.
  • You can use its Report Spam button to educate your own filter, and the data might be used by google to update its own filter system, making life more difficult for the spammers. But if your income is derived from translations, carefully consider spam reporting the fake applications, because you might be teaching google that you do not want to receive emails with important keywords like translations or translator.

You can check out other features through the Settings menu.

If your existing email account is being bombarded by spam and you do not want to change it for business reasons, you can forward your mail to your gmail account and use it’s filtering system that way. Many email providers will charge for this forwarding service, but it may well be worth it if not doing so will end up costing more time than the fee, or if excessive spam causes you to overlook some big job offers. Keep your account lean and mean. Manually unsubscribe when you can, or use gmail’s filtering system when you cannot. Before you manually set up a filter, you can copy the email or domain address of the spammer, paste it into the search box to display a list of all emails sent from them in the past, and report spam for all of them. Consider this a satisfying mud splattered into the face of the spammer before you finally get rid of them.

How to set up a manual filter

Go to Settings > Filters, or in html basic mode you should see a Create Filter link in the main window. Press the Create a Filter link and follow the simple instructions. Refer to the Help menu if you want to get fancier. Like most such database functions, you may need to use a * , which means “any number of any characters”. A ? means “any single character”. So *spammer.com would include both [email protected] and [email protected], but it may not be necessary to use this. Before you create your filter, you can test it before confirming. There is also a checkbox in the next window, before confirming, if you want to apply the filter to all previous emails as well, and not just those coming in after you create the filter. The Label refers to folders, which you can create yourself. “Apply the label” means to move an incoming email (based on your filter criteria) into that label/folder.

Once importing this xml file of fake application emails, your filter list will get very long, for which reason it may be occasionally necessary to ctrl+f search the page (wait until it fully loads) if you want to make changes to your existing filters. Whenever you make a change to a filter, it will always move to the bottom of the list once updated.

What to do if you start running out of free space

You can use the filter system to erase received emails from certain senders, or occasionally put * or @ (meaning all email) in the From field and select the Has Attachment checkbox, then the Delete command for all emails, including previous ones. But make sure you remove/delete this filter once done, otherwise it will keep deleting incoming emails with attachments!! This will clear up a lot of space, and still leave a lot of previous correspondence, in case you need to use the search function for anything. Otherwise you can delete all, but delete with Attachments first, as that is usually enough.

Download the XML file
Contact me for updates
Send your offer to 15,000+ email address of translation agencies

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