Not recommended
For the thrill seekers!
Friends in more than just name: we share with you all that you should know - and steer clear of - when looking for a professional translation!
| Project Mgmt Paper pusher |
Translation Amateur |
Review Competitive |
Background: Inadequate | Experience: None
The lack of experience of an amateur - who is ignorant of his own ignorance - leads him to accept any task, only to drop the job mid-way, or to produce texts that are foreign, gibberish, or sometimes even offensive towards the foreign culture!
Friends in more than just name: we share with you all that you should know - and steer clear of - when looking for a professional translation!
It is tempting to think that anyone with basic knowledge of the language and a good dictionary can be a translator, but putting your text in the hands of an amateur is risky. Unlike the professional, an amateur is not aware of his limits and will easily make simple mistakes which neither himself nor the customer will find out about - until it is too late.
Furthermore, if your text is intended for general publication you should look at hiring a professional translator or an agency - while carefully weighing all aspects of the quote (Review, Project Management, Assurances, Costs and Deadlines): the wrong choice can easily result in wasted investment, brand damage, competitors gaining advantage through better communications, legal troubles (for something as small as overlooking a “do not” in the safety instructions!), spending extra money to reprint texts incorrectly translated by unqualified resources, and so on. Hiring an amateur may save money in the short term - but it will not offset the costs of the consequences!
According to the traditional approach, the reviewer “looks for mistakes” in the translation. Unfortunately, the reviewer is in competition with the translator. Since it is in his best interests to win future deals for himself, he could be tempted to take advantage of his role to make extensive changes which are often useless, but might even be harmful.
Finally, the more you need a review, the less effective it will be: after all, the reviewer steps in once the translation is complete, so there is little time to make structural changes.
It is true that the “competitive” review is mandated by the current accepted standards, but some pioneering companies who invest in teamwork technologies are starting to drop it in favor of innovative project management approaches.
All too often the project manager does little more than forward the materials to the first available linguist. This approach has several drawbacks. For example:
The first available translator may not be the best candidate. Quite the contrary, in fact: the best translators must be booked weeks in advance.
The PM should always do a preliminary review of all materials, otherwise:
- Files with mixed contents would be assigned to the same translator, who may not have the same competence level in all required topics (for example patents consist of legal statements as well as technical description of the findings, which could be chemical, mechanical, electronic, etc.);
- Text embedded in figures might be missed or ignored by the translator;
- The documents will not go through pre-production, necessary to maximize the potential savings gained by using translation memories.
1) Entitled to a second version - By offering a second translation, the agency will make use of senior translators only when customers log a complaint, which will happen only if the customer possesses the necessary language skills to spot the mistakes and takes action according to the timeframes and the means of notification stated by the service terms and conditions.
2) Quality assured by a refund up to 100% - The refund is quantified and granted at the sole discretion of the agency, solely according to objective mistakes (grammar, syntax, spelling - but never style!) which are found in the second translation (performed by senior translators). Even if the customer is granted a refund, he ends up wasting time with little to show for it.
Single cost means single service level: the agency does not keep long-standing relationships with translators whose skills and rates exceed the average of its list prices. Recruitment focuses on translators with 2-3 years of experience (junior), while applications from expert (15 years), senior (10 years) and often even intermediate (5 years) are automatically rejected.
Cutting down delivery time without increasing risks requires skills and knowledge that are still difficult to find: without the use of web-teamworking platforms the reviewer will be unable to coordinate the style and terms used by the linguists involved in the translation, and will be forced to wait until everyone delivers his part before being able to begin his own task. Unfortunately by that time it may no longer be possible to make the end result consistent, because the effort and time needed would cause the deadline to be missed.
NOT AVAILABLE (ONLY INTERNAL EMPLOYEES WITH AVERAGE EXPERIENCE) - In order to offset the fixed costs of labor, tasks are assigned only to internal employees regardless of their level of competency for the task, never to external vendors.
NOT AVAILABLE (ONLY EXTERNAL VENDORS WITH AVERAGE EXPERIENCE) - In order to keep rates below the selling price offered by the automated online quote published by the agency, tasks are assigned only to external vendors with average skill levels who reside in their home countries.
SIX OPTIONS (EXTERNAL VENDORS OF EVERY SKILL LEVEL) - In order to find the best match between the quality of the service and vendor experience (from student, for a basic understanding of texts, to specialist with over 20 years of experience for highly technical texts) we recruit external vendors of all skill levels who reside in their home countries.
NOT AVAILABLE – With average quality translators, the agency can offer a single level of service.
SIX STANDARD OPTIONS, PLUS ANY NUMBER OF CUSTOMIZATIONS - Customers can choose the service that best suits their current requirements. And in case of large volumes we set up customized workflows!
NOT AVAILABLE - The customer is not allowed to choose, because the agency will assign the task to the first internal/external translator available.
DIRECT SELECTION - The customer can choose his preferred candidates for the translation as he fills out the quotation request form and, in some cases, may get directly in touch with them.
ON DEMAND - The customer finds out about the price of the service only upon submission of a request that explains the requirements and provides the agency with his company’s background (so the price ends up tailored to the estimated spending capacity of the customer).
INSTANT, BUT STANDARD - The customer queries an instant quote tool and can also place an instant purchase order for a standard service (which by definition cannot cater to the specific needs of the customer and to the availability of translators with the right skills).
INSTANT QUOTE AND CUSTOMIZED PURCHASE ORDER - The customer is presented with a price range (min/max) for the type of service he is looking for, and can then choose to request a purchase order that is tailored to his actual needs (materials, deadlines, budgets, quality, etc.).
SERVICE VALUE - The quality committed to the customer is summarily expressed by terms such as “quality translations”, “top quality”, etc., which promote the value of the service and help sales, but do not provide any concrete evidence of what the service really offers.
USEFULNESS OF THE SERVICE - We believe that the quality of the service lies in its ability to meet the requirements for which it was commissioned. So a “Low Cost” translation is of good quality insofar as it provides a basic understanding for a minimal expenditure, whereas an “Optimized” translation is of good quality if it provides a faithful text that is pleasant to read.
IMPOSSIBLE - “High quality” is not a measurable standard: without specific definitions, customers cannot assess the quality delivered to them in order to hold the supplier to the commitment of “high quality”.
POSSIBLE - Quality can be readily measured by assessing if and how much the usefulness promised (basic understanding, faithful translation, etc.) has indeed been delivered.
LOCAL TRANSLATORS SELECTED BY INTERVIEWS - Since the agency must host staff on its premises, it is limited to recruiting professionals from its local area.
TRANSLATORS (OF AVERAGE SKILL LEVEL) FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD SELECTED BY TESTS - By subcontracting its projects over the Internet, the agency can look for professionals anywhere in the world (as long as their rates do not exceed the agency’s cost thresholds); recruitment takes the form of a translation test which does not necessarily provide a correct assessment of the translator’s “usual” level of quality (especially since these tests are often filled out by the candidates’ more senior colleagues without the agency being aware of it).
TRANSLATORS (OF ALL SKILL LEVELS) FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD SELECTED BY VALIDATING THEIR EXPERIENCE AND COMMERCIAL REPUTATION - We look for professionals from all over the world, reviewing their past translations and interviewing a number of references that is adequate to their experience. We will not reject the best just because they are the most expensive: our customers can rest assured that we are always able to provide the most appropriate resources for their requirements.
PROOFREADING - Translations are performed by internal employees (who are considered reliable by default), so the text usually undergoes just a simple proofreading from another internal resource.
COMPETITIVE REVIEW - Since it is in the reviewer’s best interests to win future deals for himself, he could take advantage of his role to make extensive changes which are often useless, and sometimes even harmful.
COLLABORATIVE REVIEW - Our proprietary platform allows project managers, translators, reviewers, and customers to be online together, creating powerful and productive synergies!
“FULL REFUND ASSURANCE” - The refund is usually guaranteed “up to 100%”, but is granted only if the customer presents a request within the deadlines and through the appropriate channels. It is also quantified at the sole discretion of the agency, according only to objective mistakes (grammar, syntax, spelling) and never to inappropriate style, which is not quantifiable.
WE BELIEVE THAT PROMISING A REFUND WILL DISCOURAGE THOSE LOOKING FOR RELIABILITY - Experience tells us that customers are not interested in getting their money back as much as fulfilling the requirements which led to the investment in the first place without wasting precious time - that they will never get back anyway! This is why we dedicate our resources to the selection and training of reliable translators rather than to the rejection of complaints.
"SECOND VERSION" - Customers are usually entitled to a second edition, which allows the agency to buy the translation from an average/low quality translator, turning to more senior resources only if and when the customer proves to have sufficient language skills and presents a complaint within the deadlines and through the channels mandated by the contract.
"BEST FIRST" - We cannot offer a second edition that is better than the first, because we assign your text to the best available translator from the very first moment. What’s more, the customer can ask for changes to the text delivered as preview by communicating directly with the linguists (see also Deluxe Assurance).
"TRANSLATION IN LINE WITH THE CURRENT QUALITY STANDARD"- Professional translations - even when conforming to the EN 15038:2006 standard - are prepackaged compromises: costs, timelines, skills, and processes are balanced according to an abstract model, which is ideal for some requirements - but is therefore also completely unsuitable for others.
"TRANSLATIONS IN LINE WITH THE DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS, PERFORMED ACCORDING TO STANDARDS OF PROVEN SUCCESS" - We offer our customers six translation models as well a limitless number of customized packages. The absence of objective errors is guaranteed by the skills and processes we put in place, while style is guaranteed - when such assurance is part of the service - by the selection of above average resources as well as by allowing the customer’s foreign correspondent to do a review before final delivery.
EMAIL - Files are delivered to the translators’ PCs as e-mail attachments.
ACCESS TO OUR SECURE CORPORATE SERVERS - The files are usually translated and reviewed directly online, on our servers, without sending copies around.
POSSIBLE - Translators can copy the material and secretly subcontract the job to other colleagues.
IMPOSSIBLE – The material is copy-protected, and translators are identified every time they access it by unique credentials.
POSSIBLE - Once uploaded to an automated translation service, texts become public and available to anyone.
IMPOSSIBLE - The Project Manager can set the translation environment to prevent the use of automated translation services.
SINGLE - A single costs implies the availability of a single class of professionals: once the price is set, the agency cannot recruit - and offer - professionals with experience and rates that are higher than the agency’s reselling thresholds.
MODULAR - We recruit translators of all skill levels. With our automated quote calculator customers have instant access to the minimum and maximum prices for each service, according to the rates of the translators we recommend. The customer can then ask for a custom quote and share his budget: the Project Manager will then optimize the use of the budget, selecting translators whose profiles, skills, and rates are in line with the requirements.
MODULAR, BUT BEWARE OF THE STYLE - Cutting down on timelines requires technologies and knowledge that are not yet commonplace: without the use of web-teamworking platforms the reviewer will be unable to coordinate the style and terms used by the linguists involved in the translation, and will be forced to wait until everyone delivers his part before being able to begin his own task. Unfortunately by that time it may no longer be possible to make the end result consistent, because the effort and time needed would cause the deadline to be missed.
MODULAR - If your deadlines are especially tight, we can assemble a dedicated team who will work non-stop across time zones! Our web-teamworking platform allows the reviewer to receive real time updates from the team members, so he can guarantee that the text will be smooth and consistent from the earliest stages.