In a previous post, we mentioned what freelance translators should do to keep their translation clients happy, but what about the translators’ expectations?

As organizations become increasingly reliant on contractors and freelancers, they need to consider how to attract and retain them. Many clients think that because their translation projects are only temporary, there isn’t much point bothering to retain a translator. But if you’ve decided to collaborate with a translator on a contractual basis, remember that it needs to be a harmonious relationship. Making sure that you get your message across clearly and accurately is essential for both the client and the translator.

Below are some crucial points that you should bear in mind to keep your freelance translator or contractor happy.

Communicate clearly

If you work with a translator remotely, you’ll want to make sure that you communicate your needs and expectations clearly from the start. This will prevent confusion and save you time. Remember that freelance translators or contractors are not part of your organization and need relevant information to deliver a quality translation.

The clearer your instructions, the more likely the translator will continue accepting jobs from you.  They will also feel like a part of your team and will be motivated to give you their best.

Be responsive

In communication, responsiveness is essential. Many issues can arise in a translation project: a term may need clarification, there may be parts missing, documents may not open correctly, and so on. Efficient translators like to work with companies that respond to their queries and address issues in a timely fashion. That email you are not answering might cause delays in your translation or in other projects of the translator.

Quality checks and revisions should be done by native speakers

There’s nothing more annoying for a translator than receiving corrections full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. If you have someone from your company review the delivered translation, make sure that the person proofreading it is both an expert in the subject matter and a native speaker of the target language (the translation language). It will be a waste of time for both you and the translator if the documents keep coming and going with bad corrections and the translator constantly explaining why the translation is correct.

Provide feedback

Feedback is a crucial part of the translation process. Honest reviews can provide a way to identify weaknesses and strengths which will, in return, make future projects run more smoothly. In addition, with your feedback and corrections, glossaries can be improved, and the translator can find the right tone for your message. If you’re looking for a long-term relationship with a translator, you shouldn’t keep your thoughts on the translation to yourself. That being said, feedback should be fair. If you only point out what’s wrong or provide harsh feedback, it might lead to negative results. The translator might think that they aren’t suitable for the job or lose confidence in what they’re doing. Moreover, in the case of translation agencies, if a project manager reads negative feedback, they may decide to hire another translator, making it a bad decision for your project.

Be patient and respect deadlines

Meeting deadlines is a cornerstone of a successful translator. Once your translation project scope has been analyzed properly, the translator will provide you with a quote with basic information, including the deadline. If you have a strict deadline, you must be crystal clear about the date and time you need the translation back. Be aware that while translators have to respect deadlines, so do you. If it’s 10.15 AM and the translation needs to be delivered by 11 AM, refrain from contacting the translator asking whether the translation is ready yet. Those 45 minutes could be crucial for the translator. They could be doing the final check of the translation or polishing the text before delivery. If you insist on asking “is it ready yet?”, you could be distracting them and cause mistakes.

Pay on time

Just like a traditional employee, freelance translators and contractors need to receive their money on schedule. Late payments will not only make translators unhappy but can also give you a bad reputation. If you’re having unexpected problems and need to delay a payment, be up-front about the reasons and communicate them to the translator. Most will understand, especially so if this isn’t something that happens frequently. The same as deadlines, payment terms should be agreed upon before beginning a project.

Hiring a freelance translator or contractor can be a win-win situation as you avoid overhead costs like insurance, sick time, paid vacations and a fixed monthly salary. When you find the best talent that aligns with your business needs, you should do your best to retain them. If you think of your translators as part of your team and provide clear information, consistent work and pay fair rates on time, you will be able to count on highly skilled translators who will help you make your business flourish.

Contact us for a free translation quote.

September 30 was International Translation Day – the day for translators and the translation industry as a whole to stand up and be celebrated! Translators are not always been seen as they work in the background of many industries. Yet it is thanks to them that many other industries prosper due to the ability to maximize their reach to different areas of the globe.

The history of International Translation Day

Originally a day to celebrate St Jerome, also known as the patron saint of translation. He was the man who translated the bible in to Latin. This was the beginning of the bible being translated into 636 languages, with the New Testament alone now available in 1442 languages.

Since 1953, St Jerome Day has been celebrated worldwide in order to raise awareness of the importance of translation. In 1991, the International Federation of Translation officially deemed the September 30 to be International Translation Day.

The translation industry in figures

International Translation Day calls for a look at the figures of the translation industry, which has continued to grow in times when other industries have suffered.

Reports from the Centre of Next Generation Localisation have named the translation and localization industry as the fourth fastest-growing industry in the Untied States. The industries using the widest variety of languages are software products, medical devices, automotive and pharmaceuticals.

According to the CNBC, the last seven years have seen a 24% increase in the number of operating translation companies, as well as a significant 50% jump in the number of people employed in the industry.

Technology has not replaced the need for translation

Despite speculation that technology and the advent free online translation tools could damage the translation industry, it is in fact technology that has seen the industry boom.

As the Internet has become ever present in life and in business over the past two decades, globalization has develop the increased need for translation worldwide.

Research results from the Common Sense Advisory, a translation industry think-tank, showed that “a full 63% of global brands recently reached more customers by increasing the number of languages on their websites”. Without translation agencies, this extended reach would not have been possible.

The translation industry – a facilitator of international reach and growth. That’s something to celebrate!

News broke at the beginning of the month that large amounts of documents that had been submitted to Translate.com were visible to the general public.

Norwegian news agency NRK was the first to run the story, which detailed the exposure of sensitive information about Statoil, Norway’s state oil company. Contracts, workforce reduction plans and dismissal letters were publicly available to see online after the company had opted for a free online tool for their translation needs, in place of using a translation agency.

Slator, a translation industry news site, investigated further and reported similar findings for other companies and industries, including documents such as email exchanges, late payment notices, tax matters and termination letters.

Reaction from governments and institutions was quick and abrupt. The Oslo Stock exchange instantly blocked access to Translate.com.

Translation tool privacy breach explained

 Translate.com offered a full and detailed explanation of how this privacy breach occurred, stating that the documents in question had been submitted via a system that ceased to be used two years ago.

Up until the end of 2015, Translate.com used volunteers to translate documents submitted to the site. These documents were stored on the cloud so that all volunteers had access to them. This also meant that they were publicly available online.

Translate.com defended their system choice, stating that it had issued clear warnings on their homepage. The point was also made that the free service was not appropriate for business use involving sensitive data, and that a private, protected and payable enterprise service would be better suited.

An apology was offered, together with a strong warning to remove private data from documents that are submitted, including names, addresses and phone numbers.

Why translation agencies are a safer option

 When employing the services of a translation agency, you can rest assured that your data will be treated with the utmost privacy. Reputable agencies will have non-disclosure agreements that are signed as a matter of routine to ensure 100% confidentiality.

Using a free online translation tool may be an appealing way of saving money, but is it worth the risk? Exposing sensitive data and information could cost your business much more than money. You could lose your hard-earned reputation and client base.

Who knew that with the launch of Twitter would come such a change for one simple symbol that had already existed for decades? The hashtag. An integral part of the world of Twitter and other popular social networks. Here we look at the best ones for translators to use.

First though, let’s a have a look at exactly what they do…

The purpose of the hashtag

Placed before keywords, the main purpose of the hashtag is to connect people with others who are talking about the same topic as they are. This can be done in two ways:

1. By including a hashtag in your message, you will increase its exposure, making it visible to others who are interested in that topic. This reach goes beyond your followers and can, in effect, increase your number of followers if they want to hear more from you.
2. In a world where there is too much news, content and information at our fingertips, you can search for a specific hashtag to see the latest conversations around a certain topic. For example: by searching #translation, you will see all the other tweets talking about this topic.

It’s not as simple as #translation

#translation may be one of the most used hashtags in the translation industry, but they are not all quite so simple. According to Keyhole.co, these are the top hashtags used by translators:

How to Translate Translation Hashtags

For newbies in the translation industry, this will all look like another language that needs translation in itself. Even for the pros, there may still be some explanation needed. In order to be able to use the most relevant translation hashtags, there are two main points to understand from the list above:

These ‘coded’ type of hashtags is more popular, as only people within the translation industry know about them, so it keeps content and information more relevant to the actual field.

As trends change, hashtags will change, so it is important to keep up-to-date to be able to use social networks to its full potential to gain and share information within the translation world.