Yoshi1 United States Local time: 08:30 English to Japanese
Jan 27, 2011
Hi, I am a novice here and would like to get your opinion. There is the one agency who gave me trial translation. That is not for an actual project, but for expanding their resource database.
Their e-mail contains a telephone and fax number and also they have their website.
It seems it is the ligitimate bussiness; however, the word count for the trial is 560 words. I have read somewhere normaly the trial is around 200-250 word counts.
I may be too cautious, but I am just wondering.
Thank you for your advice.
[Edited at 2011-01-27 15:39 GMT]
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I never expect jobs out of trial translation. I just do trial only I have time and I enjoy a small tests to educate myself on new disciplines.
Soonthon Lupkitaro
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Vitals Lithuania Local time: 15:30 Member (2008) English to Lithuanian + ...
Sometimes
Jan 27, 2011
The test translation word count depends on your agreement with the client. Usually it is 150-200 words, sometimes 300. Can be more in some cases (f.e. repetitive words, etc.)
And if it is more, then I think you should negotiate with your client as this probably should be a paid test translation.
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uenomiyuki Japan Local time: 21:30 Member English to Japanese
Long text...
Jan 27, 2011
I never had such a long trial text but I can't find out it should be taken or not.
Some agency have us to take some different category tests, more than 2 or 3 fields.
In this case, total words would be around 600 words.
In my case, even when I ask for a trial, if I don't have enough time, I don't do it.
Actually, I asked for trials to 2 agency last year, but I couldn't spare time for some reasons.
Why don't you ask them why the trial is so long?
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Annett Hieber Germany Local time: 14:30 Member (2008) English to German
Right approach
Jan 27, 2011
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.) wrote:
I never expect jobs out of trial translation. I just do trial only I have time and I enjoy a small tests to educate myself on new disciplines.
Soonthon Lupkitaro
I think this is the correct approach! However, my experience is that trial translations were often followed by real jobs.
Annett
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Mlinar Montenegro Local time: 14:30 Member (2009) English to Serbian + ...
560 is way too much
Jan 27, 2011
That is my opinion.
I once had a test translation of 1000w. I did about 250-300. An angry reply came ("you do not meet our requirements yada yada yada").
I have seen later that the translation tests (and all related setup) indicate how serious an agency is. If you get "ripped out" text, that is not a coherent unit - it's probably a scam.
Also, the number of words is related to the type of project. In a copywriting sample, 50 words can sometimes be enough to assess candidates.
EDIT:
One more thing. Checking agency website always helps. If you look up this one in a WHOIS database, you will see the date of their domain registration which may or may not ring an alarm bell. Also, check website links, addresses, check whether a real person can be identified as responsible for well... anything. These are just some interesting, general, indicators.
[Edited at 2011-01-27 15:01 GMT]
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Kevin Fulton United States Local time: 08:30 German to English
Nothing to lose but time
Jan 27, 2011
While I consider 500+ words to be excessive, it may be worth spending 2 hours to do the test.
Consider a translation test as a marketing activity. A test is an indication that a potential customer is willing to consider taking you on as a supplier. But it's not a guarantee.
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Aneta Risteska Macedonia (FYROM) Local time: 14:30 Member (2011) English to Macedonian + ...
Very useful post, I do it as well!
Jan 27, 2011
Mlinar wrote:
That is my opinion.
I once had a test translation of 1000w. I did about 250-300. An angry reply came ("you do not meet our requirements yada yada yada").
I have seen later that the translation tests (and all related setup) indicate how serious an agency is. If you get "ripped out" text, that is not a coherent unit - it's probably a scam.
Also, the number of words is related to the type of project. In a copywriting sample, 50 words can sometimes be enough to assess candidates.
EDIT:
One more thing. Checking agency website always helps. If you look up this one in a WHOIS database, you will see the date of their domain registration which may or may not ring an alarm bell. Also, check website links, addresses, check whether a real person can be identified as responsible for well... anything. These are just some interesting, general, indicators.
[Edited at 2011-01-27 15:01 GMT]
Yes, 560 (or so) words is way too much. That is around two and a half pages and we are pretty much aware that an assessment of the translator's abilities may be made with 100-150 words.
I once had to translate 3-4 pages (that was a long time ago, when I was at the beginning of my career) as a trial translation for a job interview, of course, for free. Later, I found out that it was only a trick; namely, 5 people had to do the same, only different 3-4 pages, because the agency didn't want to pay for the translation. Very professional, huh?))
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Yoshi1 United States Local time: 08:30 English to Japanese
TOPIC STARTER
This is how it is
Jan 27, 2011
First, I did not know the rule here. Now, I deleted their site info.
Second, "If you get "ripped out" text, that is not a coherent unit - it's probably a scam"
What they did was they sent me a zip file which contains almost 8 specialized areas such as Chemistry, Marketing, Law etc. Then, they specified paragraphs in the file or they asked to translate a whole file for the trial.
An interesting thing is that the instruction states "If you cannot deliver by deadline for some reason, please contact us." as if they talk this is the real project.
Anyway, thank you for everyone's input
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Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 13:30 Member (2007) English + ...
Maybe you could have done fewer words
Jan 27, 2011
Yoshida325 wrote:
What they did was they sent me a zip file which contains almost 8 specialized areas such as Chemistry, Marketing, Law etc. Then, they specified paragraphs in the file or they asked to translate a whole file for the trial.
It sounds like this is an all-purpose test sent to all potential providers. I think it's possible they would have been happy with just the few parts that you considered suitable for your abilities. For example, your profile indicates that you could forget about the chemistry translation.
It's sometimes worth a quick email to query things like this so that you neither do too much work for free (IMO, 560 words is 2-3 times too long) nor lose the chance of a potentially fruitful collaboration.
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Simone Linke Germany Local time: 14:30 English to German + ...
Some more things
Jan 27, 2011
Some more things to keep in mind if you decide to do this:
Ask about their payment terms and general terms and conditions. Just recently, I did a test for an agency, filled out endless forms, etc., and when I told them which parts of their terms would have to be changed, they declined - thus, all my work was in vain. Lesson learned.
It would suck if you were to spend 2 hours on these 500 words only to find out later that they want to pay you after 60 days for 3 cents a word.
And also: it might be worthwhile to ask them how they plan to evaluate your test. It has happened to me that a very large and well-known agency gave me a very extensive test, but when I received the evaluation, it turned out that their proof-reader had not read my accompanying comments and - even worse - had corrected false errors.
When I told the PM who had contacted me, he didn't seem to understand and instead suggested I should do another test and they'd evaluate it again. LOL!
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TransAfrique United Kingdom Local time: 13:30 Member (2011) Japanese to English
Think about it
Jan 27, 2011
As a novice, it might be in your own interest to try your hand at the test and see how it goes. I agree that 560 words is a little too much for an unpaid test, but if you have the time and you really want to work for that agency, go ahead. I agree with whoever said you should try to find out how much they typically pay first, though. No sense wasting your time to find out they want to give you $0.02 a word.
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT Spain Local time: 14:30 Member (2005) English to Spanish + ...
I would take it
Jan 27, 2011
What do you have to lose? In your position, and unless you are really busy on other work, it will at least be good practice, and it might open the door to a long-term customer.
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Mlinar Montenegro Local time: 14:30 Member (2009) English to Serbian + ...
Feedback?
Jan 27, 2011
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
it will at least be good practice.
To make this a practice, he'd need a feedback, which I doubt will follow.
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT Spain Local time: 14:30 Member (2005) English to Spanish + ...
A good practice in general
Jan 27, 2011
Mlinar wrote:
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
it will at least be good practice.
To make this a practice, he'd need a feedback, which I doubt will follow.
By doing the test, the translator will see whether that kind of work is his cup of tea, and will surely learn things about the matter at hand. At this very beginning of his career, it makes total sense to do the test, in my opinion.
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