| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > |
Do you mind to do a translation job for a translation firm? Thread poster: samtanaka
|
|---|
samtanaka 
Local time: 01:36
English to Japanese
+ ...
As a translator,I don't like to do a translation job for a translation firm.
That filling is not so good.
How about you,or do you have any idea?
Thanks
| | | |
If I understood what you mean, you don't like working for translation agencies. Is this correct?
From my experience, each client is different. Both direct clients and translation agencies exist in all shades from excellent to terrible,
| | | |
Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 19:36
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
samtanaka wrote:
As a translator, I don't like to do a translation job for a translation firm. That filling is not so good.
I think the situation depends on the particular translation firm. Can you tell us what experiences you've had with translation firms in the past, or what you believe makes fillings at translation firms not so good? Where would filling be better, in your opinion?
| | | |
Mulyadi Subali
Indonesia
Local time: 00:36
Member
English to Indonesian
+ ...
i think most of prozians got their jobs from translation firms/agencies, cmiiw. if you don't like working with them, then you should work with end-client directly.
| | |
|
|
|
sylviyang
Sierra Leone
Local time: 17:36
Chinese to English
+ ...
| strange....... | Dec 30, 2008 |
I think it depends on the material you are going to handle and the terms and conditions upon....
| | | |
Niina Lahokoski
Finland
Local time: 20:36
Member (2008)
English to Finnish
+ ...
Currently, I only work with translation agencies. They find the clients for me, and often take care of the proofreading and DTP. I probably would get better rates with direct clients, but I'm satisfied with the rates I currently have. If I wanted to get direct clients, I would have to put a lot of effort into marketing myself. I like to concentrate on what I do best - translating - and the agencies make that possible.
There are agencies that try to get translators to work for peanu... See more Currently, I only work with translation agencies. They find the clients for me, and often take care of the proofreading and DTP. I probably would get better rates with direct clients, but I'm satisfied with the rates I currently have. If I wanted to get direct clients, I would have to put a lot of effort into marketing myself. I like to concentrate on what I do best - translating - and the agencies make that possible.
There are agencies that try to get translators to work for peanuts and do not care about the quality, but it is your choice whether you want to work with them or not. And anyway, there probably are such direct clients too. Luckily, there are lots of good agencies (and direct clients) that expect good guality and are willing to pay for it .
[Edited at 2008-12-30 15:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
| I prefer custard filling, actually | Dec 30, 2008 |
Though I do tend to fill my work schedule with jobs from translation agencies. The good ones are excellent partners who save me a lot of time marketing and dealing with end customers and studiously chase down answers when I need them. The others? Well, they don't last long in my contact file.
So what's the problem? If you don't like dealing with agencies for whatever reason, go chase end clients. Lots of people do, and the margins appear to be better, though often this is not the ca... See more Though I do tend to fill my work schedule with jobs from translation agencies. The good ones are excellent partners who save me a lot of time marketing and dealing with end customers and studiously chase down answers when I need them. The others? Well, they don't last long in my contact file.
So what's the problem? If you don't like dealing with agencies for whatever reason, go chase end clients. Lots of people do, and the margins appear to be better, though often this is not the case when one factors in all the addition time and expense involved in acquisition, communication and customer relations. ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 19:36
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Your CV needs filling ... | Dec 30, 2008 |
... Some serious filling.
| | |
|
|
|
| No, I don't 'mind' at all | Dec 30, 2008 |
If you work with excellent agencies - and there are plenty out there, contrary to popular belief - they take a load of trouble, time, effort and frustration off your hands leaving you to concentrate on what you get paid to do, namely translate.
I personally hate dealing with end-clients (other than the lawyers I work with directly) so I'm more than happy to leave the customer relations side of things to agencies. I'm not a people's person and never will be.
Just don't... See more If you work with excellent agencies - and there are plenty out there, contrary to popular belief - they take a load of trouble, time, effort and frustration off your hands leaving you to concentrate on what you get paid to do, namely translate.
I personally hate dealing with end-clients (other than the lawyers I work with directly) so I'm more than happy to leave the customer relations side of things to agencies. I'm not a people's person and never will be.
Just don't deal with those agencies that aren't up to scratch. Simple as that.
[Edited at 2008-12-30 18:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
| :) filling/feeling | Dec 30, 2008 |
Mervyn Henderson wrote:
... Some serious filling.
it does indeed
| | | |
Aniello Scognamiglio (X)
Germany
Local time: 19:36
English to German
+ ...
| Food for thought | Dec 30, 2008 |
...I don't like to do a translation job for a translation firm...
Hm... It's like saying "I don't like to do a translation job for a client."
By the way, I just scanned your profile: Why should I choose you as a translator to work with?
My 20 cents
Aniello
[Edited at 2008-12-31 07:25 GMT]
| | | |
Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
If you work with excellent agencies - and there are plenty out there, contrary to popular belief - they take a load of trouble, time, effort and frustration off your hands leaving you to concentrate on what you get paid to do, namely translate.
Debs,
I'm in here, where for each really excellent translation agency - some listed with WWA=5 on my profile, not sure anyone can see them - there are four who don't care/know much about translation nor translators, all they want is to make a quick buck.
So what is the route to get to this out there place, where these few excellent agencies become "plenty"?
Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
I personally hate dealing with end-clients (other than the lawyers I work with directly) so I'm more than happy to leave the customer relations side of things to agencies. I'm not a people's person and never will be.
Bad news. If you were not a people person, you wouldn't bother about this forum and the people who write in it. Maybe you are just not the teacher type.
End-clients often have to be taught/corrected about translation and all its "side effects" such as DTP, dubbing, subtitling, web publishing, PDF, DVD authoring, sworn/certified translations, copyrights... the list is endless. As too many PMs from "bad" agencies don't know it either, it's useless to ban end-clients just for them being so.
Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
Just don't deal with those agencies that aren't up to scratch. Simple as that.
The problem is that these - according to Pareto's Law - comprise 80% of them, numerically. So it's not like searching for a needle in a haystack, more like doing it in a cluttered drawer, that contains some scattered razor blades too.
| | |
|
|
|
Stephen Franke
United States
Local time: 10:36
English to Arabic
+ ...
| CV? One line does not a CV make. | Dec 30, 2008 |
If I may second and reinforce Mervyn Henderson's good observation: Your CV needs some serious filling.
Because a one-line entry does not make a CV, you might well look at some of the CVs and resumes posted by various other members of proz.com.
Those useful samples may enable you to develop a better idea of the format and contents of a customary CV used by many practitioners to promote their capabilities, services, and fields of their competence in the "global language ... See more If I may second and reinforce Mervyn Henderson's good observation: Your CV needs some serious filling.
Because a one-line entry does not make a CV, you might well look at some of the CVs and resumes posted by various other members of proz.com.
Those useful samples may enable you to develop a better idea of the format and contents of a customary CV used by many practitioners to promote their capabilities, services, and fields of their competence in the "global language services industry."
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Stephen H. Franke
English - Arabic, Kurdish, and Persian
San Pedro, California ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Marcelo Silveyra
United States
Local time: 10:36
Member (2007)
German to English
+ ...
| Filling / feeling | Dec 30, 2008 |
Funny that, for being a particularly non-PC individual and often getting into trouble because of it, I'm completely taken aback by a few (not all) of the "filling" comments. Samtanaka's profile may be lacking and his/her English might be far from perfect, but he/she does not translate into English, and his/her native language isn't English either. Can we all please grow up and behave like adults?
| | | |
| 20% is plenty | Dec 30, 2008 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote: Lawyer-Linguist wrote:
Just don't deal with those agencies that aren't up to scratch. Simple as that. The problem is that these - according to Pareto's Law - comprise 80% of them, numerically. So it's not like searching for a needle in a haystack, more like doing it in a cluttered drawer, that contains some scattered razor blades too.
So put on some chainmail gloves when you search the drawer. Seriously, though, it's not that hard to tell the worthwhile agencies from the losers if you know what you are looking for. It's good to start by pricing yourself in a range that will scare off the bottom feeders right away. And I think you yourself listed some very sensible screening criteria in these forums recently, José.
Whether the troublesome agencies comprise 80% or 90% or even 95%, that still leaves a lot of good ones to cherry-pick. You just have to have your filters set correctly as you know.
| | | |
| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
