| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Translation/interpretation - who cares Thread poster: Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
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Is it to much to ask that agencies know the basics of our industry?
Found this request in my spam folder:
We currently have a project of around 5000 words Swedish>English
translation of medical reports for tribunals. The latest deadline
that we have is this Friday, 9th November.
The client requirements are that the translator must be UK based,
with an Enhanced CRB check and the client has a maximum budget of
£70/ ... See more Is it to much to ask that agencies know the basics of our industry?
Found this request in my spam folder:
We currently have a project of around 5000 words Swedish>English
translation of medical reports for tribunals. The latest deadline
that we have is this Friday, 9th November.
The client requirements are that the translator must be UK based,
with an Enhanced CRB check and the client has a maximum budget of
£70/thousand words.
If you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible and
send through your CV and CRB check (or equivalent security
clearance).
Why would a translator need a CRB, enhanced or not? Am I likely to molest the printer or insert hidden messages in the returned file?
The rest of the message is almost as hilarious - a proposed budget that is roughly half of the rate for general text in this language pair. And where in my profile do I mention anything about doing medical?
If the middlemen (and women) can't tell the difference between translation and interpretation, what can we expect from end clients?
Never mind, this request came from an agency currently owned by a company that has been referred to as Crapita by Private Eye. Even if the translation request had been in one of my specialised fields and the proposed budget had been more realistic, I would have been unlikely to pitch. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Diana Coada (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:00
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Do not send them any documents! | Nov 17, 2012 |
They are now trying to do what agencies applying for EU tenders do: they ask for your qualifications and say ''look, we only have the best people on our database''.
They asked for my CRB yesterday, which I of course did not send. They should have checked their ''suppliers'' before all this mess.
| | | | | Don't worry Diana | Nov 17, 2012 |
Even if I were a medical translator, I would be as likely to reply as to go bungy jumping.
Funny thing is that one of their sales persons recently contacted me, in my in-house end-client role, and offered their services. I informed him that even if we did start to outsource, I would be unlikely to buy from a company that is currently the subject of a number of parliamentary committees.
And if their staff can't tell the difference between translation and interpretation..... See more Even if I were a medical translator, I would be as likely to reply as to go bungy jumping.
Funny thing is that one of their sales persons recently contacted me, in my in-house end-client role, and offered their services. I informed him that even if we did start to outsource, I would be unlikely to buy from a company that is currently the subject of a number of parliamentary committees.
And if their staff can't tell the difference between translation and interpretation... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ulterior motive? | Nov 17, 2012 |
Assuming it's the "Crapita"-owned agency I'm thinking of, I wonder whether the CRB check is actually needed to persuade a certain parliamentary committee (well, two of them, in fact) that the agency has enough vetted interpreters to perform a contract with a particular ministry which has been the subject of much controversy. I don't know whether you've been following that saga, but after the revelations that recently came to light about mandatory checks not being carried out, I imagine the agenc... See more Assuming it's the "Crapita"-owned agency I'm thinking of, I wonder whether the CRB check is actually needed to persuade a certain parliamentary committee (well, two of them, in fact) that the agency has enough vetted interpreters to perform a contract with a particular ministry which has been the subject of much controversy. I don't know whether you've been following that saga, but after the revelations that recently came to light about mandatory checks not being carried out, I imagine the agency is absolutely desperate to add names of CRB-checked interpreters, translators or frankly anyone else to its list right now! ▲ Collapse
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Peter Shortall wrote:
Assuming it's the "Crapita"-owned agency I'm thinking of, I wonder whether the CRB check is actually needed to persuade a certain parliamentary committee (well, two of them, in fact) that the agency has enough vetted interpreters to perform a contract with a particular ministry which has been the subject of much controversy. I don't know whether you've been following that saga, but after the revelations that recently came to light about mandatory checks not being carried out, I imagine the agency is absolutely desperate to add names of CRB-checked interpreters, translators or frankly anyone else to its list right now!
And isn't it funny that I've had both these contacts - from sales in my in-house role and from PM wearing my freelance hat - these last few weeks, i.e. after their committee appearances?
| | | | | Couldn't refrain | Nov 17, 2012 |
So I did reply to the email:
Hi XXX,
I'm sorry I only found your email after the proposed deadline. For some reason it had been sent to my junk email folder.
Before I consider any potential future requests, could you please explain why you require an enhanced, or any, CRB for translation?
Looking forward to receiving an answer on Monday.
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Madeleine MacRae Klintebo wrote:
Looking forward to receiving an answer on Monday.
I doubt they would reply. If they did, I doubt it would make sense (in this particular case). May be tomorrow they will find another client to request a supplier (a w-r-i-t-t-e-n translator) whose walls are painted white, and no other colour would be considered for the job.
| | | | | L'esprit de l'escalier | Nov 18, 2012 |
Or perhaps even more to the point:
Hi XXX,
I'm sorry I only found your email after the proposed deadline. For some reason it had been sent to my junk email folder.
Before I consider any potential future requests, could you please submit to a CRB check and send me the result? I'd like some assurance that you're not crooks who'll take my translation and refuse to pay me.
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Oliver Walter
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:00
German to English
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Richard Bartholomew wrote: Or perhaps even more to the point: Hi XXX,
I'm sorry I only found your email after the proposed deadline. For some reason it had been sent to my junk email folder.
Before I consider any potential future requests, could you please submit to a CRB check and send me the result? I'd like some assurance that you're not crooks who'll take my translation and refuse to pay me.
What a good idea!
For those who don't know: CRB = Criminal Records Bureau (established in 1997), and next month it will become the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service). I found that out just now!):
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/crb/
Oliver
[Edited at 2012-11-18 21:17 GMT]
| | | | | Move on, nothing to see here | Nov 19, 2012 |
There is nothing particularly unusual about this request.
The job is "translation of medical reports for tribunals" as the email states. If that's not sensitive information, I don't know what is. The most likely explanation is that the court requires everyone who handles this type of info to have a clean criminal record, which is not unreasonable. You don't want this stuff to be leaked for profit or the person involved to be blackmailed.
If you interpret for the EU, you need to provi... See more There is nothing particularly unusual about this request.
The job is "translation of medical reports for tribunals" as the email states. If that's not sensitive information, I don't know what is. The most likely explanation is that the court requires everyone who handles this type of info to have a clean criminal record, which is not unreasonable. You don't want this stuff to be leaked for profit or the person involved to be blackmailed.
If you interpret for the EU, you need to provide proof that you have no criminal record before you can get an entry badge that allows you enter buildings without going through a metal detector. I don't see why a court couldn't require the same from translators. If you were a public figure of some sort and you had some sort of lawsuit going, would you want your confidential medical files to be translated by a convicted felon? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:00
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Can a translator get a CRB check on himself anyway? | Nov 19, 2012 |
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo wrote:
The client requirements are that the translator must be UK based, with an Enhanced CRB check...
I wasn't aware that any person could have a CRB check done on themselves, on behalf of themselves. Or... what does the client mean here (or thinks he means here)?
| | | | Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:00
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| You can't anymore | Nov 19, 2012 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
I wasn't aware that any person could have a CRB check done on themselves, on behalf of themselves. Or... what does the client mean here (or thinks he means here)?
You pay the fee to whoever needs the CRB, and they do it on your behalf.
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:00
Hebrew to English
Diana Coada wrote: Samuel Murray wrote:
I wasn't aware that any person could have a CRB check done on themselves, on behalf of themselves. Or... what does the client mean here (or thinks he means here)?
You pay the fee to whoever needs the CRB, and they do it on your behalf.
They're also an utterly pointless endeavour. They're outdated the day after they are issued and they only tell you if you're dealing with a criminal/paedophile/etc if they've actually been caught and prosecuted, which is why it bewilders me that schools place so much faith in them as some kind of guarantee of a virtuous moral character. Yes, a clean CRB might mean you're dealing with a throughly decent person, or it might mean they only committed an offence the day after it was issued, or that they've committed a shedload of offences, but never been caught.
Talking of pointless endeavours..... the rebranding to "DBS" ....they must be bored and need something to do.
[Edited at 2012-11-19 12:01 GMT]
| | | | Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:00
Portuguese to English
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| Completely agree | Nov 19, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
They're also an utterly pointless endeavour. They're outdated the day after they are issued and they only tell you if you're dealing with a criminal/paedophile/etc if they've actually been caught and prosecuted, which is why it bewilders me that schools place so much faith in them as some kind of guarantee of a virtuous moral character. Yes, a clean CRB might mean you're dealing with a thoroughly decent person, or it might mean they only committed an offence the day after it was issued, or that they've committed a shedload of offences, but never been caught.
The current ones are valid for three years but they shouldn't be. I think it should be one year maximum. Obviously the £75 fee should be lowered as well if they were to be renewed every year.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:00
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| That applies to all such documents | Nov 19, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
They're also an utterly pointless endeavour. They're outdated the day after they are issued...
Of course, but that applies to all such documents. The document doesn't say whether you have a record on the day that you hand the document over to whomever you give it, but that you haven't had a record on the date that the document was issued. This is a stupid argument, really, because then no testifying document can ever be valid.
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