 Track this topic 0 | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] | | User | Thread poster: RobinB Great article on translator compensation in the United States |
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Kevin Lossner 
Germany
Local time: 01:16
  Member (2003)
German to English
| | Looking forward isn't that hard here | Jun 27, 2008 |
Andrew, the jokers you mention are certainly part of the market and may well persist in it, but I don't take them seriously, because I have yet to see that they can really deliver translations that meet the expectations of clients who want quality. There will be clients who care only about the price and are indifferent to quality or incapable of judging it, but so what? That's not the market I'm interested in, because it really is a losing proposition to play in that field.
What will happen? They will continue to push each other to starvation and bankruptcy while the rest of us get on with business and make as much money as we feel like making. Many of them will eventually move on, and I doubt that the serious business-oriented translators among us will notice if the door hits them in the butt or not on their way out nor will we care.
I tend to stay away from agencies that play the multi-level subcontracting game and work with smaller ones that understand how to market to direct customers. They are good at what they do, fun to work with and in every respect good business partners. In my mind, however, I do not work for them. They work for me. They are my virtual marketing department, and I love them for taking the time to recruit the end customers and coordinate things so I can focus on what I do best. Of course I deal with end customers too, often at much better rates, but when I consider the extra time invested in acquiring and supporting these customers (and telling them for the Nth time that I don't do French and they should contact the translators I recommended for that language the last time I was asked - yes, maybe I'm a fool for not getting involved in outsourcing, but that's my way of keeping my blood pressure low), it's just about the same result in the end. The trend I have seen in prices since 2000 has been a positive upward one, though at times not all that steeply upward. If I feel that a favored agency isn't paying enough I try to think of how to help them make more from the end client so I can get whatever extra I expect. And I consider it a natural thing to provide mutual support for business plans, proposals and technical issues. Agencies are indeed the translator's ally in many cases - at least the good ones are. And if some company can mark my services up 300%, that's super - they'll be in business next year and can afford my next increase, unlike the nice but clueless agency (or wanna-be) that tries to survive on a 20% mark-up.
  | | | | Tatty
Spain
Spanish to English
+ ...
| | But luckily we live in Europe | Jun 27, 2008 |
and the EU has passed a directive which is clearly aimed at providing purchasers of translations with minimum guarantees, and rightly so. Another triumph for consumer rights.
In Spain, more and more agencies are starting to implement the standard, which means that people are actually taking notice of it (the same can't be said of all EU directives, especially the one about how I should get paid within 2 weeks of sending the invoice!). In the short run, it probably won't have much effect because everyone who is already on board probably has 3 or 5 years experience and therefore can stay on aboard. The directive promotes linguist translators as opposed to specialist-led ones. IMO, linguist translators are the ones who have less bargaining power in the market. MAs in specialised translation seem to be the new thing in England, and they cost about 6,000 GBP apiece - these graduates should be able to command higher rates. But the new arrangements may leave specialised translation somewhat lacking if it is all carried out by people who are predominantly linguists, but we are only discussing the rates aspect of the translation business.
The rest of the world will just have to fend for themselves.
| | | | RobinB
Germany
Local time: 01:16
German to English
TOPIC STARTER | | Directive? What directive? | Jun 28, 2008 |
| Tatty wrote: and the EU has passed a directive which is clearly aimed at providing purchasers of translations with minimum guarantees, and rightly so. |
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That's news to me, and to everybody else, I suspect. You wouldn't be referring to the Late Payment Directive, by any chance? Not exactly a safeguard, is it....
| Another triumph for consumer rights. |
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I don't quite see where consumers come into. As translation providers, we're business entities, not consumers.
| In Spain, more and more agencies are starting to implement the standard, which means that people are actually taking notice of it (the same can't be said of all EU directives, especially the one about how I should get paid within 2 weeks of sending the invoice!). |
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Ah, are you referring perhaps to EN 15038:2006, the controversial new standard for translation service quality? I'm not quite sure what effect this is supposed to have on translation content quality (absolutely none, I suspect), and there are certainly no guarantees in it for anybody.
| The directive promotes linguist translators as opposed to specialist-led ones. |
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Again, I don't really know what you mean here. Are "linguist translators" those who know languages but no subject areas, and "specialist-led translators" those who know subject areas but no languages, or what?
And how about those translators who work in the premium segment of the industry? Those with outstanding language *and* subject area knowledge, coupled with essential business skills, who account for less than 5% of translators overall, but more than 95% of translation quality?
| The rest of the world will just have to fend for themselves. |
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Then perhaps you'll have to explain not only why some of the best translation MAs are available in the USA, but also why the US is a world leader when it comes to translator CPD. And why some emerging economies are moving very fast in the field of translator education.
Robin
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