Nicole Schnell United States Local time: 16:51 Member English to German + ...
How to survive as an outsourcer
Mar 31, 2011
Lany Chabot-Laroche wrote:
Well, here, we usually expect a clean text the first time around. And unfortunately, the deadline did not allow me to send it back right away. I'm not sure it it would have really helped as it seems the translator just didn't know certain rules, there was at least 10 occurrences of the equivalent of your/you're switches. We are talking over 15 glaring mistakes on a 1300 word text.
I understand what you say, but in reality, I don't have time to proof it, see it's not good enough, send it back, get the revised version and then proof it again.
You should have sent the file back after the first two mistakes without reading the rest of it.
A translator is only half of the deal. We all try to be good translators. Same goes for outsourcers. Here are my personal Ten Commandments for outsourcing, in random order:
- Only outsource if you have the moneys ready on your account.
- Always make sure that there is sufficient time for editing and quality assurance.
- Do not trust in any guardian angels, Murphy's law rules.
- Tell your vendor beforehand what is expected.
- Never lie to your vendor and be honest about deadlines. The vendor is your partner and you rely on him.
- Shit happens. Sickness, accidents, power outages. Be ready to deal with it.
- Never outsource a job that is out of your league. You have a commitment to your own client.
- Never forget: You are always dealing with people. You will be judged just the way as you are judging them.
- Do not play victim.
- Get everything in written form. It's as good as a contract.
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Lany Chabot-Laroche Canada Local time: 19:51 Member (2009) English to French
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Update
May 1, 2011
It's been over 1 month now since the translator told me she would be asking a colleague to check her text to see if it was as bad as I said. I still have heard nothing from her, and I don't intend to run after her to get the results.
I'm really curious about if she just realized she made dumb mistakes and wants to forget about the whole project (even though I did offer to pay a part of it) or if her review process is really taking a LOOOONG time.
All kind of people in this world, that's what makes it so wonderful, you keep being surprised
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