Translation - art & business » Business issues »
Quality of rush jobs
Thread poster: bap
bap
bap
Hebrew to English
+ ...
Mar 2, 2009

I endeavour to subject my translations to various proofreading/editing stages. However, when handling rush jobs I often don’t have the time to perform all these stages.

Do you think a rush job by definition cannot be expected to have the same quality as a standard job and the client realizes that, or, since the client is paying a rush rate, he should be entitled to the identical quality as a standard job in addition to a quick turnaround?

It seems to me that the best... See more
I endeavour to subject my translations to various proofreading/editing stages. However, when handling rush jobs I often don’t have the time to perform all these stages.

Do you think a rush job by definition cannot be expected to have the same quality as a standard job and the client realizes that, or, since the client is paying a rush rate, he should be entitled to the identical quality as a standard job in addition to a quick turnaround?

It seems to me that the best option is to assess in advance how much proofreading/editing time will have to be sacrificed due to the specific time constraints of the job and to receive the client's approval in advance about the expected quality, but my question is whether it is assumed that urgent translations in general are less polished and accurate than those produced without or with less time pressure. ▲ Collapse
 
Sophie Thereau (X)
Sophie Thereau (X)
France
Local time: 20:23
English to French
not sure Mar 18, 2009

Unfortunately, given my experience as a project manager, customers expect both quality and rapidity, after all they "pay well enough for a service that is not so complicated and it must be made the most of this kind of every $ (or €) spent". That's roughly the kind of "thought" common to most customers. One solution: education. We must explain that quality needs time and money and that translation are not made in a wink. If the customer does not want to understand that poorly paid and quickly ... See more
Unfortunately, given my experience as a project manager, customers expect both quality and rapidity, after all they "pay well enough for a service that is not so complicated and it must be made the most of this kind of every $ (or €) spent". That's roughly the kind of "thought" common to most customers. One solution: education. We must explain that quality needs time and money and that translation are not made in a wink. If the customer does not want to understand that poorly paid and quickly commited translation ALWAYS need proofreading or retranslating, and thus cost much more time and money than expected, then let him or her make the mistake and come to you the next time.

That's a personal point of veiw, of course. ▲ Collapse
 
Terry Richards
Terry Richards
France
Local time: 20:23
French to English
+ ...
Good / Fast / Cheap Mar 19, 2009

I used to repair professional sound equipment. On my workshop wall I had the following poster for customer education purposes:

Good / Fast / Cheap

Pick any two...

As you charged extra for the rush job, the customer can reasonably expect Fast and Good.

Terry
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Margarita[Call to this topic]
Jorge Rodrigues[Call to this topic]
James Heppe-Smith[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Quality of rush jobs







TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »
Trados Studio 2022 Freelance
The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.

Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

More info »