| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | (Fake) test translation Thread poster: Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.)
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John Fossey 
Canada
Local time: 15:19
Member (2008)
French to English
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Valery Shapovalenko wrote:
People just do not appreciate something they received for free. Bear this in mind, 4 the next time.
I also don't understand the business case of "free tests".
If an agency asks potential translators to take a free test, they have to pay someone, whether in-house or outsourced, to evaluate the test. This obviously costs them something, with no immediate return.
On the other hand, if an agency has a new translator do a small job (hence low risk), which is then revised and proofread before sending to the agency's client (a practice it should be doing anyway), it will not only have a good idea of the translator's ability but will have been paid for it!
So why does any agency require "free tests"?
| | | | MK2010
United States
Local time: 15:19
French to English
+ ...
So why does any agency require "free tests"?
They require free tests so they can vet their potential new translators. I worked for an agency where I was frequently asked to evaluate translation tests. There were standard tests in one or two subject areas, and usually the ones I was asked to evaluate were in the government field (the same test I myself had to pass when applying to that agency, and which led to well over 500,000 words of assignments). Evaluators were asked to look at the test and assess and grade the translator's comprehension of both the source and target language, factual accuracy, things like omissions or additions, spelling and grammar, and overall style--whether the language flowed well, etc. By giving the same test to all applicants, they could determine which translators were best for the job, especially when trying to expand their pool of freelancers for a specific, regular client with a lot of work on a weekly basis (in this case, it was the U.S. State Dept.).
Anyway, I don't see what the problem is with such an approach. I personally wouldn't hire a translator without vetting her. Try working for a federal agency as a linguist without having to take a rigorous translation test...that's unheard of!
But obviously, those are different scenarios than the ones that could potentially be scams, in which a job poster is trying to collect a lot of free translated material for one big project.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 15:19
German to English
| Tests can rule out the utterly incompetent | Jul 29, 2015 |
Although grading of test translations can be subjective, and sometimes worthy applicants can be (unfairly) excluded as successful candidates, there are certain objective criteria that can be applied to a test.
Several years ago I was responsible for vetting translators for a large project. The short test translation included a graphic of the object being described, so there was no ambiguity as to the terminology of critical components. Nevertheless, several applicants claiming spec... See more Although grading of test translations can be subjective, and sometimes worthy applicants can be (unfairly) excluded as successful candidates, there are certain objective criteria that can be applied to a test.
Several years ago I was responsible for vetting translators for a large project. The short test translation included a graphic of the object being described, so there was no ambiguity as to the terminology of critical components. Nevertheless, several applicants claiming specific subject-matter knowledge managed to mistranslate/misidentify components indicated on the image. Ruling out unsuitable candidates early in the process can save a lot of time and expense.
On the other hand, successfully passing a test is not necessarily a sign of competence, as we later discovered. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Howard Camm
Belgium
Local time: 21:19
Italian to English
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| TEST TRANSLATIONS CAN BE A TOTAL CON! | Jul 30, 2015 |
Some considerable time ago, I sent in a 'bid' for a small translation job to an agency, which shall remain nameless. I was suspicious of the request for a 'test translation', so I asked four of my colleagues to bid as well. The 'test translation' which all 5 of us received was 5 x 250 word texts which, when collated, were completely contiguous with each other - the agency had clearly just sent the document for the translation job (1250 words in total) divided amongst the translators. When I chal... See more Some considerable time ago, I sent in a 'bid' for a small translation job to an agency, which shall remain nameless. I was suspicious of the request for a 'test translation', so I asked four of my colleagues to bid as well. The 'test translation' which all 5 of us received was 5 x 250 word texts which, when collated, were completely contiguous with each other - the agency had clearly just sent the document for the translation job (1250 words in total) divided amongst the translators. When I challenged the agency on this, sending the collated document for their comment, the job was immediately withdrawn and my emails ignored. Under no circumstances will I ever complete a 'test translation' - it is mostly a device for the agency to get the work done for free. Perhaps translators should start asking for a copy of the accounts of the agency, along with copies of the academic qualifications of those 'reviewing' 'test translations', to weed out the utterly deceitful and disingenuous? How do you think THAT would be received?
[Bijgewerkt op 2015-07-30 06:36 GMT]
[Bijgewerkt op 2015-07-30 06:37 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 21:19
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| If you want the work, do the test (but only up to a limit) | Jul 30, 2015 |
Jitka Komarkova (Mgr.) wrote:
Preparing for translation, you surprisingly find out that the copy has some 700 words [(not 500)] and contains a recently launched (hot stuff) advertising campaign of a famous high-priced apparel and shoes brand. Neither old stuff nor stuff advisable to be used as a test material.
Why would it not be "stuff advisable to be used as a test material"?
It may be impossible to know whether the client is trying to rip you off with a fake test, so the best way to deal with it is to stick to your principles about test translations: reasonable deadlines and reasonable word counts. The average "fair" word count mentioned on ProZ.com for test translations is 250-300 words (or up to half an hour's work). If you're concerned about fake tests, simply don't go over that limit, to protect yourself.
That said, would it really be so bad if the "test translation" is for a real client, if the test translation deadline and word count is within limits and you would have done the translation anyway?
| | | | Alina Barrow
France
Local time: 21:19
Member (2006)
English to Russian
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| Business is business | Jul 30, 2015 |
I think that the reason a test is required by bone fide agencies is that many of them have been burned by the translator scammers who use real translator CV's to get translation work.
A good compromise is to offer to do the test at your standard per word rate and offer to discount the test fee from the first translation project. It works for me.
If the agency does not want to pay for the test, then you haven't lost anything.
I stopped doing free 'test' long... See more I think that the reason a test is required by bone fide agencies is that many of them have been burned by the translator scammers who use real translator CV's to get translation work.
A good compromise is to offer to do the test at your standard per word rate and offer to discount the test fee from the first translation project. It works for me.
If the agency does not want to pay for the test, then you haven't lost anything.
I stopped doing free 'test' long ago as the requests were from translation agency interns updating a database. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Happy to do tests in principle | Jul 30, 2015 |
But as said, short ones.
I get the impression the longer and more time consuming the test & registration procedure more demanding the agency and the less they are prepared to pay.
As I had a bad experience a while ago when I went through tests, signing different bits of paper and so on, and when it was all done the agency told me that they would pay me $0.05, although I made my terms clear with my first communication with them, so I just assumed that they would accept ... See more But as said, short ones.
I get the impression the longer and more time consuming the test & registration procedure more demanding the agency and the less they are prepared to pay.
As I had a bad experience a while ago when I went through tests, signing different bits of paper and so on, and when it was all done the agency told me that they would pay me $0.05, although I made my terms clear with my first communication with them, so I just assumed that they would accept my terms.
Now I always ask and I don't always get a reply! ▲ Collapse
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ChrisGT wrote:
I agree with Paul Lambert. No free tests for me, if they can't see from my CV and my experience that I am qualified enough, then it's not worth it.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. Saves you a lot of grief and it's a waste of time. Who knows what they are doing with your free test translation. Think about it.
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