Trados now standard requirement? Thread poster: Sanmar
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Sanmar
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:10
Dutch to English
I wonder if Trados has now become one of the standard requirements when registering for work with an agency. I have worked in this business for 15 years and specialise in marketing, advertising and in-house magazines and commununications. I did not think that Trados would be much use in this area of work. However, it seems as if the majority of agencies will no longer accept your applications for work if you do not have Trados. Anyone got any ideas on this? Is Trados a standard requirement in t... See more I wonder if Trados has now become one of the standard requirements when registering for work with an agency. I have worked in this business for 15 years and specialise in marketing, advertising and in-house magazines and commununications. I did not think that Trados would be much use in this area of work. However, it seems as if the majority of agencies will no longer accept your applications for work if you do not have Trados. Anyone got any ideas on this? Is Trados a standard requirement in the translation industry nowadays and who benefits most from the investment, translator or agency/client? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 01:10
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| not necessarily | Mar 15, 2005 |
From my customers only one sometimes uses Trados. CAT-tools are most useful when large documents need continuous updating.
If Trados seems to be a prerequisite for registering with agencies you can tell you have it, who cares? If really someone sends you a job for Trados you can decline it.
Some customers seem to thing that having Trados is a sure sign for professionallity, even if they do not know what Trados is.
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 00:10
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| Really, Heinrich? | Mar 15, 2005 |
My impression is completly different. Who asks for Trados, will use it. And if you state you have that and then decline a job, because yu don't have, does not necessarily show your professionality.
However, I agree, that Trados is by no means a sign for professionality and is not necessarily needed to be a translator.
OTOH it becomes more and more clear, that the future lays in CAT (not only Trados). This is the only way th stand the pressure of falling prices IMO.
... See more My impression is completly different. Who asks for Trados, will use it. And if you state you have that and then decline a job, because yu don't have, does not necessarily show your professionality.
However, I agree, that Trados is by no means a sign for professionality and is not necessarily needed to be a translator.
OTOH it becomes more and more clear, that the future lays in CAT (not only Trados). This is the only way th stand the pressure of falling prices IMO.
Regards
Jerzy ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Converted to .rtf | Mar 15, 2005 |
I recently worked on a large proofreading and editing project with a large translation agency. I laid it out up front that although I have TRADOS at my office, it is not mine, and that I do not have TRADOS at home nor was I about to invest in it until much later this year. They graciously converted every file to Word .rtf format and that is how we worked it out. They asked me to keep a separate Word or .txt file with an explanation of the changes done which I submitted along with the finished fi... See more I recently worked on a large proofreading and editing project with a large translation agency. I laid it out up front that although I have TRADOS at my office, it is not mine, and that I do not have TRADOS at home nor was I about to invest in it until much later this year. They graciously converted every file to Word .rtf format and that is how we worked it out. They asked me to keep a separate Word or .txt file with an explanation of the changes done which I submitted along with the finished file.
I can not begin to say how grateful I am to them!
I would never lie about having TRADOS, or any other tool or software for that matter. I do not consider it ethical. ▲ Collapse
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Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 01:10
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| Working for magazines etc. | Mar 16, 2005 |
Luisabel wrote:
I would never lie about having TRADOS, or any other tool or software for that matter. I do not consider it ethical.
My remark was addressed at the poster, who stated that he works mainly in the marketing and publishing sector and is not able to register with agencies, because they require Trados.
I find it highly improbable that jobs for marketing etc. would really require the use of any CAT.
I find it unethical that agencies make as buy expensive software but do not use it. In my case I own Trados since 2002, but have got since only one project that required Trados.
So my advice to the poster was, go ahead and wait, if you really need it, which I doubt in this case.
| | | | Marc P (X)
Local time: 00:10
German to English
+ ...
| Trados now standard requirement? | Mar 16, 2005 |
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
I find it unethical that agencies make us buy expensive software but do not use it.
If a translator is self-employed, no agency *makes* him or her do anything. That's the real problem: not Trados, but the notion many translators have that they are employees and must submit to every whim of their "employer".
Marc
| | | | | Well, a CAT tool can be handy after all | Mar 16, 2005 |
My remark was addressed at the poster, who stated that he works mainly in the marketing and publishing sector {...}
I find it highly improbable that jobs for marketing etc. would really require the use of any CAT.
{...} So my advice to the poster was, go ahead and wait, if you really need it, which I doubt in this case.
I translate for the Advertising and Marketing Departments of two computer monthlies in Poland. What I have to translate are rate cards, topic schedules for several months ahead, then there are detailed materials pertaining to one or several topics. Believe me, these texts are repetitive to such an extent that I do use a CAT (SDLX) although these publishers do not ask me to use one, because I get a clear leverage from earlier translations.
So my advice to the original poster is to ask for and have a look at examples of texts that the agency would like to have translated and then decide, if buying Trados is warranted or not.
As for whether Trados is a necessity, I can say that I do most of my translations in SDLX (whether the client asks for it or not), and I use Trados only when the client tells me that the job must be done in Trados.
Besides, one of my clients, a very good one, requires... Heartsome XLIFF Editor PE, a "new CAT on the block" so to say, so I went ahead and bought it, as it is well worth it.
My PLN 0.03 worth
Piotr
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