The professional translation company is the focus of this article. While in the last post we discussed the criteria by which the professionalism of translators can be assessed, this time we will discuss the characteristics that distinguish professional translation companies from less professional ones.
The professional translation company
A professional translation company has clear procedures
From the perspective of a collaborating translator, professional companies are those that use a very well-defined working procedure – the mutual agreement will be clear from the very beginning and deadlines and payments will be strictly followed.
In short, we could say that a successful collaboration with a professional translation company means no unpleasant surprises and respect for the translator. At the end of the month, after assessing the situation, the company pays the invoice on time, without the translator having to insist on receiving their rights. In addition, during the course of the collaboration, the company can provide certain perks for better performance, such as travel allowances or similar benefits.
A professional translation company works with several translators
Also from the perspective of collaborators, it is important to know that a professional translation company will not exaggerate the number of pages delivered to a single translator, especially if deadlines are short.
Given that the normal working norm is of 6 pages per day – a maximum of 10 pages in urgent cases – the company can estimate that a capable translator will only be able to take on 50 pages from Monday to Friday, as they will also have time for their self-revision. As an exception, there are translators with a higher workload capacity or who wish to work more intensively at certain times, but as a rule – a serious company will not hand over 100 pages of work to a single translator overnight.
A professional translation company estimates time and price correctly
From the client’s perspective, professional translation companies are the ones that carefully evaluate the document before pricing the work.
Haste in this situation can lead to subsequent price revisions, which the client may find suspicious and unfair. Ideally, translation companies estimate the number of pages per character from the very beggining, then they evaluate the difficulty of the text and of the domain, and then they also assess the degree of specialisation needed from the translators. Thus, the price of the work varies according to all these factors and it is not a fixed amount, set for documents of any type.
A professional translation company works efficiently
The best companies work only with competent and reliable translators who have proven their professionalism every time and who do not delay deadlines.
Moreover, they don’t leave their customers in a long wait for replies to emails and they are always available by phone. Even if they can’t honour a request, if they have enough experience in the translation market, they will at least be able to offer recommendations.
A professional translation company has experience
A final detail that says a lot about the quality of a company is related to its ability to anticipate the additional needs of clients – a trait gained only through experience.
For example, when translating a document from English into Romanian, the Romanian translation will have up to 20% more pages (Romanian is more comprehensive). Depending on the length of the text, the price of the translation can suddenly go up if the situation remains unforeseen, and the client is not warned in advance.
A professional translation company has a portfolio of clients
Finally, if you want to know whether you are dealing with a professional company, don’t neglect its client portfolio, its presentation and the way it communicates.
Companies that keep their ads, social media presence and website up to date tend to be the most active. As a rule, successful firms are the ones that will take pride in this, displaying a testimonial section or a portfolio of clients on their website.
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If all these criteria are met, it would be hard to believe that a mediocre firm or just an amateur would be hiding behind an image in which significant resources have been invested.