Advantages of working with a translation agency
There’s no denying that translation agencies can be useful. From a client’s point of view, they’re convenient. Especially if you require many languages. If you need a document translated into ten different languages, you don’t need to find ten translators – the agency will do that for you. Nor do you need to know about the translation process – just send the text you need translating to an agency and again they’ll do everything for you. From a translator’s point of view, it’s easy to get regular work from agencies. This means you can earn a stable income without having to spend a lot of time marketing your services.
However, these advantages have led to large agencies dominating the translation industry, and like everything, translation agencies also have their disadvantages.
Disadvantages of working with a translation agency
For clients, there’s often a lack of personalised care. Unless your business is regarded as important enough, your projects will often be managed by different project managers and translators. It’s therefore difficult for them to know about any specific terminology or requirements your company might have.
For translators, agencies often offer low rates and set unrealistic deadlines. Working with an agency often means you’re unable to approach the end client directly with any queries you might have about a project. Therefore, you’ll have to relay these queries through the project manager. Likewise, any queries the end client has about your work will often be passed straight on to you without any clarification having seen sought. Therefore, the scope for miscommunication is great.
Why some translation agencies have a bad reputation
There are several reasons why large, low paying and unprofessional agencies are able to dominate the translation industry:
– Many translators are willing to accept low rates offered by such agencies to have a secure income
– Many agencies don’t invest in training their project managers. This lack of training means that they’ll often agree to unrealistic deadlines just to please the client and their employer. Nor do they know the appropriate questions to ask their client to meet that client’s needs
Solutions
If you’re buying translation services for the first time you need to do some research. Will the requirements of your project be best met by choosing a translation agency or an individual translator? If you decide to work with an agency there are many reliable, professional ones to choose from. Get recommendations and check LinkedIn or Twitter to get an idea of how individual agencies work. If the text you require translated is highly specialised, consider looking for an agency specialising in that field. Many of the translators they work with will have professional experience in that area.
If you’re a translator, you should also get recommendations from colleagues and form an impression of how an agency works before agreeing to work with them. Research the rates typically being charged for your language combination and specialisation. Above all, stick to your principles if you think an agency is trying to underpay you or set too tight a deadline.
Translation agencies can be of great benefit to both clients and translators. However, you need to do your research before choosing one which best meets your needs.
