Assessing translators: the other side of the curtain.

[versailles]

I do translator assessment sometimes. Often for people who want to hire (presumably) cheap translators and who want to check what these are worth trough tests (probably unpaid).

Don't give me that look, I'm not recruiting them and I'm not asking them for unpaid tests. I'm just assessing translations that I'm given.

I assume that they are cheap because very often they produce only cr***y results. Sometimes it is absolutely obvious that they are not native speakers of French. Apparently some people bid on jobs requiring translation into a language foreign to them. A penny is a penny I guess.

I assume that they do free tests because clients who hire these cheap people certainly don't like to invest too much.

The bottom line is that this is something that provides some interesting insight into what goes behind the curtains of the translation business on Upwork 🙂

Anybody with similar experience?

[lysis10]

When i was managing udemy's writers, I never knew so many writers didn't understand the concept of plagiarism. lol I was amazed at how many writers thought taking sentencesa and whole paragraphs and replacing a few words is "writing." LOL

And then they were shocked that I didn't care if it passed copyscape. The lulz never fail at this place.

[corati]

Well, I don't have this kind of experience but sometimes out of curiosity (or maybe to boost my self-esteem) I'm taking a look at French translators' portfolios and I'm having a good laugh... like, 85% of the time (approximately)

[tlbp]

Whenever I bid on editing someone else's writing I charge the same fee as I would for original writing. The work takes just as long for many of the pieces because they are a poor translation or just poorly written. 

[colettelewis]

@ René

I've had this with one client. Cheap and I got crap feedback for my pains. The client wanted me to "proofread" a French to English translation, which was so bad, I had to correct the French too, which is something I very, very rarely do. It took me far longer than I estimated - all for $16.00 if I recall correctly. Proofreading - huh!

[dalahast]

It's difficult to know what to charge for those proofreading jobs if you can't look at a sample of the text ahead of time. Sometimes it's already in decent shape and just needs a little touching up. Other times, the client basically wants you to do the entire job over again for a lower price because someone else already did it badly.

[prestonhunter]

re: "It's difficult to know what to charge for those proofreading jobs if you can't look at a sample of the text ahead of time."

My suggestion: Agree only to hourly contracts if you can't see the actual input files ahead of time. That's what I do.

I can provide an estimate of how many HOURS I will work if a client gives me an IDEA of what I'll be dealing with.

I can only provide an actual FIXED-PRICE quote if the client sends me the input files before a specific dollar amount is specified and before the contract begins.

[colettelewis]

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@Cory K wrote:

It's difficult to know what to charge for those proofreading jobs if you can't look at a sample of the text ahead of time. Sometimes it's already in decent shape and just needs a little touching up. Other times, the client basically wants you to do the entire job over again for a lower price because someone else already did it badly.

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 An editor  or proofreader is not responsible for mistakes the client has made with previous editors and proofreaders. You should charge professional rates regardless of the sob story that accompanies the offer.  You simply state what your hourly rate is (based on what you charge per word) and a per-word rate. If a client does not give me a clear idea of the work involved, I always say, I would need to see the work or part of it to give  an accurate quote.