Page 55 - Translation Journal July 2015
P. 55
Dear Fire Ant & Worker Bee,
I am the only in-house translator at a reputable telecoms company in my region.
My company sometimes outsources translations for faster turnaround and to reduce my workload, as different departments tend to
send a lot of urgent requests. However, some of the translations are sent to PR and marketing agencies whose staff members are not
necessarily translators, just bilinguals. I would like to know your thoughts on that. The same department often sends out translation
requests to different vendors, which introduces terminological and stylistic inconsistencies in some of their publications.
Also, I have been given the opportunity to test and select translators and translation agencies that I find good. However, even when the
agencies I selected have produced good sample translations, when following up with the departments whom I recommended them to,
I find that some of them were not happy or satisfied with the quality. How can I overcome this in the future and how can I better select
candidates?
In-house Translator
A:
Dear In-house,
Coming from one of the (sadly) vanishing in-house breed, your comments should be of particular interest to readers, and we appreciate
this opportunity to respond.
First, we’d be very interested to read your job description, since it sounds like your employer is relying on you for a range of skills—
which is a plus, since you clearly take your job very seriously. Call us naïve, but we also see attractive scope for career development if
you play your cards right.
Concerning marketing texts, we have observed—again and again—that no one can really judge the impact and effectiveness of
language solutions except an expert native speaker. That applies “even” (dare we say especially?) to English, which many, many non-
native speakers claim to speak fluently. Having said that, we reckon your PR agency’s team need not necessarily be translators—
assuming they can deliver the goods, as judged by demanding native speakers working in your industry.
But terminological inconsistency is something else. If you are the sole in-house language expert, this comes under your purview. In
concrete terms, you should take the initiative to create and manage a database of industry- and company-specific terminology for all of
your suppliers.
Suggest to your boss that you bring in a qualified terminologist to help with this; you might make it a budget issue and emphasize the
savings that will be achieved in as little as six months. And be sure to use development of this database as an opportunity to establish
closer ties with the departments involved; if you are the sole in-house translation expert and they are not taking your advice, you need
to raise your profile.
How to do that? Well, first, you go out and talk to them. Dress the part (yes, wear a business suit like other executives), prepare an
agenda, set up the meetings, and—above all—make a point of listening to their concerns. Then keep your antennae out for solutions
to specific language points they’ve raised and get back to them with some options. Demonstrating personal attention and targeted
expertise is the best way to establish your credibility as the Corporate Word Guy. No offense, but right now they may be viewing you as
the nerd in the translation cupboard, which is not good.
Similarly, while it’s great that you’ve been asked to vet and shortlist translation suppliers, if these same departments are not satisfied
with the work they’re getting, something is seriously wrong. Again, your first priority must be to reach out to named contacts in these
departments.
What’s the problem? Ask them. And then listen.
Were the texts they received from your recommended supplier poorly translated? Not to be cynical, but human nature and the market
economy are what they are: we’ve seen many cases where vendors give a test piece/first job their best shot, only to lower standards
once the bird is in the bag. One solution here is to tell vendors their name will appear next to the texts they provide; this can shame the
slackers into pulling up their socks.
But there could be other issues: perhaps the vendors you recommended are not as available as they might be, or are not sensitive
enough to turnaround times. Their social skills may be lacking. Note that we are big believers in buyers being in direct contact with the
translators who produce their texts—whether or not an intermediary is involved—and you might want to investigate this option.
In any case, bringing these and other issues out into the open is absolutely essential, since this will allow you to consolidate your
position as the quality-oriented staff member who’s willing and able to make translation services part of your company’s success. You
might also consult our reply to a similar query here.
We wish you the best of luck and do hope you’ll report back!
Q:
Dear Fire Ant & Worker Bee,
We’re in a crisis and budgets are tight. Should I reduce my rates? I have the feeling that everybody but me has got work.
Worried
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 55
I am the only in-house translator at a reputable telecoms company in my region.
My company sometimes outsources translations for faster turnaround and to reduce my workload, as different departments tend to
send a lot of urgent requests. However, some of the translations are sent to PR and marketing agencies whose staff members are not
necessarily translators, just bilinguals. I would like to know your thoughts on that. The same department often sends out translation
requests to different vendors, which introduces terminological and stylistic inconsistencies in some of their publications.
Also, I have been given the opportunity to test and select translators and translation agencies that I find good. However, even when the
agencies I selected have produced good sample translations, when following up with the departments whom I recommended them to,
I find that some of them were not happy or satisfied with the quality. How can I overcome this in the future and how can I better select
candidates?
In-house Translator
A:
Dear In-house,
Coming from one of the (sadly) vanishing in-house breed, your comments should be of particular interest to readers, and we appreciate
this opportunity to respond.
First, we’d be very interested to read your job description, since it sounds like your employer is relying on you for a range of skills—
which is a plus, since you clearly take your job very seriously. Call us naïve, but we also see attractive scope for career development if
you play your cards right.
Concerning marketing texts, we have observed—again and again—that no one can really judge the impact and effectiveness of
language solutions except an expert native speaker. That applies “even” (dare we say especially?) to English, which many, many non-
native speakers claim to speak fluently. Having said that, we reckon your PR agency’s team need not necessarily be translators—
assuming they can deliver the goods, as judged by demanding native speakers working in your industry.
But terminological inconsistency is something else. If you are the sole in-house language expert, this comes under your purview. In
concrete terms, you should take the initiative to create and manage a database of industry- and company-specific terminology for all of
your suppliers.
Suggest to your boss that you bring in a qualified terminologist to help with this; you might make it a budget issue and emphasize the
savings that will be achieved in as little as six months. And be sure to use development of this database as an opportunity to establish
closer ties with the departments involved; if you are the sole in-house translation expert and they are not taking your advice, you need
to raise your profile.
How to do that? Well, first, you go out and talk to them. Dress the part (yes, wear a business suit like other executives), prepare an
agenda, set up the meetings, and—above all—make a point of listening to their concerns. Then keep your antennae out for solutions
to specific language points they’ve raised and get back to them with some options. Demonstrating personal attention and targeted
expertise is the best way to establish your credibility as the Corporate Word Guy. No offense, but right now they may be viewing you as
the nerd in the translation cupboard, which is not good.
Similarly, while it’s great that you’ve been asked to vet and shortlist translation suppliers, if these same departments are not satisfied
with the work they’re getting, something is seriously wrong. Again, your first priority must be to reach out to named contacts in these
departments.
What’s the problem? Ask them. And then listen.
Were the texts they received from your recommended supplier poorly translated? Not to be cynical, but human nature and the market
economy are what they are: we’ve seen many cases where vendors give a test piece/first job their best shot, only to lower standards
once the bird is in the bag. One solution here is to tell vendors their name will appear next to the texts they provide; this can shame the
slackers into pulling up their socks.
But there could be other issues: perhaps the vendors you recommended are not as available as they might be, or are not sensitive
enough to turnaround times. Their social skills may be lacking. Note that we are big believers in buyers being in direct contact with the
translators who produce their texts—whether or not an intermediary is involved—and you might want to investigate this option.
In any case, bringing these and other issues out into the open is absolutely essential, since this will allow you to consolidate your
position as the quality-oriented staff member who’s willing and able to make translation services part of your company’s success. You
might also consult our reply to a similar query here.
We wish you the best of luck and do hope you’ll report back!
Q:
Dear Fire Ant & Worker Bee,
We’re in a crisis and budgets are tight. Should I reduce my rates? I have the feeling that everybody but me has got work.
Worried
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 55
