| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Agencies - how to spot good and bad ones ???? Thread poster: andrealuthe
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| Some good observations, Samuel | Dec 30, 2008 |
This thread could be titled Beyond the Blue Board.
Samuel Murray wrote:
I think we need to define what we mean by "a good agency". Is a good agency one that pays on time? One that pays good money? One that tries to make life easy for its translators? Sure, it may be nice to have all of the above, but you must decide what is important to you. I'd rather have an agency that takes care to write clear, brief instructions but takes a little longer to pay than an agency that pays quickly but expects me to plow through screens and screens of poorly written instructions, for example.
I'd say a good agency is one that - were it not the risk of one day being suddenly out of work - a competent translator wouldn't mind having as their one and only client for an extended period of time.
Samuel Murray wrote:
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
2. A good agency will ask you what your rates are.
I do not regard it as a sign of a bad agency if the agency says "we want X done and we can pay Y, are you interested?". In fact, I prefer that agencies give an indication of their preferred rates -- it tells me in what league they are.
I was talking about signs, not facts. A good agency will start asking how much translators (not you alone) charge, not bluntly imposing their rates. This means they keep an ear tuned to the market.
Let's assume that the market average for a certain type of job, in cents/word is 10. A translator asking for 18 would be either overqualified for their needs, or insane. A translator asking for 5 might be underqualified, underexperienced, or have low self-esteem. Translators asking in the 8-12 range should be open to negotiation.
After this screening process is through, negotiation can take place, taking into account urgency, payment terms, special requirements etc.
Samuel Murray wrote:
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
3. A good agency will ask you how you want to get paid, and, if that's impossible for them for any reason, they'll work with you on alternatives.
Again, if an agency prefers to pay all of its translators in the same way, it is not necessarily a sign of a bad agency. In fact, it can be said that an agency whose payment procedures are customised for each translator may be more likely to slip up in the accounts department. I'd rather work with an agency whose accounting system runs smoothly, even if I have to make special arrangements, than an agency that offers to accept my payment procedures and then experience hiccups with it.
Some payment methods simply don't work for some countries.
To illustrate, precisely today, six months after I've delivered four jobs to a very highly regarded and huge agency, a non-translating friend living overseas, who had to deposit their checks to his personal bank account, is finally transfering their payment to my PayPal account. The point here is that they obdurately cling to 20th century-ish check-or-wire-only payment methods. In a nutshell, in spite of being part of a giant, globally omnipresent corporation, at policy-making level they couldn't care less about getting their translators paid.
Some agencies will only begin to get set up on the payment system you've mutually agreed to after your invoice is due. Then they'll find out that their bank doesn't work with it, that other possible methods are too expensive, and the whole process will take longer than the translation itself.
Samuel Murray wrote:
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
6. A good agency will give you clear instructions and a PO.
I'd say that clear instructions and a professional-looking PO are certainly the marks of the ideal agency, but translators also have a responsibility to ensure clarity.
Not necessarily. I've received POs on very complex, all-color, macro-ridden Excel spreadsheets that gave little information on what I was expected to do with each of the files. Lots of waivers, caveats, warnings, and other legal stuff; little about that specific job itself. Lots of time wasted in Q&A, slow response from them. On the other end of the scale, I've received very accurate, detailed, non-redundant, and non-controversial instructions on one plain text e-mail.
A key point is not to get overwhelmed with the impressive web site an agency has. Its looks and size have no correlation with the agency being good. Clip art can help an e-illusionist a long way. Of course, if it's poorly written, or if the page they dared to display in your (not their) local language uses despicable translation, it's a sign of the work quality they expect from you. If you can notice it's appallingly bad, it's a sign that you are a better translator than they expect... unless they are hiring you to re-translate that very page.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 23:44
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| The proof of the pudding is in the eating | Dec 30, 2008 |
The proof of a good agency is in the paying.
As long as you have not worked for them and not issued an invoice you cannot tell. When I started out as freelance I got contacted through the phone by two women. Both had interesting work and would pay the same rate. The first never paid a cent and proved to be a very known non-payer, who rips off newcomers. The other one paid late, but provided steady flow and sometimes saved me when nothing else would come up. She is my oldest customer... See more The proof of a good agency is in the paying.
As long as you have not worked for them and not issued an invoice you cannot tell. When I started out as freelance I got contacted through the phone by two women. Both had interesting work and would pay the same rate. The first never paid a cent and proved to be a very known non-payer, who rips off newcomers. The other one paid late, but provided steady flow and sometimes saved me when nothing else would come up. She is my oldest customer and this year provided half of my income. But she has no record on Blueboard!
Regards
Heinrich ▲ Collapse
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