Tips for Translators

1. Do not accept a project which you know is not within your abilities 

It is perfectly professional to turn down jobs translating highly technical product specifications or lengthy legalese if you have no experience in those fields.

2. Do not accept jobs with impossible deadlines.

Dare to negotiate! You can take measures (such as charging higher rates) to discourage or compensate for jobs with extremely tight deadlines.

3. Do not hesitate to ask questions.

When asked, agencies may be able to provide you with past translations or other documentation to use as reference material.

4. Do not accept a job without seeing the text first.

What someone might describe to you as a business text may turn out to be medical. You will be called for Dutch translations and actually received text in Danish. Someone might say the text is 1500 words, but then you find it is 1500 words of difficult to read handwriting – nightmare! It’s always best to see the text before committing to it.

5. Do not accept work without knowing who your client is.

Check out the person or company who is offering you work. Get full contact details, not just an email address. Get a purchase order in writing before you begin work on a project.

6. Do not proceed with the job until you have agreed on the rate.

No one likes surprises when it comes to the bill, so make sure you and your client are clear when it comes to the cost. You may charge different fees for different projects or you might have a couple of different fees for the same project (a per word rate for translation plus an hourly charge for formatting, for example).

7. Think about what you write in an email before sending it off to a mailing list.

You never know who is reading your posts – your messages could quite possibly end up in the hands of your (agency) client, for example, so always be professional. If you’re upset about something, write the email but be careful not to send it: wait until the next day and see if you still feel as strongly.

8. Do not sell yourself short.

Emphasize the experience you do have, don’t focus on what you don’t know. Don’t undersell yourself either – charge what you feel you are worth. Rates vary for different countries, language combinations and types of translation, so take all these factors into account when determining a fair market price for your services.

9. Keep all business records and correspondence for at least 12 months.

In fact, it is recommended to keep them for at least three years. This includes every email sent to and received from your clients, every fax, invoice, contract, purchase order, translation file and any other correspondence.

10. Read every clause very carefully before you sign a contract.

For more information, please visit: http://www.tipsfortranslators.com/tips.asp

Tags: 翻译教育

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