If you live in a diverse area or work in a field where you often work with people that speak different languages, you might need the help of translators. Professional translators can work on complicated projects and provide accurate translations in a timely manner. But translating isn’t easy work, and not just anyone can do it. Just because your coworker is bilingual doesn’t mean they have the skill and training needed to translate documents or webpages accurately.
If you regularly need translation work, you need to find a language service provider that can fulfill your needs. Don’t go for the first freelancer that offers Chinese translation services. While you have to consider your budget, you’re more likely to get high-quality results from a reputable translation agency. Choosing the right translation company for your needs is essential if you want consistent professional translations delivered on time, so do your research before making a decision. Here are some tips that will help you to select the best translation company for your needs.
1. Make sure they hire professional translators.
Of course, every agency will claim to have the best professional translators. But what is their process for vetting translators? What kind of education and certification requirements do they have? If you can’t find any information about a company’s translators, you can contact them to ask. Perhaps they will be willing to share the resumes or credentials of their translators. It’s perfectly reasonable to look into the qualifications of translators before hiring, so if a company doesn’t want to share any information about how they choose their translators and what they require, it might be a red flag.
2. Find out what they specialize in.
Translation work spans a wide range of industries, so you should look for a company that has worked on projects similar to your own. Some translation agencies might specialize in certain areas of translation. If you pick one that has experience in your field, you’ll get better results. You can reach out to colleagues and others for recommendations, or look at a few companies’ websites for testimonials and find out who they’ve worked with.
3. Consider the company’s translation and revision process.
If you want a high-quality translation, you should make sure that your translation agency has excellent quality assurance processes. Find out about how they translate. Do they use people or computer translation? While translation technology has greatly improved, it still might not use the right words or phrases to capture the meaning. Whether a company uses software or human translators for an initial translation, they should have a thorough revision process to ensure the quality of their translations. They should also be able to handle localized translation. For example, a translation may need to be more personalized if your audience is based in a specific country.
4. Check out reviews and ask for recommendations.
To ensure that you end up hiring a reliable professional translation agency for your project, you need to see what kind of experience other people have had with the company. You can start by looking at their testimonials on their website. But of course, a company is only going to put positive reviews on its website, so try to do a bit more research. See if they’re listed on a third-party website, where reviews might not be as biased. Contact one of the companies that have worked with them before to ask about their experience.
Of course, if possible, it would be even better to get a direct recommendation from someone you know and trust. This way you can ask any questions and get honest answers.
5. Make sure the company can complete your project on time and within budget.
One of the things you should look for in reviews is that the translation company you’re considering delivers on time, especially if you have a strict deadline. Of course, you have to be realistic. A translation project will take some time to complete, and a popular company may have a lot of projects lined up. Before you work with a company, ask them how much time your project will take to complete.
You might also want to compare prices. If you have a tight budget, it might be worth it to get a few bids from different companies and find one that fits your price range. Freelance translators also tend to have lower rates, but be cautious if you decide to go this route. While it might work out just fine, especially on a small project, make sure you choose a freelancer with a good reputation and credentials to back them up.
Choosing the best translation services to work with takes some time, but finding a company that can meet your needs and that you can rely on for future projects is worth it. Use these tips to find a translation company that can deliver the best results.