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Is there a list of companies that ask for a test translation and never contact back the translator?
Thread poster: Didi18
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:50
French to English
. Nov 19, 2020

[/quote]
Sadek_A wrote:

Kay Denney wrote:
The spell check criterion was a surprisingly accurate indicator of quality, I suppose it meant that the translator was thorough and careful.

No, in today's world, it means MS-WORD is thorough and careful.


You weren't reading me carefully enough. When applying the "spell check criterion", I wasn't running the spell check to see if they'd spelt everything correctly. I was checking whether they had run the spell check just before delivery. Many translators will run the spell check, then make further corrections, and inadvertently introduce a new mistake. If, while assessing the translation, I run the spell check and immediately get the message that there are no mistakes, that didn't happen.

Sadek_A wrote:
Kay Denney wrote:
I don't think that a translator would be happy to learn that his translation had been rejected within half a minute, so feedback was not normally provided.

No offence, but could the "half minute" thing be linked to the age of the proofreader/grader? The proofreader/grader might, perhaps, be feeling so full of themselves (not necessarily you!); impatient (again, not necessarily you!); or even just tired (this one could very well be you, as per your "I could be sent 20 tests to be assessed by the end of the week, and it was on top of my usual output.")?
Also, I can't imagine you accepting to be proofread/graded by someone else in just half a minute! Or, would you be accepting?


If I'm told by an agency that my test was not up to scratch, I'll shrug and move on. I won't ask them how long they took to make their decision. After all, my translation could be perfect in terms of grammar and including information, but they might not like my style. That's OK, I know I can't please everyone, especially when there's so much subjectivity in the translations I produce (mainly in the arts and tourism).
If you don't like the way I assess your translation, there's a good chance you might not like other things about me, in which case my not selecting you means we'll both have dodged a bullet.

Sadek_A wrote:

Kay Denney wrote:
I may have weeded out excellent translators with this method, but there were always enough excellent translators that got through to the detailed analysis stage, so tough.

Did you mean to say "tough luck" for the weeded-out excellent translators? Okay, if the same makes you feel good, I'm happy for you, but this is NOT how I treat the translators I'm grading. They went through the hassle, and they definitely deserve my unbiased, undivided attention!


Yes, I'm saying tough luck to the excellent translator... that nevertheless managed not to do a final spell check, who misunderstood the trick bit and who mistranslated a random technical term.
The rest of the translation may have been perfect, but three mistakes in a 250-word test is a bit much, don't you think?

Sadek_A wrote:
Kay Denney wrote:
The agency's job is not to explain mistakes or train translators who claim to be professional, it's to select a person they can work with to mutual benefit.

You're not an agency, are you? That's rhetorical, I don't need an answer! It's the (successful) agency's best interest to invest in the people they come across. Part of that investment is a kind(er) treatment. But, perhaps, this is just my mentality, and it's different with you, I respect that.


No, as you can see from my profile, I'm not an agency. As you can see from my post if you go back and read it more carefully, I was talking about when I worked in-house. That happened to be in an agency, although it doesn't actually matter where I was working. I specified that just to show the conditions in which I was working, since that did affect how I went about doing the work.

Sadek_A wrote:
Kay Denney wrote:
We also took into account whether the translator was polite and pleasant, because nobody wants to work with a jerk,

Sure. But, can a company that's NOT polite nor pleasant really score HR that are polite and pleasant? It's a 2-way street, give to get!


I and my colleagues were always polite and pleasant with the freelance translators we hired. I couldn't count the number of times I was told "OK, look I can't really, but since it's you, I'll make an effort". I would defend them to the boss, and prevent him from screwing them over.


Sadek_A wrote:
Kay Denney wrote:
Please don't be that translator!

Is this directed at me? I don't know you, and I'm sure I've never contacted, nor will I be contacting, you for a job! I can't help but see this particular statement as a poor taste. It should've been something like "Please, test-takers, don't be that translator!". Two words, yes, but they changed the whole meaning!
Have a good one, nonetheless (or, nevertheless)!


It's not about you!


Zibow Retailleau
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Christine Andersen
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:50
French to English
. Nov 19, 2020

Robert Rietvelt wrote:



...... The next day I received a 3-page missive detailing why our version was wrong and his was right. Sorry mate, I don't have time to argue further, ......

Please don't be that translator!
[/quote]

..... did he had a point?

For starters, nothing personal meant (I am not talking about you), but didn't we all have the experience that the proofreader demonstrable "raped" your translation, simply because he/she wasn't qualified enough to correct your work? Agency believes incapable proofreader and you loose a potential client/job.

In those cases I could be that translator!

[/quote]

No he didn't have a point. The first point in his 3-pager was arguing in favour of a term that got 3 hits on Google as opposed to another that got trillions (in the right context). He was telling me that the US firm that was sending us the work didn't speak English properly!
But even if he did have a point, he lectured me for three whole pages. I can't work with someone who'll waste that much of his and my time instead of being a graceful loser. Suppose I were to plough through those three pages and then say, OK, you've convinced me, please do the job, only for the client to start complaining that he wasn't using the terms they've always used? Would you like to be the go-between for an angry client and a translator who won't budge or compromise? I was not trying to find the best translator ever, I was trying to find the best translator for that client, and for me. Someone who would be able to put up with our client's idiosyncracies, comply with their termino, seek compromise when necessary and basically make my life easier by meeting deadlines and not causing me any hassle. If he disputes everything the client says, I won't be able to get any other work done.
The fact is that there always will be a good enough translator who doesn't cause hassle.


Mervyn Henderson (X)
Zibow Retailleau
Christine Andersen
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Er, actually... Nov 19, 2020

Sadek_A wrote:
I can't imagine any company paying by the hour to have tests graded, given the grader is dealing with an unchangeable, short piece of source text with all its ins and outs under control and almost memorized. The practice is a fixed amount per test, nowhere near a quarter-hour pay anyway. Hence, relevant costs are really low, especially when the hire is enthusiastic and unwary, rate-wise.


I just checked. They actually paid me an hour for every single one. You need to get some better clients or work on your negotiating skills, Sadek!!

As Kay points out, I could of course tell almost instantly whether they were any good or not. But a minimum charge is a minimum charge!

In the real world, forgetting to run the spellcheck is a far lesser crime than constantly misunderstanding the source and using the wrong terms, but in a test translation? Unbelievable!

The strange thing is that these were clearly trained/seasoned translators and the test piece wasn't even hard, yet they still made loads of mistakes.

It was quite depressing, and I haven't done it since.

PS My feedback to the agency was generally along the lines of: "Total moron!" "Do not touch with a bargepole!" "Do you really want to get sued?" "I'd rather eat my own arm than check this translator's work!"

So I suppose there was a good chance they didn't pass on my feedback.

[Edited at 2020-11-19 09:44 GMT]


Mervyn Henderson (X)
Zibow Retailleau
expressisverbis
Kay Denney
Adieu
 
Sadek_A
Sadek_A  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:50
English to Arabic
+ ...
..... Nov 19, 2020

KAY

Regarding your spell-check routine: here is what I don't understand, will the grader immediately reading through the test not prove successful in evaluating the spelling anyway, simultaneously with a manifold of other factors?
Also, what about mistakes in order, meaning, etc., whose spelling is 100% correct?
Kay Denney wrote:
The rest of the translation may have been perfect, but three mistakes in a 250-word test is a bit much, don't you think?

Call me utopian; but, I think such a translator needs the grader's help, in the form of a well-deserved feedback, so they can further perfect their product. After all, 3 are not 30!
BTW, working in an agency is NOT the same as being an agency!


CHRIS

Chris S wrote:
You need to get some better clients or work on your negotiating skills, Sadek!!

Good for you, Chris!
And, that's coming from the guy who just almost lamented earlier by saying
Chris S wrote:
If only they (as in better clients) grew on trees!

to the guy who was actually preaching the advice of finding better clients
What can we do without you, Chris?
But, joking aside, why are you under the impression that the quarter-hour pay I got was lower than the 1-hour pay you got? Have you entertained the possibility that, perhaps, I charge a high hour-pay?
Chris S wrote:
PS My feedback to the agency was generally along the lines of: "Total moron!" "Do not touch with a bargepole!" "Do you really want to get sued?" "I'd rather eat my own arm than check this translator's work!"

What kind of a company accepted this kind of feedback from you again? They seem fun!

Anyway, I can see that some people in this thread think candidates don't deserve a proper chance, while other people think they do; I guess we will have to respect both streams and just try not to cross paths!


 
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Is there a list of companies that ask for a test translation and never contact back the translator?







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