In a globalizing world, you’ll need to connect with people from other countries if you want to succeed. With over 6,500 languages in the world, this can be a challenge if you only speak English. This means that you might want to hire a translation service.
So how should you go about hiring the ideal translator? This article tells you everything you need to know.
Determine Your Needs
The first step of hiring a certified translation service is determining your needs. Translating for a face-to-face meeting is very different from translating text. You need to figure out precisely what you need from a translator before you start looking.
In some cases, it might make sense to hire a freelance translator to work remotely, but obviously, that won’t work out if you need face-to-face translation.
Before you contact anyone, take the time to sit down with major stakeholders and establish precisely what types of translation services would be acceptable for your project.
Determine the Translators Qualifications
Once you find a suitable translator, you’ll need to know what credentials they have. Skill levels among translators can vary significantly. The nature of translation means that it can be hard to verify how good of a job a translator is actually doing.
In most countries, translators can be officially certified. In the US, translators are accredited by the American Translators Association. Make sure you ask to see any relevant credentials to ensure the translators are competent.
Verify Their Credentials
It would help to verify that the translator’s credentials are genuine. One way of doing this is to approach the body that supposedly gave the certification. They should have no problem verifying a translator is officially certified.
You can also try reading online reviews to see if other companies have had successful experiences with a translator. You could also ask if the translator has any references. Any good translator should have a long list of happy clients.
For an example of a reliable translation service, you can see here.
Know the Typical Rate for Your Project
The world of translation is quite complicated, with lots of different rates depending on the project. For example, face-to-face translation is generally much more expensive than translating text. With that said, the rates for translation can also change based on the language you want to translate.
If you’re working with a commonly spoken language like Spanish, it should be relatively easy to find a translator. On the other hand, if you want to translate something more obscure such as Maltese, you may need to pay more.
You should be comparing translator fees before meeting with a translator to make sure you know roughly how much you can expect to pay.
Negotiate the Fee
Finally, you’ll need to negotiate your fee with the translation company. In some situations, it might make sense to pay the translator by the hour. In other cases, you might choose to pay based on work delivered.
Now You Know How to Hire a Translation Service
So now you know more about how to hire a translation service. When working with translators, it pays off to do your research to make sure you find the right candidate for the job. Once you find a great translator for your needs, you can work with them on future projects as well.
If you want to learn more about other business-related topics, check out the rest of our blog posts.
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