| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Poll: If you could improve one thing about translation as a career, what would it be? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "If you could improve one thing about translation as a career, what would it be?".
This poll was originally submitted by Anastasia Kalantzi. View the poll results »
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 14:30
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
I would actually pick several of the options if I could.
1) Rates are increasingly becoming a sad joke at the translators' expense.
2) Payment terms are becoming increasingly absurd, with 45-60 days being the norm. Imagine letting your plumber wait 60 days for his payment.
3) "More and better free CAT tools" is certainly hard to achieve, because the developers definitely also want to see some money for their trouble. It would be a start to get rid of all the completely useless ... See more I would actually pick several of the options if I could.
1) Rates are increasingly becoming a sad joke at the translators' expense.
2) Payment terms are becoming increasingly absurd, with 45-60 days being the norm. Imagine letting your plumber wait 60 days for his payment.
3) "More and better free CAT tools" is certainly hard to achieve, because the developers definitely also want to see some money for their trouble. It would be a start to get rid of all the completely useless CAT tools (XTM, Smartling, Google Translation Kit etc.) first. The market is saturated enough without tools that actually decrease our productivity.
4) Client feedback - yes, would be cool in general. I mean, I do not want to receive feedback on every single job I deliver, but it would certainly not hurt to get SOME feedback from time to time, and not only when there is anything to complain about.
5a) Other: Entitled, overly critical clients need to be educated on basic human decency (also, most end-clients' criticism usually ends up being unjustified).
5b) Other: End-clients and agencies need to be educated on absurd deadlines. You want 3k words translated within the next hour? Go ahead and use DeepL then. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Other (several) | May 25, 2022 |
Higher rates
More regular volume of work
No crappy online platforms
| | | | Ana Vozone 
Local time: 13:30
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Client feedback | May 25, 2022 |
Feedback from clients is, in my opinion, the best means to improve the quality of my work.
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| Acknowledgement | May 25, 2022 |
I think that if commercial translators were credited for their work like literary translators are, we could build a more visible reputation and command more money and more respect.
I wouldn't have to rely on word of mouth. Everybody could appreciate my genius, or lack of.
It would also make us more accountable and presumably raise standards.
| | | | John Silva
Brazil
Local time: 09:30
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Obviously, just having higher rates would be great, but regarding the points listed on this pool, every of them would be great to have an improvement, I don't dislike my carreer, but improvements are always welcome.
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I'd like the happy-end of the career )
It's often overlooked
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 14:30
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Teresa Borges wrote:
No crappy online platforms
I agree. Those platforms are never in the interest of the translator. The users are basically slaves to the conditions imposed by the platform owner and then there are some privacy issues: the platform owner can probably see exactly how long you have worked on certain sentences or texts or at least when you were logged on and when not. I suppose your every single move is registered. IMHO it's none of their business.
I avoid them.
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 13:30
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
1st: I would like to see some legal changes, at least in Portugal in legally recognised translation.
The common procedure in my country to certify a translation is by using the services of certification of a notary, solicitor or lawyer.
Here, translations are carried out by any professional translator, but after that they should be certified by the above persons with no linguistic capacity or translation skills most part of them.
In my opinion, this is ridiculous.
2nd: Ap... See more 1st: I would like to see some legal changes, at least in Portugal in legally recognised translation.
The common procedure in my country to certify a translation is by using the services of certification of a notary, solicitor or lawyer.
Here, translations are carried out by any professional translator, but after that they should be certified by the above persons with no linguistic capacity or translation skills most part of them.
In my opinion, this is ridiculous.
2nd: Apart from that, I believe there should be also an official or legal body to protect the rights of translators and set appropriate and fair rates. I'm not sure how much is being done by Translation Associations.
This would put an end to the rates imposed and set by some translations companies. We provide a service like anyone else, so we should be paid fairly and on time.
3rd: Simplify and/or unify the invoicing procedure/purchase orders management of translation companies. Some of them can be quite tedious and complex. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 14:30
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
| Invoice management | May 25, 2022 |
expressisverbis wrote:
3rd: Simplify and/or unify the invoicing procedure/purchase orders management of translation companies. Some of them can be quite tedious and complex.
I think this has a lot to do with different companies using different solutions. I am working with companies using platforms developed in-house, which are mostly pretty tedious and confusing. Other customers of mine are using XTRF or Plunet, which are pretty good platforms, but they are also handling invoicing quite differently. Also, none of my XTRF customers actually use the full invoicing functionality of XTRF, instead having their translators create an invoice entry on XTRF and then submit a manually created PDF as the actual invoice. It would definitely be a very useful first step if those companies could finally fully use what they have.
| | | | | Social Isolation | May 25, 2022 |
The price I pay for no commute, no boss and no schedule: no colleagues :/
Many of my friends here are those I made ... when I used to go to an office
I spend too much time in my home office, and have to make an effort to get out
Because my wife is out and about all the day, on weekends our goals are opposite: she wants to stay home, I want to get out ... anywhere!
Sigh, despite these drawabcks, I'll take it over a conventional office job, any d... See more The price I pay for no commute, no boss and no schedule: no colleagues :/
Many of my friends here are those I made ... when I used to go to an office
I spend too much time in my home office, and have to make an effort to get out
Because my wife is out and about all the day, on weekends our goals are opposite: she wants to stay home, I want to get out ... anywhere!
Sigh, despite these drawabcks, I'll take it over a conventional office job, any day ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:30
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| You don't get freedom for free | May 25, 2022 |
Not particularly surprised by this poll and the choices in it, but it strikes me as typically unrealistic, "give me lots of free stuff because I deserve it" freelancer fantasy.
The only thing that strikes me as even remotely sensible is clients providing feedback, and even then they are often too busy be able to provide that kind of detail. They're under pressure too, and if the translator is generally good enough, well, clients may not consider the investment in time to be worth it... See more Not particularly surprised by this poll and the choices in it, but it strikes me as typically unrealistic, "give me lots of free stuff because I deserve it" freelancer fantasy.
The only thing that strikes me as even remotely sensible is clients providing feedback, and even then they are often too busy be able to provide that kind of detail. They're under pressure too, and if the translator is generally good enough, well, clients may not consider the investment in time to be worth it.
Sure, I'd like higher rates, but then again back when I worked for big multinational companies I also wanted higher wages. Then, as now, it was mostly up to me: I found that if I worked better and smarter I would usually be paid more money. It boils down to how much you want something.
The difference is, of course, that I'm no longer an employee, so I get to do all the negotiations myself. If I succeed, I take all the credit (and the money), and if I fail, I cannot reasonably blame other people.
More training opportunities? What's stopping me or anybody else from doing that today? My local translator associations in the UK offer frequent meets and seminars, usually for a very reasonable cost and sometimes for free.
More and better free CAT tools? Who pays for the development of these things? If they are useful - maybe you don't find them useful, but I do - and they help you make money, then for goodness' sake pay the developers. The developers can't eat air: they require food like the rest of us. I can see an argument for students having access to free CAT tools, but not working adults.
Health insurance coverage? As noted above, you're not an employee. If you want employee benefits, go and work in an office 9-to-5 for a boss you may or may not like. Or pay for private health insurance yourself. TANSTAAFL.
On that point, and finally, I'm currently working 12 or 14 hours a day to meet peak seasonal and secular demand. Saying no to requests to take on more work is not as easy as you would think, but it is at least possible.
On the other hand, most of the staff at the agencies with which I work are putting similarly long hours, and they don't really have a choice, because they are in a weaker position vis-à-vis their employer. They have stability and certain other benefits, but they pay in other ways. Swings and roundabouts.
TANSTAAFL, as I said above. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
Dan ▲ Collapse
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 14:30
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| A combination | May 25, 2022 |
For me it would be a) higher rates, b) faster payment) and c) more end clients. Not necessarily in this order.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:30
Member (2008)
Italian to English
For me it would be a steady, uninterrupted but never overwhelming flow of interesting work, at my preferred rate, with prompt payment every time.
| | | | Sadek_A
Local time: 16:30
English to Arabic
+ ...
Dozens of things need to be improved, but none of which ever will until this industry is rid of all sophists who are keeping us all behind.
So, yeah, ridding of SOPHISTS is number one on the list.
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