What is the best way to choose a suitable translation agency?
Question
What is the best way to choose a suitable translation agency?
(This question was asked at the ‘Don’t get lost in translation’ webinar on March 11th 2016.)
Answer
Hi Thomas
There’s some advice on this drawing on our own 26 years’ experience at
https://www.lifelinelanguageservices.co.uk/faq-info/language-provider/
and there’s more food for thought on our FAQ page at https://www.lifelinelanguageservices.co.uk/faq-info/faq/
Hopefully those may at least help you avoid the worst potholes, it can be a tricky road. Feel free to give me a shout if you’d like to chat over 🙂
Also hope you’re not too drowned in responses, there’s a lot of providers out there desperate for your business.
Best wishes for your project, really hope it goes well for you!
Cheers
Mark
Answer
Another way to find a suitable translation agency is to consult the list of corporate members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, http://www.iti.org.uk/component/itisearch/?view=corporates.
Similar lists of individual translators and interpreters are also available for searches.
Hope this helps!
Answer
Sadly, membership of an institute is like overseas agencies who have “certified” translators…all you get is someone who is a member and it does NOT guarantee quality !
I would suggest the best way to find a quality translation partner, whether freelance or agency, is either to find a business colleague who has successfully used one for a good while…or simply by CAREFUL trial and error. Maybe best to get a sample translation done by some of them and have THAT checked by a third party. Beware, some agencies are clever and have their “sample jobs” done by their best people…and after you choose them for the real job, they may farm the actual work out to someone, shall we say, cheaper!