Types of Translation Agencies Thread poster: Vlad Kotenko
|
|---|
Vlad Kotenko
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:07
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
I am trying to get established in the translation business and have learned of two types of translations agencies so far (I do not know of any other type besides these two):
1) Agencies in which a manager contacts a particular translator with a job and waits for the translator’s confirmation of his availability for the job. (This type of agencies may be the most common.)
2) Agencies which send a job notification to all the translators registered in their databases. Th... See more I am trying to get established in the translation business and have learned of two types of translations agencies so far (I do not know of any other type besides these two):
1) Agencies in which a manager contacts a particular translator with a job and waits for the translator’s confirmation of his availability for the job. (This type of agencies may be the most common.)
2) Agencies which send a job notification to all the translators registered in their databases. The translator who responds to the notification ahead of everyone else is the one who gets the job.
By what name is each of the above agencies called? By what terms are the two different types distinguished from each other?
I need this in order to be able to search for and find more agencies of the second type on the Internet. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Phrase9 
South Africa
Arabic to English
The second type are usually larger translation agencies who have their own translation management platform.
Three such agencies that have such platforms that come to mind are getblend.com/onehourtranslation.com , gengo.com/lionbridge.com , motaword.com
| | | | | Type 2: Brokers, or simplier ... | Oct 16, 2021 |
... dispatchers, although I have to admit, that even taxi dispatchers here in Kiel know better the position of their taxi drivers and what route they currently are heading for than many PMs, who try to assign you tasks you are not comfortable with, just because you are cheap(er) or available.
[Bearbeitet am 2021-10-16 21:04 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 02:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Vlad Kotenko wrote:
I am trying to get established in the translation business and have learned of two types of translations agencies so far (I do not know of any other type besides these two)...
There are many ways to classify translation agencies. And it's not always black and white.
Even agencies that do not use a portal with notification system can sometimes send a job to multiple people, and the first one who responds (or the first one who responds with the right rate) gets the job. Other agencies do use portals with notifications, but they send the job first to their preferred translator, and then, if he doesn't respond within a certain time frame (which can be 10 minutes or 3 hours, depending on the agency), they cancel the job in their system and re-post it to their second choice, or to all their translators as a group, etc.
You can also classify agencies by how much contact you have with real humans. With some of my agencies that use portals in which most things are automated, I still get regular human contact with the human PM that handles a particular job. In others, there is almost no human contact (unless you initiate it) except perhaps with the agency's accountant.
1) Agencies in which a manager contacts a particular translator with a job and waits for the translator’s confirmation of his availability for the job.
2) Agencies which send a job notification to all the translators registered in their databases. The translator who responds to the notification ahead of everyone else is the one who gets the job.
This is one valid way of classifying agencies, but only one way. It would be a mistake to give names to these two, since what you mention is but one distinction between the two types. You're going to find a lot of overlapping agencies, and it would be a disservice to them to label them with a label that puts them in a box that they're not fully in.
| | |
|
|
|
Vlad Kotenko
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:07
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Different Types of Agencies | Oct 17, 2021 |
Thank you for the explanations and for referring me to some agencies which I am looking for. I can see now that specific names are not widely used for different types of translation companies. By registering in many agencies, it will be possible to see what different types there are and how they function.
| | | |
and impersonal. Friendly and unfriendly. Go-to and steer-clear 
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 02:07
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Type 2 is more common. | Oct 18, 2021 |
IMO, type 2 is more common. Even #1 will prefer a fast response, so basically that’s your all agencies. You seem super confident about your fast response, how come? Do you have automated replies or PAs on constant stand by?
[Edited at 2021-10-18 08:31 GMT]
| | | | Vlad Kotenko
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:07
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Agencies of Type 2 | Oct 18, 2021 |
You seem super confident about your fast response, how come? Do you have automated replies or PAs on constant stand by?
I do not have automated replies and PAs and am not confident that I will be responding quickly. But contacting agencies of the second type seems to be a good option for me because in such agencies, jobs can given even to those who do not have formal education in translation and much experience. Since I do not have enough of these credentials, agencies of type 1 usually do not give me jobs, even though I pass translation tests. Therefore, agencies of type 2 may be my best option for the time being before I get established.
| | |
|
|
|
Ludovicap
Germany
Local time: 02:07
German to Italian
+ ...
| not always as you say | Oct 19, 2021 |
Vlad Kotenko wrote:
But contacting agencies of the second type seems to be a good option for me because in such agencies, jobs can given even to those who do not have formal education in translation and much experience. Since I do not have enough of these credentials, agencies of type 1 usually do not give me jobs, even though I pass translation tests. Therefore, agencies of type 2 may be my best option for the time being before I get established.
Maybe I wrote it in another post, but not always an agency who work that way (2nd type, as you call it) sends the same project to literally everyone in the platform.
There could also be internal rating systems that allow the translators to reach a specific ranking level in the platform and get some kind of priority in comparison to the other translators in the platform.
I would suggest you, in all cases, to see how each platform works, since all information is contained mostly in their Q&A pages.
Once you know how they work, you are able to decide to apply for it or to pass to another one, even though I suggest you to apply for as many as possible.
Good luck!
| | | | Vlad Kotenko
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:07
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Applying to Agencies | Oct 19, 2021 |
I would suggest you, in all cases, to see how each platform works, since all information is contained mostly in their Q&A pages.
Once you know how they work, you are able to decide to apply for it or to pass to another one, even though I suggest you to apply for as many as possible.
Thank you for the suggestions. I can see that it is necessary to continue getting registered with a lot of agencies, because jobs can unexpectedly come from various places in the future due to many connections.
| | | | Ludovicap
Germany
Local time: 02:07
German to Italian
+ ...
Vlad Kotenko wrote:
Thank you for the suggestions. I can see that it is necessary to continue getting registered with a lot of agencies, because jobs can unexpectedly come from various places in the future due to many connections.
True. If you only apply for one and keep waiting, the chances that you will have a steady workflow from that are pretty low. If you apply and are registered in a lot of agencies, your chances of getting jobs are definitely higher.
This is at least my opinion.
| | | | | 2nd type of agencies | Oct 25, 2021 |
Dear Mr. Kotenko,
I am also getting established in the translation business, since I started my career half a year ago.
As far as I have realized, the second type of agencies aren't always the ones that send more jobs. I am accepted into 5 or 6 platforms of those kind of agencies but only 2 of them send me jobs in fact. One of them send alerts to everyone working in the requested language combination and they put their prices (however, I find them fair and this company ... See more Dear Mr. Kotenko,
I am also getting established in the translation business, since I started my career half a year ago.
As far as I have realized, the second type of agencies aren't always the ones that send more jobs. I am accepted into 5 or 6 platforms of those kind of agencies but only 2 of them send me jobs in fact. One of them send alerts to everyone working in the requested language combination and they put their prices (however, I find them fair and this company has got a 5 LWA). The second one asked for my rates and they were registered in my profile. I guess I get alerts for every job in my language pairs with a rate equal or higher to the ones in my profile.
Moreover, many of my e-mails answered by what you called the 1st type of agencies have replied to me saying that I fulfill the requeriments, that they have prooved my certificates and that my profile is interesting for them but that they don't have jobs for me at the moment. They have explained that they will keep my CV and contact with me in the future if they need me.
The thing I like of the agencies you put into the 2nd type is that you receive an alert. If you don't have time, you don't have to explain anything to anyone. Of course, there are PMs that help you when you are working on a job.
Tip: As the agencies of the called 2nd type by you send an e-mail alerting of a new job, I have bought a Smartwatch in case I need to go out during office hours and have activated only the e-mail alerts from my professional e-mail address. So I can be quicker in case I cannot be in front of the computer in the morning, for example, but the term of a job is far enough for me to do it later or in the following days. It has been useful for me several times.
I hope my experience helps.
Jorge ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Watch, computer, etc. - everything is far too slow. You WILL lose 9/10 offers even if you see them in time.
Use a smartphone and have it within reach whenever you are actively available. If you have a steady flow of offers from one or more clients, make spreadsheets of what day and time they come in. You'll find what you THINK you know isn't quite the real picture.
With most clients, there are very specific times when you should just open your email app on your phone an... See more Watch, computer, etc. - everything is far too slow. You WILL lose 9/10 offers even if you see them in time.
Use a smartphone and have it within reach whenever you are actively available. If you have a steady flow of offers from one or more clients, make spreadsheets of what day and time they come in. You'll find what you THINK you know isn't quite the real picture.
With most clients, there are very specific times when you should just open your email app on your phone and watch TV or YouTube with phone in hand whenever you are actively looking for new jobs. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vlad Kotenko
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:07
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Jorge Rodríguez wrote:
many of my e-mails answered by what you called the 1st type of agencies have replied to me saying that I fulfill the requeriments, that they have prooved my certificates and that my profile is interesting for them but that they don't have jobs for me at the moment. They have explained that they will keep my CV and contact with me in the future if they need me.
The managers in the 1st type of agencies have sent me similar replies, but since they have other established translators to whom they regularly apply, I do not receive jobs from them, even though I have passed the translation tests and have been added to the agencies. This is one of the reasons why I am currently registering in the agencies of the 2nd type, since they send job notifications to all translators in their lists.
The thing I like of the agencies you put into the 2nd type is that you receive an alert. If you don't have time, you don't have to explain anything to anyone.
This is another convenient thing about agencies with automatic notifications, since a translator does not have to let down a manager every time when he is too busy to accept a job.
Adieu wrote:
Use a smartphone and have it within reach whenever you are actively available. If you have a steady flow of offers from one or more clients, make spreadsheets of what day and time they come in. You'll find what you THINK you know isn't quite the real picture.
With most clients, there are very specific times when you should just open your email app on your phone and watch TV or YouTube with phone in hand whenever you are actively looking for new jobs.
I can see that this is what has to be done for agencies of the 2nd type, although this may cause stress, especially if some translators have the obsessive-compulsive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder. Translation business apparently requires promptness of reply and being able to stay calm under pressure. But one way to stay calm is to reply to notifications only during one’s work hours on work days.
| | | | | Smartphone and smartwatch | Oct 27, 2021 |
I just use a smartwatch because, if I have to go out during the office hours and I am in the street, in a supermarket or getting some papers from an office, or just in the bank office, it's impossible for me to hear the smartphone notification due to an incoming e-mail. I have tried with the vibration mode before buying my smartwatch and it didn't help.
I haven't got too many clients yet, but their terms to complete jobs are usually long enough to take many jobs if you don't spend t... See more I just use a smartwatch because, if I have to go out during the office hours and I am in the street, in a supermarket or getting some papers from an office, or just in the bank office, it's impossible for me to hear the smartphone notification due to an incoming e-mail. I have tried with the vibration mode before buying my smartwatch and it didn't help.
I haven't got too many clients yet, but their terms to complete jobs are usually long enough to take many jobs if you don't spend the whole day outside. Of course, in that case, it's a day-off.
Apart from this, what Adieu explains it's true, as far as I have realized, agencies usually send jobs at around the same time every day. Some in the afternoon, other ones in the evening and so on.
Moreover, of course, I think every translator should use an e-mail managing app so you can keep the e-mail inbox opened and received alerts in the notification bar when you receive an e-mail. I keep it in the background all the time I am in front of the computer. As far as I know, if you use a web app like hotmail or gmail, you don't receive alerts when an e-mail arrives. I am not sure now. I prefer an application to manage my e-mails.
Best regards,
Jorge ▲ Collapse
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Types of Translation Agencies | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
| | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
