How to Hire a Business Translation Professional Online?

How to Hire a Business Translation Professional Online?

This is a guest post by Robert Morgan (bubloos.com)

It is fair to say that connecting with a professional translator online is challenging, particularly if your project requirements include specific industry knowledge. The good news is that the online marketplace is maturing quickly and it’s never been as easy to connect to reliable, professional translators with business skills and industry specific knowledge. There are a couple of big questions to answer before you take the online plunge.

How and where do I connect with a skilled translator?

The best advice here is to firstly avoid generic freelance websites and concentrate your efforts in using a specialist language services platform such as bubloos.com. The benefit of using an online platform is that it opens up the international marketplace and gives you the ability to connect with a native speaking translator. Freelancer profiles should be accessible for viewing so take advantage of checking out their skills, knowledge and experience as well as any examples of work or references on offer. If your project requires specific industry knowledge or vocabulary it’s a good idea to match the criteria with freelancer experience. This increases the chances of getting your translation spot on.

You should be crystal clear when it comes to the details of your project. Be sure on your objectives, what the translator will be expected to deliver and if you have deadlines, communicate these from the outset. It is likely that you will need to make available a copy of the material that the freelancer needs to translate so prepare this in advance.

Freelance translation professionals are competent and are familiar working with corporate clients. Many businesses are outsourcing their translation work to freelancers rather than having an in-house team or relying on a language services agency. Why? It’s really quite simple. It’s cost effective, quick, easy and most importantly the quality of the work is good.

What do I need to consider when selecting a business translator?

It’s important that a freelancer has experience in the given subject. For instance if you require a legal document such as a Will or Confidentiality Agreement translated it is prudent to only consider professionals with legal services experience. This mitigates the risk of minor translation errors changing the entire meaning of a legally binding document. Likewise, if you’re looking to translate your poetry work, it’s important that emotions and context are clearly understood and translated accordingly. This would usually come from a translator using their mother tongue.

Timing – you should be transparent about your timeline. Ask the translator if they can commit to delivering to your schedule. If they cannot commit either reconsider your selection or think about amending your timeline.

Cost – When you submit your project and receive quotes for your work, don’t always select on price alone. Use a combination of all of the points discussed in this post to make your final decision.