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Translator English to French Guide: Conversation with Perrine, Translator French and PMPart 3 of our conversation with Perrine, Professional Translator French: Perrine gives an insider view of the translation agency where she worked as a project manager. At the bottom of the page, you will find links to more translation resources including a price comparison guide. Were you looking for free online translations? Conversation with Perrine Souffez, Project Manager and Translator English to French - Part 3Q: In the past, you also worked as a project manager for a translation agency. Could you talk a little bit about what you did there and how the agency managed its translations? A: The first task in the morning was to check the e-mails from the clients and say "Yes" to everything. You said "Yes" to the clients, but with a reasonable timeline. You opened the document and checked, first of all, the number of words, and then the field -- if it was a legal translation, a literary translations, etc., and then you gave a timeline to the client, and then you started to look for a translator. We had a database of freelance translators. So you looked for the translator and sent him the text. Then, when you got back the translation, you always, always, always revised it. Even if it was from English to Hungarian, for example, you revised it to see if all the images were there, to see if anything was missing. Sometimes you would find that figures had been left out, and so on. "The first task in the morning was to check the e-mails from the clients and say 'Yes' to everything." - Perrine Souffez, Project Manager and Professional Translator French Q: And the revisions were done by the project manager? A: Yes. Q: Were the translations ever sent to native editors? A: No, never. I revised the translations to French, and there was another project manager who revised the translations that were in Spanish, and that was all. Q: What was the process for translator selection? A: We received a ton of CVs every day, and sometimes I'd see one in an area of specialization that we needed. For example, we always needed technical translators because there were a lot of technical projects coming in. We'd send the translators a translation test, which they had twenty-four hours to complete, and we'd send the test for review. Then we'd start them out with a short translation in the beginning, and then a longer one. Q: And did anyone check those translations? A: Yes, the first translations got checked when they were from a new translator. Maybe the first couple of translations, and that was all. Sometimes, we'd get back a translation from a new translator, and it would be terrible. It arrived a day late, and things were missing, and then we wouldn't send that translator more work. "You gave a timeline to the client, and then you started to look for a translator." - Perrine Souffez, Project Manager and Professional Translator French Q: What advice would you give to a translation buyer on choosing the right agency? A: First, to look carefully at the agency's areas of specialization. Because sometimes, there are people who will say "Yes" to everything. So if you need a legal translation, for example, you have to look carefully to see if this field is within the agency's areas of specialization. Compare the prices of different agencies. When an agency has low prices, that doesn't mean it's any good. It's better to choose an agency that charges a little more or charges market rates than to end up with a bad translation. And see if the agency has been around for a long time. More Translator English to French ArticlesReturn to Part 1 of our interview with Perrine Souffez, Professional Translator French Read Part 2 of our interview with Perrine Souffez, Professional Translator French Go to the Translator French to English section of our translation pricing guide Browse all Translator English to French category pages |