When it comes to translation services, there are a few decisions you have to make before you can hire someone to handle your translation project. That's why, on this page we would like to share some important information on how to choose the right translation agency.

Content

• Freelance translator or translation agency: Who should you hire?
• Services offered by a translation agency
• How to choose the right translation services for your translation
• Checklist: 10 qualities of a great professional translation agency

Freelance translator or translation agency: Who should I hire?

First of all, you need to decide whether you want to hire a freelance translator or a professional translation agency.

If you are a company, you might want to use someone in-house with the required language skills. Your employees can be a great choice to handle your translations because they are very familiar with your company’s projects. However, dealing with many different languages can prove to be too complex for your employees.

It is true that a freelance translator is often cheaper than a translation company. But the lowest cost option sometimes comes at a high price: When keeping the cost down is more important than quality, translations might not be 100% accurate and acceptable for the purpose that it is intended. Quality is often inconsistent across different freelance translators and you therefore need to add some sort of quality management to make sure the translations meet your needs.

Translation services offered by a translation agency

Many clients prefer a professional translation service, not least because of the multi-linguistic capabilities of a translation agency. A translation agency can offer the following:

• Translators and interpreters that can provide a personal service, using the required language skills, ensuring that they become very familiar with a specific project and client requirements.
• Provision of the essential quality control phase both before and after the translation has been received by the client.
• By using a well-established, professional translation service, legal guarantees are in place, such as for the authorised and official translation of documents and diplomas.
• Reputation is priceless, as is an extremely high standard of work together with flexibility and the ability to manage big projects.
• Providing a fast, large capacity turnaround of all documents, including legal and industry-specific translations.
• Expertise in localisation. That is the adaptation of a product or text that has been translated previously into many different languages.

Ask the agency about the quality level of management and the end product, which, although may cost a little more than a freelancer, will ultimately save time and money as all translations will be well structured, accurate and hassle-free.

How to choose the right translation services for your translation

Choosing the right professional translation services is essential. These are important aspects that you need to take into consideration:

• It is important that the translator or interpreter is a native speaker, as many nuances can be missed which may change the context of a sentence or a document.
• Being a member of professional institutions and associations such as the ATA and adhering to DIN and ISO quality and standards, guarantees sustainable quality.
• Often a certified or sworn translator is required for easy and precise communication at business meetings; this is where experience and expertise comes into its own.
• Look to be offered a very experienced and efficient project management team that has many satisfied clients and former completed projects.
• Clients should not only be assured of first rate professional translation services but transparent pricing too.

The right type of translation service will help new companies to grow internationally, breaking down all communication barriers, while ensuring that the translation services fully take into account specific needs.

Checklist: What are the qualities of a great professional translation agency?

Choosing the right translation agency for your translation project can be tough. That is why we have created this checklist for you:

1. Are translators and interpreters native speakers?
2. Do they have a substantial knowledge of your industry or field of service (like legal, medical and technical)?
3. Can the agency provide certified and sworn translations?
4. Can the agency abide by DIN and ISO standards of quality assurance?
5. Does the agency provide confidentiality and a reliable and secure data system?
6. How easy is communication with translators and project management?
7. Can the agency provide a speedy document turnaround time?
8. Can the agency provide an excellent customer service?
9. Do they have a friendly, flexible personal account manager and a well-organised project management team who can meet all requirements, including different language skills, capacity and scalability?
10. Are they able to customise their work to each and every client’s specific requirements?

Summary: How a professional translation agency can help you

To have the knowledge and assurance that any translation or interpretation will be carried out by a native speaker is very important. For peace of mind, only use a professional translation service that can be relied on, time and time again, to produce the same level of quality work regardless of the task involved.

As previously mentioned, be sure to use an agency that is a member of professional institutions and associations such as the ATA and works in accordance with the high standards of quality required by DIN and ISO. Certified and sworn translations need to be carried out by formally qualified translators and the company chosen must be able to provide an efficient project management team for larger businesses and, equally, a designated translator for individuals: communication is everything.

Contact us today for help and advice with all your translation and interpreting needs, no matter how large or small. We are here to offer a professional service with no hidden costs that is second to none.

This may also be interesting for you

• Birth certificate translation
• SEM translations
• Certified translations