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Choosing an editor
Thread poster: Crystal Samples
Crystal Samples
Crystal Samples  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:22
French to English
+ ...
Jun 6, 2008

This question is for agency owners. How does one go about choosing an editor for a language which one does not speak? I interned briefly at a translation agency, and I know they had a few editors that they relied on for certain language combinations. However, most of the staff only spoke English and/or French (although a few spoke German, Spanish and Portuguese). So for combinations such as English to Italian, English to Swedish, and the like, I never thought to ask how they found reliable edito... See more
This question is for agency owners. How does one go about choosing an editor for a language which one does not speak? I interned briefly at a translation agency, and I know they had a few editors that they relied on for certain language combinations. However, most of the staff only spoke English and/or French (although a few spoke German, Spanish and Portuguese). So for combinations such as English to Italian, English to Swedish, and the like, I never thought to ask how they found reliable editors for these languages.

Did they just rely on references? their education? Agency owners, please clue me in.

Thanks,
Crystal ▲ Collapse
 
Gerard de Noord
Gerard de Noord  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 10:22
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Picking the editor Jun 6, 2008

Hi Crystal,

What makes you think agency owners will answer this question? Most of them are selling Quality Assurance and won't divulge their procedures.

One possible scenario would be:

The agency browses ProZ and stumbles upon a translator they like. They employ that translator and notice all clients are contented. They receive more requests for the language pair and decide to take the QA part more seriously. The agency refers to ProZ again and looks for ot... See more
Hi Crystal,

What makes you think agency owners will answer this question? Most of them are selling Quality Assurance and won't divulge their procedures.

One possible scenario would be:

The agency browses ProZ and stumbles upon a translator they like. They employ that translator and notice all clients are contented. They receive more requests for the language pair and decide to take the QA part more seriously. The agency refers to ProZ again and looks for other translators with profiles resembling their first stroke of luck.

They might find several good translators but will stick with their first pick - the customers were always happy - to edit the efforts of the other translators in that language pair.

My impression is that agency owners will use any means during the selection phase and will try to promote their proven translators to editor after three or six years. Not all translators want to become an editor, though.

Regards,
Gerard ▲ Collapse
 


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