Which is Better – a Freelance Translator or a Certified Translation Agency?
Even small businesses often expand into foreign markets these days. Such businesses need to make use of translation services to translate business documents and correspondence. There are three alternatives when it comes to hiring translation talent. You could place translators on the payroll if you have a regular need for such skills. Most businesses don’t need a regular translator, though. They choose to either hire a freelance translator on a project-by-project basis or they choose to go with a translation agency.
Translation agencies run the whole range – from one-man work-at-home operations to multinational organizations that have hundreds of employees. Some agencies try to keep costs down by working exclusively with freelancers. A translation agency that works with freelancers accepts projects and then looks for freelancers to complete them.
A professional level translation agency – even one that works with freelancers – will usually have multiple levels of quality checks to catch any proofreading or translating mistakes. If your project is technical in nature, a translation agency could also bring in people with technical expertise to ensure quality work.
Individual freelance translators usually work by themselves. It is not likely that a freelance translator could ever offer this level of service. They can do a great job insofar as their skill level permits them. They are usually not equipped to provide the kind of professional level service that translation agencies offer. Still, both choices have their own advantages.
A certified translation agency is often the best choice
1. Translation agencies often offer translation services in multiple languages. If you need to have a document translated in a dozen languages, going the freelance route could be difficult – you would have to keep up with 20 individual workers. When your work requires translation into multiple languages, you need an agency to handle all the work.
2. Individual translators are not equipped to handle large workloads. If you need something like 250 pages translated in a couple of days, only a translation agency could help you since they have many workers.
3. If your work requires specialized skills in a particular subject area – legal, medical and so on – your regular freelance worker may not be able to handle it. A translation agency would be equipped for this sort of thing.
At other times, a freelance translator is the superior choice
1. When you find a good translator, you usually want to stick with him. Going with one translator, you are also likely to get the same kind of language style for all your work. This kind of consistency looks professional. It can be difficult to insist on the same translator when you go to an agency that hires many workers. This works out much better with a freelancer.
2. When you go freelance, you can always directly call him up and discuss anything. With a freelance translation agency, you need to go through a couple of levels of management before you get to the writer.
3. A translation agency needs to charge you a large fee for profit and for overheads. Freelance translators are cheaper to work with – since you cut out the middleman.
After your translation is done, you may need the work to be integrated into a larger document – an e-book, for instance. You may need publishing services, too. An agency could provide you with these. You would need to keep up with multiple services to get the finished product out if you depended on freelance workers. There are advantages to taking either route – you need to make the best choice given the circumstances.
As a top language services company in NYC, Apoling Solutions assists customers in NYC and nationwide with certified translation services, specialising in high-quality human translations between French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Albanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Georgian, Armenian, English and 50+ foreign languages. If you have a document which requires a professional translation, call us for a free estimation and advise.