Good
morning.
I
haven't wrote here for a long time because I've been busy
with other projects (the Book Fair of Alicante, the second edition of
my first book...) and to a lesser extent, I've been translating.
And I say to a lesser extent because since I spoke of my experience
as an interpreter in Frankfurt, which you can read here, the only
translation I've done has been a test for a German company of
translation.
I'm
still waiting for an answer on my test, but this has given me the
idea of this new post, to tell you how to detect a scam translation,
which I also lived a few months ago and about I spoke in this
another post (here in Spanish).
·
Communication: after sending my CV to the German company, they sent
me an email, very kindly, saying they wanted to make me a translation
test. I was excited and delighted because they had answered me so fast, and I
agreed to take the test, hoping that in the next email they sent it to me. However, before sending the text, I was asked a serie of
questions related to the work, and they ask me also my availability
to make the translation.
Those
who are dedicated to fool translators sent me an email too informal,
those with no initial greeting, with an automatic text, with
capital letters and without farewell.
·
Time and test type: after agree an hour to make the translation test,
the company sent me the text. I received it punctually and they gave
me two hours to translate it from German into Spanish. It was a
technical text of about 500 words.
Scammers
sent me a 150 pages document and I had to translate for the next day
around 30 pages, from English into German, something that wasn't
specified in the first message. What kind of translation test is the
translation of 30 pages? Even the translation exams at the University
weren't so long. A test is a short text that demonstrate the ability
to translate it correctly in a short time. However, what they wanted
was, test after test, several translators make them the complete
work.
·
Test resolution: I sent my test translation to the German company one
week ago. I was told that a corrector should check the translation
and he would make a report. If it is positive, I'll make a second
test. I'm waiting for the answer because there were more candidates.
Scammers
answered me shortly after I send them the translation. They told me
that the translation was correct and they selected me for the job. No
proofreaders to make a report, they didn't take time to even pretend
they reviewed the translation and nothing about value other supposed
candidates.
As
you can see there are notable differences between companies that
really looking for a translator and those which just want to take advantage
of them. The company of which I have spoken today appreciates the
time and the translator's work, takes into account their availability
and check their work to ensure the best solution for the end client.
Scammers not only take advantage of the desire to work of the
translator, but also damage the company, which being unaware of the way they act,
they commissioned the translation of the text.
