Language Service Providers (LSPs) are often requested to take translation tests before being assigned a project. However, as a translation buyer, this approach doesn’t guarantee that you will safely and accurately judge the provided quality and below we’ll see why.
Quality evaluation tends to be a standard practice in the any industry, translation not being an exception. Translation evaluation is the process of assessing that a chosen or prospective Language Service Provider is able to deliver high quality results that covers your needs. It goes without saying that as a translation buyer you would want to be certain that your product is in the hands of a professional translation agency that suits your needs and caters for your specific requirements. It’s necessary to check swift responses, good communication, quality of final product and overall achievement.
It is a relatively common practice, normally as part of the onboarding process for choosing new LSPs, that companies carry out translation evaluation by means of a test translation. A test translation is a sample translation done by the LSP to assess their skills and suitability for a particular job or account. Although it appears as the easiest, fastest and most straightforward way to evaluate an agency’s work, it is also true to say that it poses so many constraints that don’t allow for a deeper insight on the overall quality of the provided work.
To name a few, test translations, due to their fragmented and volume restricted nature, can’t judge with accuracy the performance of an LSP. Below are only some of the reasons this happens:
So, if translation assessment is a crucial step but test translations are not optimal to this end, what are the alternatives? Here are some suggestions:
The first step in ensuring high-quality translation is to hire a reputable translation agency. Look for someone with relevant experience and expertise in the subject matter of your content. Before you begin working with an LSP, check their references and credentials, their ISO certifications and their membership in recognized industry associations.
Instead of test translations, you can ask for samples of work from other similar clients. Reviewing previous translation deliverables for companies that belong to the same industry field can allow you to evaluate the quality of the LSP’s work.
However, the most crucial role in quality assessment is played by the project management methodology itself, that could be encompassed by the translation agency’s roadmap and vision. Ask your prospect vendor to explain what their own quality assurance steps entail, what their documented processes involve, what (automated and not automated) tools the PMs have in their hands to control quality and how they ensure on-time deliveries, crisis management or problem resolution.
Finally, it is worth conducting a small, paid pilot project to test language providers in real-life situations. Not only all the abovementioned restrictions of a “made-up” translation test will be overcome, but you will be able to judge in practice a vendor’s attitude to the whole process, their responsiveness, their communication support, attention to detail, thus gaining valuable insight into your future cooperation.
All in all, quality is a key market differentiator for your company and ensuring that it is maintained at all times is a crucial step that you can’t skip. This is why you need to avoid questionable and obsolete ways of assessing it, such as test translations. You can get the most out of a number of solutions and approaches that can ensure reliable and consistent results. All you need is the right processes for the right outcomes.
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