Translator Must

TranslateMedia, Office 409, Threshold House, Shepherds Bush Green, London W12 8TX, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)845 331 1127 Fax: +44 (0)845 331 1126 Email: info@translatemedia.com
1

2

Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3
2. The Online System .............................................................................................................. 4
3. Getting Started ..................................................................................................................... 5
4. Managing your Profile ......................................................................................................... 6
5. Managing your Accounts .................................................................................................... 8
5.1 - Requesting a Payment ............................................................................................... 8
5.2 - Fees & Payment ........................................................................................................ 10
6. The Job Workflow Process ............................................................................................... 11
6.1 Viewing a Job ........................................................................................................... 11
6.2 Accepting a Job ........................................................................................................ 12
6.3 Posting Queries ........................................................................................................ 13
6.4 Cancelling a Job ....................................................................................................... 13
6.5 - Returning a Job ......................................................................................................... 13
7. Proofreading & Editing Jobs ............................................................................................. 15
7.1 - Proofreading Criteria ................................................................................................ 15
8. Assessors ............................................................................................................................ 16
9. Corporate Accounts ........................................................................................................... 17
10. Important Information..19

Annexes

3

1. Introduction

Welcome to TranslateMedia.

Our aim is to provide consistently high quality translations to our clients, while offering
translators a professional working environment. We function in the same way as any
traditional agency, managing projects and offering support to our translators whenever
necessary, while spending time and resources securing work from large clients.

We have developed a proprietary online platform to help us deal with the mundane tasks
that often bog more traditional agencies down. To our clients we offer an integrated back
office ordering system where they can post texts for translation along with instructions,
notes and reference information. They can also monitor each jobs progress in real-time and
are in contact with a dedicated project manager.

To translators we offer an online management platform with an account management tool
that allows you to view all jobs completed and payments made or outstanding, so that you
never forget a job or due payment.

This user guide will help you to use TranslateMedia effectively. This contains important
information on what we expect of our translators, and what you can expect from us in our
working relationship. We would recommend that you keep a copy of this saved somewhere,
as reference.

If you have any questions about anything present in this document, any feedback on the
service that we offer, or any other queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Matt Train
Operations Manager
4

2. The Online System

We encourage our clients to post jobs online by offering them discounted rates. We have
personal contact with them over the phone and in face-to-face meetings in order to establish
and maintain strong relationships.

The online discounts offered to our clients do not affect the fees that we offer to translators.
We offer express turnarounds to clients at extra cost and this is reflected in the fees offered
to translators.

The system is designed to speed up the translation process, and because it reduces
administration overheads it also allows us to offer competitive rates to the client, and spend
more time securing work for our translators. For these reasons we encourage you to use the
system wherever possible, and we have designed it and are constantly developing it so that
all relevant tasks can be managed online. We are, however, realistic and appreciate that
language projects, like languages, are complex and diverse, and that in some instances we
will need to be in direct contact.

5
3. Getting Started

Go to www.translatemedia.com.

Enter your username and password into the area provided at the top right hand side of the
screen and click LOG IN.

You are then taken to your TranslateMedia area. I am using my account as an example
you can see Matt Train is shown in the top-right hand corner of the screen.

The default page is the job board. Across the top of the page you can see tabs that take you
to different pages. These are present on each page, so that you can easily navigate from
one section to another. Here you can also choose your time zone and relevant currency that
the site displays details in, and you can also log-out.
6

4. Managing your Profile

When you registered you entered your personal details into your profile. In My Profile
Administration you can amend these details whenever necessary.

When your original application was considered we took into account experience,
qualifications and comments from references in deciding which language combinations and
specialist areas to register you in. If you would like to apply for registration in another
language combination and/or specialist area please write to info@translatemedia.com.

Here you can edit your username, password, and contact details.
7

The email address registered in this section is where all email alerts relating to jobs will be
sent, and this will be the primary method of contact used.

Here you can specify your preferred method of payment, and preferred currency.

Please be aware that when you specify the payment method that you prefer this will be used
for all payments, so it is essential that this information is correct.

We would also like you to upload a copy of your CV here, for administration purposes, and if
you like you can add a picture. You can include any comments and notes that you see fit.

Clicking Update Profile at the bottom of the page saves any changes that you make.

8
5. Managing your Accounts

Clicking My Accounts takes you to the Account Statement page below.

Under credits you will see jobs that have been allocated to you and completed with a
description and the fee stated. Under debits you can see details of all payment requests
made and their status (paid/unpaid). If you scroll down you can see details of total credits
and debits.

5.1 - Requesting a Payment

If you would like to make a payment request you can do so by clicking on the link in the first
paragraph;

This will take you to the Payment Request screen where you can view all funds available in
your virtual account with us, and where you can request payment of any amount within
those funds.

You also need to enter your preferred method of payment. We offer three methods that are
fast and efficient: Pay pal, UK Bank Transfer, International Bank Transfer or Money Bookers.

Please take care to ensure that all details are entered correctly when ordering payments so
that we can avoid delays caused by incorrect entry of information.
9

Once you have submitted your request we will pay at 30 days from the end of the month in
which the request is made. So if you make your request on 3
rd
January the payment will be
made by 27
th
February.

Due to the high volume of payment requests that we receive, and in order to avoid charging
any administration fees, you are limited to making two payment requests per calendar
month, to encourage you to accrue credits and order in large payments.

Please note that all rates are fixed in GBP (pounds Sterling).

If you are VAT registered then please ensure that these details are recorded in your profile
before requesting a payment so that VAT is added to the requested amount. You must only
request pre-VAT amounts.

The system has now been updated so that you can enter a reference number for your
payment (to cross-reference with your invoice number or any other reference).

10
5.2 - Fees & Payment

When you registered with us you will have been asked for your standard rates per thousand
source words. These are recorded and associated with your profile so that any jobs alerts
receive are quoted to you in your rate.

When you return a job it is checked and then your account is credited. You can order a
payment at any time through your online account. Records will be kept online of all
credits/debits and jobs completed, and you can use this to help manage your finances.

Checking and editing fees are calculated in the same way as translation rates and it is
estimated that 1,500 - 2,000 words per hour can be proofread, although we appreciate that
this depends on the quality of the source document. Please incorporate any changes deemed
necessary and check the document carefully before returning via the online account.

We currently pay a minimum of 10.00 on any one job, unless you are working on a
corporate account where the volume of work has enabled us to offer no minimum fees to
the client.

11
6. The Job Workflow Process

6.1 Viewing a Job

When a client orders a job an alert email is sent to all the translators that match the relevant
profile. These alert emails are sent from info@translatemedia.com.

The email contains a link to the job board where the related job details are displayed.

12
If you click on the blue information icon you can view the job details in full, and you can
view the whole source text by clicking on View complete document.

6.2 Accepting a Job

We expect that any professional translator accepting a job has viewed the document and has
agreed to the deadline and fee offered. If you would like to take the job but would like to
negotiate on the fee or deadline, or check any of the details, please do not hesitate to
contact us directly by email or by phone.

To take the job click . You will then be asked to confirm. The jobs details will
remain on your job board page until you have returned the document:

13
Some clients post additional information alongside jobs, such as previous translations,
glossaries, pictures, or other reference information. These will be available for download
when a job is accepted.

6.3 Posting Queries

If you have any queries while you are working on the job they can be posted directly to the
project manager. We will get back to you with an answer on your queries as soon as
possible, and we would encourage you to ask about anything that you need clarification on.

6.4 Cancelling a Job

Clicking on cancel this job now will take you to a screen where you will be asked to confirm
the reason for cancellation.

Choosing to cancel a job means that you re-post the job to the board for allocation, and you
will not be paid for it. This option should only be used in extreme cases.

6.5 - Returning a Job

Once you have completed the job and received the responses to any queries you can post
the job back through your account by going to the Return a Job section.

Clicking Browse will allow you to navigate to the correct file name, and clicking OK, Upload
my completed job will upload the file. You will then be asked to verify that the file is correct.

14

Jobs should be returned in the format in which they were supplied, unless otherwise
specified.

Sometimes you will be asked to enter the target word count when you upload a job. This will
be checked, so please ensure that it is accurate.

Translations provided should be to a professional standard. This means that they should
read as if they are an original document in the target languages, and that there should be no
spelling or grammar errors. Please check and spell-check your translation thoroughly before
uploading, in accordance with the translation checklist you were provided when you
registered. Please ensure that you upload the correct document. We provide a translation
checklist on the website available for download and you are expected to use this.

Once the job has been uploaded your work will be sent for revision/checking and your online
account will be credited upon completion of this process.

15
7. Revision Jobs

Revision jobs will be allocated in the same way as translation tasks. When revising, and
where possible, please use the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word, and upload a copy
of the file with all the changes tracked.

When you return a revised document you will be asked to provide an analysis of the original
translation for our records, and to grade the translation according to some carefully selected
criteria.

Over time a history of the revision results of each translator is recorded. You can also choose
to automatically receive copies of revision checklists completed on your work as they are
done. In this way we hope to both offer translators constructive professional development,
and to build up a picture of our translators strengths and weaknesses. Please keep these
aims in mind when posting your comments.

7.1 - Revision Criteria

Accuracy The extent to which the translation correctly reflects all of the content
present in the source text. Missing sections, or incorrectly translated
phrases fall under accuracy.

Tone & Register The style of language, address to the reader, and the extent to which
the tone of the translation matches that of similar documents in the
target culture. If a translation of a legal document uses the style of
language found in a teenage magazine this falls under tone & register.

Fluency The extent to which the translation reads as if it is an original
document in the target language. If the translation uses grammar and
words that sound odd in the target language then this falls under
fluency.

Presentation The visual presentation of the translation. If the translated document
needs to be formatted heavily to make it ready for delivery to the
client then this falls under presentation.

Overall Your overall balanced opinion on the quality of the document
produced, based on all of the criteria above.

Please refer to the revision checklist that is included in the Welcome Pack of documents, and
the guidelines document that is provided in order to make revision scores consistent.
16
8. Trusted Translators

When we fully trust the quality of a translators work and have developed a strong
professional relationship with them we may define them as Trusted within our system.
Trusted translators will be asked to revise work done by new translators. As well as being
offered all the usual assignments, trusted translators may also be appointed as editors on
large corporate accounts, supervising the work of a team of TranslateMedia translators.

17
9. Corporate Accounts

We provide corporate accounts with special rates and back-office utilities to clients who wish
to post large volumes of work on a regular basis. When these deals are being formulated we
contact our suitable translators and ask those who are interested and available to provide
the client with examples of relevant work as a test piece. The client picks the translators
whose style they most prefer and we put together the team, under an editor or team of
editors, to take on the work, offering whatever support that we can.

If you are approached for such an assignment we do our utmost to ensure that you have all
the information that you need. This includes reference/sample documents, likely volume
estimates, time-lines and turnaround times, details of required software, terminology
databases, translation memory files, and contact details for all the other language
professionals that make up your team. Where possible we hold meetings at various stages of
the project with everyone involved in attendance in some form.

These projects are still run through our system. The client is allocated their team and then
email alerts are sent to this small team, to see who is most immediately available. All jobs
and payments due are stored online in the usual way.

18
10. Important Information

We expect translators to follow the instructions below. This helps us to ensure that our
working processes run smoothly, and to guarantee quality and consistency in our service.

We expect all translations delivered to be of a professional standard, and to
read as if they are originals in the target language. Delivering work below
this standard will not be accepted.

Please add info@translatemedia.com to your email contacts to ensure that
you receive all our email alerts. Sending an email to this address often
ensures that messages are not bounced back.

Always view the source document and check the fee and deadline offered
before accepting a job.

You can only be allocated one job at any one time. Once you have taken a
job you will not be able to take another job through the platform. You can
apply to the relevant project manager by phone/email if you wish to take
more than one job on. Trusted translators can take more than one job.

Queries should be saved up until you have been through the entire
document and then all posted together.

Jobs should be returned in the same format as supplied, unless otherwise
specified.

Translations should be checked against the revision checklist and spell-
checked before return. Please double check to ensure that you upload the
correct version of the document.

Please make sure that your payment information, and all related information
(account number/sort code), is entered correctly. Incorrect entry will mean
that payment is delayed.

If you are VAT registered you MUST enter your VAT number within your
profile. If you are registered for VAT in the UK you must check the relevant
box.

We prefer to receive signed terms documents and any invoices by email or
fax, in keeping with our environmental policy.

19
Annex A Translation Checklist

20
Annex B Revision Checklist

21
Annex C Revision Guidelines

Translators Scores Guideline

Your feedback is extremely important to us and it is an invaluable part in ensuring we deliver the best quality
translations to our clients. In order to maximise the efficiency of this process and achieve consistency, accuracy
and fairness we have produced a guideline summary for your use.

Key points
-All comments must be constructive
-Do not use the comments tab for communication either with the translator or Project Manager
-All comments must be relevant to the text in hand
-No rude or abusive comments will be tolerated
-Always score the translation rather than any emissions (Do notify us immediately if you notice emissions!)
-Unless otherwise instructed by the Project Manager, please upload Word documents with Track Changes
showing

Score sheet
Excellent- Perfect translation requiring no changes / only preferential changes were made
Very Good- Near perfect translation requiring minor changes
Good- Good translation requiring some terminology / stylistic changes
Average*- Acceptable but requiring a fair bit of stylistic and some terminology / grammatical changes
Poor*- Poorly researched with major terminology changes OR major stylistic requiring some re-
translations
Bad*- Quality is unacceptable, major terminology AND stylistic changes requiring re-translation of
whole paragraphs
Very Bad*- Quality is unacceptable, major terminology AND stylistic changes AS WELL AS basic
grammatical and orthographical changes most of the document required re-translation
*Requires more detailed feedback in the comment box.

Suspension
Scoring a POOR, BAD or VERY BAD will automatically result in the translation and revision being checked by
an independent third translator. Should the review prove the scoring to be unfair then this will result in
suspension of the reviser after his/her second time.

If the review shows that the translation is indeed of a POOR or BAD standard then the translator will be
suspended immediately from the appropriate field of specialism. Please note that the translator will not be
suspended from other fields that he/she works in at this time.

If the review shows that the translation is indeed of a VERY BAD standard then the translator will be suspended
immediately from the TranslateMedia database.

Final note
Due to our commitment in producing high quality translations please contact a Project Manager immediately if
you feel that the translation is of a poor standard and requires extra work. A higher revision fee may be discussed
in this instance.

We require all translators to complete an equal share of translation and revision. Should you be suspended from
revision work you will also receive less translation work. Please be mindful of the impact your scores will have
and be kind to your fellow colleagues!

Thank you for your ongoing collaboration and excellent work.
The Project Management Team at TranslateMedia
22
Annex D Accounts Dept Service Levels

TranslateMedia Accounts Service Levels

All of us at TranslateMedia want to maintain a great relationship with our translators. We
highly value your input and our collaboration and we hope that our relationship will be long
and highly beneficial and interesting for both parties.
When contacting our accounts department with any queries please make sure to include:

The relevant job number / payment request date
Full and clear details of your query
A copy of any previous correspondence if available
We will respond to your query within 3 working days.

Please note that from the 1
st
September 2009 there will be a limit to a maximum of 2 payment
requests that can be processed in each calendar month. The motive for this is purely to allow
our administration team to keep up with payments, and to ensure we can make timely
payment.

At some periods our accounts department experiences a huge amount of correspondence, so
please be patient and allow 3 working days for a response. We will aim to get back to you
faster but sometimes it is not possible.

If we find any error or issue with your payment request details, we will inform you as soon as
we find such a problem to get to a speedy resolution. Please be aware that we may have to
request that you re-submit requests where information is erroneous.

If we are not able to resolve the matter within 3 working days we will escalate the issue and
you will be informed of this.

All Accounts related queries must be directed to accountspayable@translatemedia.com.
Please do not contact your project manager on these matters. You can call us on +44 (0)845
331 1127.

Any project-related queries should be directed to the relevant project manager or
info@translatemedia.com.

Thank you and best wishes,
Sebastian Goschorski & Patrick Eve
Finance Manager Managing Director

Translator Must

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Translator Must

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

TranslateMedia, Office 409, Threshold House, Shepherds Bush Green, London W12 8TX, UK

You might also like