Translation agency: how to choose the one for the job?

There are a few thousand translation agencies here in Poland. If you are heading to collaborate with one smoothly and efficiently, you need to take some time for a detailed research. How to choose wisely? There are plenty of factors necessary to consider before making the final decision. In this article we want to provide you with some of them.

What to consider when choosing translation agency?

There are at least a few crucial factors to consider before choosing the best translation agency. These are:

• Range of services . You should check whether the translation agency specializes in a given language and whether the service you need (e.g. specialized translation) is listed in the agency’s offer. If not, chances are your translation will be handed over to an unverified outsourcer.
• Quality . The better the quality of the translation, the clearer and more accurate the text. In a professional agency, you will find the additional proofreading service you should definitely consider if you care about the quality of your translation. No doubt the most efficient proofreader is a native speaker of a language.
• Experience. This can be easily verified: collaborations with clients and past projects are often available on the website. If a given translation agency had many of those, you are not dealing with a rookie!
• References. Also on the website. See above.

Price pitfall

Price is the most important factor for choosing the agency, we can’t deny it. However, consider treating it secondarily. The lower price might suggest not only worse quality, but also later delivery date. Want a juicy translation? Let us say you need to fork out for this.

Additional proofreading is a service offered by many professionals. It includes two people working on your translation so, as you may have guessed, the price is higher. However, the quality of the translation is undeniably better and many possible mistakes are not made. Isn’t it worth it to pay more for certainty that your translation will be carefully prepared and delivered on time? In many cases, it is.

Don’t be afraid to ask the  translation agency questions!

Finally, you chose a few most interesting agencies; now, your final decision should depend on information you obtained directly from them. You should ask about things like translation tools the agency uses, qualifications of translators, deadlines and payment terms.

If you need to know the exact bid for your translation, you may ask a few agencies to valuate it. You don’t pay for that nor taking any responsibility. It may be worth it to ask about the security of the data you transferred as well. Proper nondisclosure agreement should make you confident about it.