Review rates, per pages or per hours? Thread poster: Marta Redondo
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Hi everyone!
I've been asked to carry out a series of reviews of translations from EN and FR into Spanish.
My question is, should I establish the rates according to the number of hours? (And, in this case, how much per hour?) or, should I establish them according to the number of words/pages? (And, in this case, how much per page/word?).
Thank you in advance.
Marta.
| | | | Jan Willem van Dormolen (X) 
Netherlands
Local time: 04:59
English to Dutch
+ ...
| ALWAYS per hour | Nov 21, 2014 |
ALWAYS review per hour, never per page/word/line. Simple reason: the quality of the translation can be wildly different. I've had 5000 word reviews which took me less time than some 500 word reviews. Not to mention the possibility that they will try to make you "review" machine generated "translations", in which case the review will often take you longer than translating the whole lot from scratch.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 03:59
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| ALWAYS per hour, as Jan Willem says | Nov 21, 2014 |
Marta Redondo wrote:
(And, in this case, how much per hour?)
Your normal per-hour rate. If you don't think you have one, I'm sure you're wrong . If you know how many words per hour your can translate (in deliverable condition, including rereading etc), and you know your rate, then you can soon calculate it. As long as you're happy with what you earn from translating. The community rates displayed here give an idea of common rates: http://search.proz.com/employers/rates
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I agree with Sheila and Jan.
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| Review other people's work once you have gained experience | Nov 21, 2014 |
Marta Redondo wrote:
Hi everyone!
I've been asked to carry out a series of reviews of translations from EN and FR into Spanish.
My question is, should I establish the rates according to the number of hours? (And, in this case, how much per hour?) or, should I establish them according to the number of words/pages? (And, in this case, how much per page/word?).
Thank you in advance.
Marta.
What are you asked to do?
To write a summary about the quality of the translations?
Are you supposed to edit/revise text?
Are you quoting a firm price before you start and will you have a contract or PO reflecting YOUR terms and conditions of your work (which is of utmost importance)?
Whatever it is you need to do, first take a very good look at the source and target text and estimate/calculate how long the work you are expected to do is going to take you. Be sure you know exactly what is expected of you.
Problem is you have never done this. Not sure how you will be able to assess the amount of time this will take you.
If you are uncomfortable or unsure about the work involved, don't do it. It's probably better to first become an experienced translator before you start reviewing other people's work. That's what I recommend.
PS: You are a completely new user of this site. Are you trying to find out what translators would quote because you are actually outsourcing this job? You mention three languages (two of them source languages). Just curious.
[Edited at 2014-11-21 17:00 GMT]
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:59
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Always per hour | Nov 22, 2014 |
You can provide a detailed sheet on how many hours you've worked, in case the client asks for it.
Whether you are to proof-read or to thoroughly revise/edit the translation, an hour of your time is 1 hour. Yet in order to provide your client with an (almost accurate) estimate of the hours you will need for a/the project(s), you should ask to see the translation first. Some are nearly perfect, some are, well, a little less perfect. ... See more You can provide a detailed sheet on how many hours you've worked, in case the client asks for it.
Whether you are to proof-read or to thoroughly revise/edit the translation, an hour of your time is 1 hour. Yet in order to provide your client with an (almost accurate) estimate of the hours you will need for a/the project(s), you should ask to see the translation first. Some are nearly perfect, some are, well, a little less perfect.
Charging per page, let alone per word, is not a good idea for the above mentioned reason.
[Edited at 2014-11-22 10:19 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | AlternativeW (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:59
French to English
| Providing a great proofreading service | Nov 22, 2014 |
A few suggestions on how to do this, and stay sane ... based on the posts so far:
1. Take a look at the texts: I agree with Thayenga. Ask to see the original text AND the translation before you quote, to give you an idea of how complex a job it is. This is absolutely vital. How good is the translation?
2. Understand the project's parameters: How much input is the client is expecting (simple proofreading, ... See more A few suggestions on how to do this, and stay sane ... based on the posts so far:
1. Take a look at the texts: I agree with Thayenga. Ask to see the original text AND the translation before you quote, to give you an idea of how complex a job it is. This is absolutely vital. How good is the translation?
2. Understand the project's parameters: How much input is the client is expecting (simple proofreading, editing, formatting)? Tracked changes and comments? What type of text is it (proofreading a factual document is very different from proofreading a marketing text which needs to 'speak' to the audience)? Is the client a translator, an agency or a direct client?
3. Decide on the right rate for the project: I quote - perhaps controversially - per word not per hour. I want to give my clients a clear, fixed price quotation - and deliver on time and to budget, every time. I don't want them to think that I will charge more if the project takes me too long. It's my responsibility to set my rate per word to ensure I can do this (which is just the same as setting an hourly rate and quoting for a set number of hours). My rates vary depending on the project's parameters.
4. The dotted line: Talk this through with the client, get their agreement and put everything in writing in a PO.
In essence, think through all the aspects of your work on the project carefully in advance of starting work, communicate these clearly to the client and establish a clear agreement with them. And don't be afraid to say no, if you think that the rate doesn't match the job. If this profession is for you, there will be others.
Hope this helps, good luck!
[Edited at 2014-11-22 21:49 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Fixed price quotation with a hourly rate | Nov 23, 2014 |
@AlternativeWord: You can also give a clear and fixed price quotation with a hourly rate. You have a look at the project, estimate the time you will spend with (e. g. three hours). If you pass more time on the project it's your problem, if you pass less time your customer will be happy.
If of course the client wants a fee by source word, estimate the hours you will pass on the project and calculate a fee by word from the time you think spending.
The thing not to do is s... See more @AlternativeWord: You can also give a clear and fixed price quotation with a hourly rate. You have a look at the project, estimate the time you will spend with (e. g. three hours). If you pass more time on the project it's your problem, if you pass less time your customer will be happy.
If of course the client wants a fee by source word, estimate the hours you will pass on the project and calculate a fee by word from the time you think spending.
The thing not to do is sending a quotation with a fixed price without having seen the whole document. I once had to do a proofreading for a direct client and only saw a third of the document which was quite correct and did contain very few faults. When the rest arrived I had a bad surprize though because the quality was not the same at all. Two third of the document were in deed a product of google translator and I had to renegociate the price. ▲ Collapse
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 04:59
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Per hour definitely | Nov 23, 2014 |
You never know what the quality of the text to revise will be, so it's safer to charge by the hour.
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