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What certification is worth investing in to consolidate your career?
Thread poster: Vincent Lemma
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:47
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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Exactly Apr 22, 2017

Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
Mario Chavez wrote:
I know it also because of the downward pressure on prices. That indicates a glut of supply (too many translators or so-called translators). Have you seen what the US Bureau of Labor publishes about translators?

It also indicates too many agencies, competing on price, IMO...

Spot on. I cannot help wondering how a good translator stops enjoying translation and decides that it is best to become a lousy entrepreneur.


 
Erik Freitag
Erik Freitag  Identity Verified
Germany
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Dutch to German
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My 2 cents, from personal experience Apr 22, 2017

I was having similar thoughts a couple of years ago. Coming from a different trade originally, and although being an already seasoned and not at all unsuccessful translator, I felt that some kind of "official" recognition might be a good idea.

I went for the CIoL DipTrans, which also opened a convenient way to join professional organisations like said CIoL or its German equivalent, the BDÜ. I could have achieved this by other means as well (for example by proving that I'd been succ
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I was having similar thoughts a couple of years ago. Coming from a different trade originally, and although being an already seasoned and not at all unsuccessful translator, I felt that some kind of "official" recognition might be a good idea.

I went for the CIoL DipTrans, which also opened a convenient way to join professional organisations like said CIoL or its German equivalent, the BDÜ. I could have achieved this by other means as well (for example by proving that I'd been successfully working as a translator for a certain length of time, which in practice would have meant showing them invoices, orders, and/or tax declarations, which I wasn't particularly inclined to do).

Anyway, I don't regret having done this, as I do get clients from those organisations' directories now and then, and it is another box to tick for potential clients who find me by other means.

And, and this is my main point: The investment was next to neglible. While it is true that the DipTrans is notorious for its high failure rate, it shouldn't really pose a problem for an experienced translator (and that's the way it should be, if you think about it). I went there with absolute no preparation at all and didn't find it difficult (although it probably would have if I had just been starting out).

So: If you feel that some kind of language-related recognition is in order, just do it. All you need to invest is a day of your time and the examination fees (I'm speaking of the DipTrans here, obviously - YMMV).

But if you're asking whether this is necessary, I'd say no, especially not if you're already successful and have a qualification in your subject field. It's just a nice thing to have and probably won't do any harm (although there was a time when I suspected it might).
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Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:47
Member (2004)
English to Italian
yes... Apr 22, 2017

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:

Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
Mario Chavez wrote:
I know it also because of the downward pressure on prices. That indicates a glut of supply (too many translators or so-called translators). Have you seen what the US Bureau of Labor publishes about translators?

It also indicates too many agencies, competing on price, IMO...

Spot on. I cannot help wondering how a good translator stops enjoying translation and decides that it is best to become a lousy entrepreneur.


To me, this has been the most significant negative development in our industry in the last 5 years or even more... agencies compete solely on price, working on big volume/low price projects and giving volume discounts... which is incredibly short-sighted, since translation is not a commodity and economies of scale do not apply to our "trade"... translators work for very low rates, taking on large volumes to counterbalance the rate and make a decent living... but in order to achieve a certain income, speed is of the essence... and excessive speed and translation don't really go together... what suffers? I'll let you guess...


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:47
English to Spanish
+ ...
Thanks, Giovanni and Tomás Apr 23, 2017

Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:

Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
Mario Chavez wrote:
I know it also because of the downward pressure on prices. That indicates a glut of supply (too many translators or so-called translators). Have you seen what the US Bureau of Labor publishes about translators?

It also indicates too many agencies, competing on price, IMO...

Spot on. I cannot help wondering how a good translator stops enjoying translation and decides that it is best to become a lousy entrepreneur.


To me, this has been the most significant negative development in our industry in the last 5 years or even more... agencies compete solely on price, working on big volume/low price projects and giving volume discounts... which is incredibly short-sighted, since translation is not a commodity and economies of scale do not apply to our "trade"... translators work for very low rates, taking on large volumes to counterbalance the rate and make a decent living... but in order to achieve a certain income, speed is of the essence... and excessive speed and translation don't really go together... what suffers? I'll let you guess...


Who is to blame for this? I point the finger at three groups: universities trying to make money (“How about a marketing course for translators?”), translators pretending to be business professors (“Read my book on building a successful website!”) and translators organizations desperate to retain old members and gain new ones. For proof of the latter, just look at their latest conference programs.

I'm not saying, however, that translators shouldn't learn or be given business advice. But they should certainly be strongly discouraged from establishing a translation agency for sourcing purposes (there are other purposes, you know).

In fact, I would urge the likes of CIOL, ATA, ITI and all those FIT children to remove membership from translators who also manage a sourcing translation agency.


 
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:47
Member (2004)
English to Italian
Not sure... Apr 23, 2017

it's all down to translators setting up agencies... of course, there are, but I get the impression it's just business people who spot a gap in the market and decide to take advantage... for them, it's just a business like another... and can be done online, without massive overheads. The agency market is saturated, so I guess we'll see fewer and fewer start-ups, a bit like the online platforms... they seem to have disappeared... or at least we are not bombarded like we used to.

 
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What certification is worth investing in to consolidate your career?






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