Whoever came up with this month’s topic, “Self-defence for translators”, deserves credit for choosing a subject that was bound to stimulate wide-ranging discussion on several fronts. The best topics are always those on which everyone present is likely to have an opinion, and we had lots of opinions to share, as well as some useful knowledge to pass on.
Translators are confronted by plenty of challenges – and probably always have been. Our discussions ranged from how to protect ourselves against the imposition of unreasonable deadlines, whether professional insurance is really needed by all translators, and how to spot (and thus avoid) scams, to questions about contract terms and conditions. To paraphrase Dr Johnson’s phrase (and why not?) that “when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather”, it’s probably true to say that when two translators meet it’s not long before the question of rates comes up, so we had a side-chat about that too – there’s certainly a discussion to be had about rates in the context of “self-defence”, if you think about it.
Here’s a summary of the discussions:
Deadlines: shorter deadlines are perhaps part of a trend, encouraged by AI, which leads people to think that everything can be done at breakneck speed. It’s important not to be afraid to push back occasionally, especially if, for example, a deadline of Friday evening is imposed – is it really likely that the client will be looking at your work over the weekend, or might they be ok with you asking for an extension to Monday morning?
Terms and conditions: don’t forget the “Model Terms of Business” document on the ITI website. Remember that some clients will have a standard set of pre-agreed Ts & Cs from which they are not allowed to deviate.
Scams: there are various tools that you can use to check if a particular domain name is registered or not, such as WhoIs (whois.domaintools.com). Also: if something arrives and it’s not addressed to you by name, it pays to be suspicious. And if something simply “feels” a bit fishy, it quite possibly is – trust your instincts! Unfortunately, some fake companies may prey upon translators’ desire/need for work. We were also reminded of Atlas Translations’ fairly recent identity fraud experience – see https://www.atlas-translations.co.uk/blog/beware-of-wordscup-identity-fraud/ – and there may well be others too.
Insurance: not everyone has it, and it may well depend on the types of text you translate as to whether you need it. Some clients will specify the level and type of insurance cover needed. Various insurers were mentioned, such as Towergate, Trafalgar (recommended by CIOL) and Hiscox. Translators may need insurance cover against, for example, cyberattack or loss of earnings, as well as the more obvious professional indemnity cover.
Rates: various resources were mentioned, such as:
https://www.iti.org.uk/resource/value-iti-membership-freelance-translator-rates
There’s a continuing problem over transparency among translators on these questions.
No “Monthly Chat”in October, as the Branch AGM is on 15 October in Norwich. The next Monthly Chat, in November, will look at “The future of our profession”.
Blog post written by our ITI East Anglia Network member John Wagstaff
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