Can Hiring Freelance Translators Rather Than a Translation Agency Be A Mistake, And Why?

Translation companies and translators are quite in demand in today’s increasingly international business world. However, a common question for business people is which one should they choose: a freelance translator or a translation company?A translation company provides extensive and comprehensive translation services, usually a translation company offers translation in and out of a variety of languages. Freelancers on the other hand, usually specialize in only one or two language pairs.  Thus, if the client requires translation into several different languages, they have to either use a translation agency or themselves manage a whole pool of individual translators, which they are far less experienced in doing than a translation agency.There are several differences in the relative benefits of using a translator company or a freelance translator. Translation agencies usually organize and manage the translation work themselves, thus there is no needed for the client to find time to micromanage the translation process. They can therefore concentrate on whatever their core business is. In the case of freelance writers, clients are always involved more closely, for example in organizing or supervising the work or even answer detailed questions about the contents of the source documents.Translation agencies perform a lot of proofreading of their work, which would give assurance to the client that the completed translation has been delivered correctly and without mistakes. A freelance translator can obviously proofread his or her own work.  However, this does not necessarily mean that the result is great. As most of us are probably aware, it is considerably harder to properly double-check or proofread our own work, rather than somebody else’s.. In other words, blatant errors, oversights and biases are all very much possible in this case.The good thing about hiring a translation agency is that they are a team. Thus, however heavy the workload is, there is a distribution of labor which is very helpful to make the translation easy, professional and fast. However, this is entirely different from hiring a freelance translator, for although a freelance translator may handle a large workload, there is always a significant possibility that he or she would not meet the target time for the completion of the work.I am not judging the capability of freelance translators however; many if not most of them are doing an admirable job translating. It is just that one has to be aware that the lesser cost of a freelance translator is counterbalanced by a greater consistency of service by a translation agency, and a lesser need to manage the work flow. It is also very true that you cannot please everybody. What may seem good for you may not be good for others. Translation companies usually hire freelance translators themselves, but they really see to it that this freelance translator meet their specific requirements.Another positive point about translation companies is that they hire people who are capable of supervising the work, to ensure that the translation is carried out accurately, and completely at the right time. For the above reasons, it is pretty much obvious why many businesses would rather choose to hire a translator company than seek the direct help of freelance translators.In engaging or expanding a business, it is certainly not a crime to hire a freelance translator, particularly when the budget is very tight. If you can be quite certain about their achievements and good reputation as far as their translation work is concerned, then it should be fine. However, if you are not sure about a translator or don’t actually know any translator directly, then it’s better not to fish in muddy water.  In this case, it is better to be sure than to experiment or you may find out something in the end that your translated work is of insufficient quality. In other words, saving a little money on translation services can prove to be a false economy in the end, if the translated document harms your business or its reputation. Better be sure!