Those translation companies that I “killed” (Part 1) – a junior freelance translator’s experience sharing

In the blink of an eye, I have been working as a freelance translator for three months. During this period, I have come into contact with no less than 50 translation companies, large and small. Overall, China's translation market is still quite chaotic. There are too many small translation companies, and of course there are also a large number of freelance translators.

"Get rid of" is a bit exaggerated. This article is about to write about those translation companies that I have done trial translations and there were no problems with the trial translations. I even signed contracts with them, but I have never cooperated with them once. .

The content of this article is my real personal experience and feelings, and it only represents my feelings about the HR/PM of the translation company that I contacted at the time. This may not be the case with that company now. Because Mr. MT has a straightforward personality, a clear distinction between likes and dislikes, and his opinions are highly subjective, please don’t criticize him if you don’t like him.

First company: Chuanshen Language Union

Chuanshen is the first company I signed with as a freelance translator (in mid-February 2019). The company seems to be very big and has dedicated personnel responsible for recruiting. The feedback from the trial translation is also very timely. Unlike some translation companies, the trial translation results have to wait a month or even longer. What impressed me most was the feedback I gave on the trial translation at that time. I felt it was very pertinent and in place. Because it was the first company, many inexperiences were discovered by the reviewers, but the reviewers also affirmed many strengths. In short, the trial translation gave it 75 points (out of 100), which is considered a pass. The price is a bit ugly, 90 yuan/thousand words of Chinese and North Korean. This Chinese and North Korean (word count, Chinese characters and Korean words) is really disgusting, it seems that it does not count numbers and letters, but MD was just a translator at the time, so he didn’t know anything about Chinese and North Korean, so he was confused. The contract was signed and entered into the expressive system.

Around mid-May, the person in charge of recruitment came to me and asked if I was free. He said he had a manuscript of more than 20,000 words and it was due in two days. I thought to myself, this is incredible, 20,000 words in 2 days, I am considered a god! Of course, I would never tell them that, and I just found a reason to refuse (I was still patient and polite at this time). Then he said, there is another document, don't worry, it's two to three thousand words, it will be handed in the day after tomorrow. At this point, I don’t plan to pretend anymore. To put it bluntly, I am less likely to cooperate with you, implying that I will not cooperate in the future. Of course, I didn’t tell them the specific reasons, and I didn’t think it was necessary. In fact, the reason is very simple. The price is too low and it is from China and North Korea. I have zero tolerance for China and North Korea. They are too stingy.

? Experience 1: The word count must be calculated based on the number of words in the second line of word count.

The second company: Rico Translation

Rico is really nothing. It's easy to say, it's also calculated based on China and North Korea. There was no problem with the trial translation at that time (at the end of February 2019). PM contacted me to register the information and discuss the price. I said 100/thousand words of Chinese, and she said 90. I said that’s okay, but the word count must be based on the second line of word (because I have suffered a loss), but she said that they all came from China and North Korea, and I felt like Words: Get out! Of course, I definitely didn’t say that, so it’s okay for me to say it (in fact, I really disagree). I PMed and said thank you! I thought to myself: Thank you, you ghost, you thought you were buying groceries! Then I deleted QQ. By the way, MD brother also has a habit of deleting QQ. If there is no possibility of cooperation, he will immediately delete QQ. In fact, there is another episode with Rico. Their broken system is that they actually try online translation (there is a web page, click on it, choose your field, and then start the exam. You can't copy and paste, you have to do it word by word. Enter the test interface), and it took me a long time to complete it and submit it. Many days later, the PM sent an email saying that their evaluators could not see the trial translation I made because of a system bug and asked me to try it again. Do it. I thought to myself: What the fuck. At that time, I also endured it and did it again patiently. Fortunately, MT brother has a good brain and basically remembers it. Unexpectedly, in the end, it was someone from China and North Korea.

(To be continued...)