How To Find A Medical Translator

Excerpt from article written by the Managing Director of Concordis Language Services, a translation service company located in Massachusetts.

INTRODUCTION

We have probably all heard by now of the unfortunate consequences and horror stories of how the misreading or misinterpreting of a word, phrase, or specific medical term caused a patient to suffer or go through needless medical procedures.

Unfortunately, “the art of translation,” like most art forms, can be a knotty one. Medical translation is particularly one of those areas that have its own nuances and jargon, which makes this area of translation challenging — even for the most seasoned translator — and why buyers of translation services should practice due diligence when purchasing medical translation services from a translation company or freelance translator.

To read this article in its entirety go to: How to find a Medical Translator

Let’s talk about proz, baby!

For some translators and interpreters alike, the translation portal known as Proz is a site that some love to hate or that have a love/hate relationship with the site’s many shortcomings, of which countless words and articles denouncing it as a plague-spot can be found throughout the web.

Though, in all fairness, to the site, and to its many contributors, there are many who believe that Proz is a valuable tool that has helped them in their freelancing endeavours. In fact, at first glance, it appears that many new faces to the translation profession have found their first of many clients through the site. Whether it is because clients found them by coming across their profile, or because the translator expressed interest in working with the company by responding to a job posting.

Indeed, there is no denying that in spite of its faults and imperfections, and regardless of people’s opinions about Proz, or on what side of the issue they might take, one thing is certain: Proz is an influential player in the translation profession, and many have used and continue to use its services as a springboard to launch their freelance careers as translators and interpreters, while others remain in order to use the site as a personal business vCard.

In light of those facts, we believe that if used correctly, and in conjunction with other methods of self-advertisement, professional translators and interpreters will benefit from Proz’s many functions and perhaps might find it as an aid or boost to their careers.

With that said, here are just a few a ways how you can get the most out of Proz and make it work for you:

1. CV / Resume holder. Proz allows its users to upload and store their CV / Resume onto the site, which offers a convenient way of sharing vital information with prospective clients. Such option includes a unique link to their individual profile and CV / Resume, which can be effortlessly hidden from public view in order to deter scrapers and identity thieves from stealing valuable and personal information.

2. Kudoz / Terminology. Another useful aspect of the site’s many features includes the community-based sharing of knowledge and information by allowing translators who are uncertain of the meaning of a word or phrase to seek the assistance of a fellow colleague knowledgeable in the field. In other words, a venue for asking others that have already been there and done that, and aptly capable of providing help to their fellow translator.

3. Blueboard database. Though far from perfect, the Blueboard database allows translators and interpreters to look up potential clients before accepting paid assignments. This tool allows its users to quickly glean some useful information as to the client’s record of following through with making timely payments, as promised according to the terms and conditions agreed to by the parties. Unfortunately, as a fair warning to translators and interpreters — not every 5-Star company or agency is worthy of their score and, therefore, these are usually just a rough indicator of how well they manage their financial affairs, and, perhaps, to a lesser extent, how well they manage their business relationships.

4. Networking and community. As previously mentioned, Proz is a type of online community that brings professionals from all corners of the translation and interpretation profession together, adequately enabling the free flow of knowledge and information. Within the many virtual halls and corners of Proz, you will find a number of communities that are geared toward addressing various issues of importance to translators and interpreters. Many of these issues are rather common and, therefore, need no mentioning, however, in deference to our readers, and in order to fulfil the purposes of this article, we will quickly mention that for many, Proz is a go-to source of reference for many translators and interpreters who might encounter an issue, or two. with a client, or, perhaps with one of their many “sleeping” or uncooperative, and “misbehaving” CAT tools, preventing them from delivering that 10k-25k word project due in a few hours.

5. Webinars. Last but not least, if you haven’t noticed by now, allow us to make clear that Proz.com is composed of thousands of professionals that make up a significant portion of those that access the site every day. One of the many benefits of that traffic is the ability and ease of access to a growing and captivated audience that is ever seeking new and exciting ways of improving their freelance translation businesses through self-improvement and  learning about new tools and information specifically geared toward the translation profession. Many of these webinars provide translators and interpreters with beneficial information on a number of topics, including money management, tips on how to seek out new clients, learning how to harness and make use of the latest industry tools, including the ever growing number of Computer-Assisted Tools, that for a significant number of translators, is way of ensuring a consistent and professional output of similarly worded phrases. Indeed, there are many benefits to attending these webinars. Some are even provided free-of-charge.

In any case, we believe that it is important to build up and assist our fellow colleagues by pointing them in the right direction and showing them just one of the many ways toward a brighter future as opposed to burning bridges and building walls, so, please do not take any of this as a glowing and personal endorsement of proz.com, but instead, as the opinion of its writer(s).

Final Disclaimer: No promises of payment, or favour, or compensation of any sort was made or received for the production of this article, but was merely written and provided for the benefit and enjoyment of our readers.

Translators: first impressions matter.

Selling your services to decision makers is challenging, at best, and nearly impossible at worst, especially when speaking of the translation profession since the “industry” is saturated with so many people and companies vying for the same piece of the translation pie. However, it doesn’t have to be difficult and, in fact, might be easier than you think if you understand a few business principles.

Decision makers are paid to think about the bottom line and improve their organization’s business results. Regardless of how the media, the industry, or other translators and industry players portray these industry executives, their primary concern is to improve their business and stand out in a sea of thousands. This means that they eat, sleep, and think about how they can increase sales, market share, customer loyalty; reduce errors, costs, and employee turnover, as well as improve productivity, employee engagement, retention, customer service and more.

How do your translation products, services, or solutions address one of these issues?

Decision makers deal with ever-changing priorities. Improving customer engagement may be a top priority today but tomorrow that same executive may be faced with cutting hundreds or thousands of dollars in expenses due to the needs of an ever-changing market. That might mean that they will sometimes go cold after expressing initial interest in your solution and perhaps you will never hear from them again if they think that you will not add value to their company’s bottom line.

Do you have a strategy in place to keep your solution current?

Decision makers are extremely busy people. The average business executive arrives early to the workplace and stays late into the evening. They get tons of calls every day, receive twice as many emails, and their attention is usually in too many places at once. This will mean that you will need to maximize every minute you have when you connect with them. That is to say — if —  you connect with them. This applies to all forms of communication, including telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings, which most translation industry executives do not appreciate since time is in short supply and every minute counts. So make it count!

Do you know EXACTLY what to say if and when you connect with these individuals?

Decision makers usually rely on others to help them get their work done. Contrary to popular belief, executives rarely make decisions on their own. They often defer to other people on their team and ask for feedback, references, and sometimes even professional dossiers compiled from various sources, including peers and other people with intimate knowledge of the individual. This might mean creating a professional network of people and involving them in your conversations and including them in the decision-making process.

Do you have the ability to sharpen these skills?

Decision makers don’t like to make mistakes. A major mistake can have a long-lasting effect on their reputation or careers,  they can even knock down and destroy entire companies or “at a minimum”, the careers of a few people within that same company. Bearing that fact in mind,  this means that their decision-making process will be affected by a number of factors which means you will need to uncover them during your conversations.

How will you reduce your prospective client’s risk factors?

Some decision makers have HUGE egos, though, for the most part, most company executives have healthy egos, which is perhaps one of the things that helped them achieve their status. This means that you will need to be confident in your own abilities when presenting your pitch and selling your translation services. The important aspect to remember is to not back down when you’re being challenged. In fact, doing so could prevent you from closing the deal, since most decision makers and their managers want to deal with people who know what they’re doing and believe in what they’re doing.

Are you confident enough to deal directly with those decision makers?

Executives and managers spend the bulk of their day in meetings and attending to all the important stuff. If you ever get a chance to visit their office,  observe the higher-ups and take notice of what they’re doing . Chances are you will see them dashing from place to place and, perhaps, from meeting to meeting. Your prospects are in the same position. They aren’t sitting at their desk waiting for you to give them a call.The key is to remain proactive instead reactive.

Are you persistent in your efforts to connect and stay connected?

Most key players and upper-level executives have more than 45 hours of work facing them and, as I stated earlier, time is in short supply. Several executives have expressed their frustration and sentiment in polls, articles, and other various sources time and again declaring, “I have too much work to do, how will I ever get caught up?” or “The last thing I want to do is to take a call from someone selling me something or from a translator looking for work!”.  With that in mind, you will need to give these individuals an extremely valid reason to want to meet with you or take your call.

Is your approach effective and getting the job done?

Some decision makers receive about 100 emails on any given day of the week. Many salespeople, including translators, use email as their primary form of correspondence and doing so can be ineffective, and hurting their odds of getting the right results, since most decision makers simply don’t have time to respond to every email and sometimes delete most of those that make their way to their inbox  The managing director of a translation service company once stated that she prefers a quick introduction with the most important information quickly outlined so that she could revisit the matter at a later date, if necessary.

Do you use a number of effective strategies to connect with decision makers, or you are doing it all wrong and hurting your chances of moving forward?

Decision makers always have the big picture in mind. Stop focusing on your own products, services,  or company, and start looking at your prospective client’s BIG PICTURE. Most executives don’t get bogged down by all the small details of their business. On the contrary, they pay others to take care of the details.

Can you clearly visualize and discuss the big picture?

In the end, making the mistake of asking the wrong question or having a shortsighted view about top-level issues may prevent you from reaching your goals. Before taking any steps, think about the big picture and how you will respond to each question, and then shape your approach accordingly.