Translation as a Profession (Benjamins Translation Library)

Chapter 4. The translating profession 123Contracts are managed as separate projects under the responsibility of projectmanagers and the company will frequently include a terminology-managementdepartment and a documentation service as well as a ‘quality control’ section witha number of proof-readers and revisers, one of whom acts as quality manager forthe whole company.Translation companies will, as a rule, offer as wide a range of services aspossible, to the point of taking charge of a client’s multilingual documentationor international communication policy. If need be, they even do the mailings.It has to be stressed that bona fide translation companies do not make ahabit of resorting to sub-contractors. It is normally something they do onlywhen confronted with a particular need in a particular domain or languagecombination – where hiring a full-time in-house translator would obviously notmake sense – or when they need to spread the workload in the face of suddensurges in demand.It must also be remembered that a translation company’s rates will alwaysbe higher than those of a freelance translator, simply because the company hasall kinds of additional costs (i.e. sales, accounting, IT maintenance etc.) andoverheads that the freelancer does not have.The remarkable features of translation companies are:– the large number and great diversity of language combinations,– the wide range of domain specialisations,– the wide range and diversity of available technical equipment and software(platforms and applications),– the wide range of services provided,– a proactive approach to business,– the knowledge of, and ability to implement industrial processes,– the wide range of available resources.Beyond the fact that their work is carried out ‘in-house’, there are three major typesof translation companies:– those that generate substantial turnover and employ large to very large numbersof salaried staff;– those that are managed by translators acting as ‘middle-men’ between thework providers and other translators, but where most of the work is done‘in-house’;– those that consist of partners joining forces to supply a service in a particularlanguage combination and in one or several specialised domains.All three of the above types of translation companies may also do some brokering,but this generally remains a secondary or peripheral activity.