“Find a translator” sounds easy – there are literally 1000 s.

Find a translator right for you, that’s hard.

Find a translator to trustTo find a translator that’s a good fit for what you need, there’s quite a lot to consider. 

Of course, you can always just close your eyes and dip…

But if you’d rather not entrust your stuff to chance, we’ve been doing this for 30 years, and here’s some of what we’d look for.

  1. Does the translator actually “get” you? Do they even understand what you need, and what for? If not, things won’t end well. Look for history, and look for expertise. Look for smart, helpful website content rich in useful and specialist information relevant to YOUR requirements and language.
  2. Can you trust what they say? Words are cheap, so ask detailed and challenging questions. If they claim to specialise in environmental for example, can they cite experience? Most can’t name clients for confidentiality reasons, but they should be able to describe projects and their particular expertise.
  3. Are they real translators? May seem an odd question, but hundreds of “language services” have sprung up in China and India (and even in Europe) leveraging machine translation like Google Translate so unless you can QA in-house it’s safest to leave sourcing to a provider with the skillset to filter out the dross.
  4. Where are they? Google is your friend here – because would a “leading language provider” really be located in a block of flats? Google Maps’ amazing Street View can check them out. Beware PO Boxes too, they can hide a lot of bad stuff.
  5. Are they competent to do this? Did you know you need ZERO qualifications to open a “translation agency”? You do now! Always look for an “About Us” page full of professional language and sector qualifications and experience. It’s worth looking too for BS ISO 17100, although – like any Standard – it’s far from sufficient in itself.

Always remember, you’re hiring a skilled professional – in the same way as if you were hiring a tradesperson, designer, or architect. Of course cost is a factor, but hiring the right skills and experience to ensure you get what you need is what really matters.

Most professional and government tenders weight “price” at just 15%. They understand that language provider selection relies on many far more important factors, and that you get what you pay for.

Here’s what WE expect of OUR language partners.

  • Experienced. Established 1990, we’ve been a quality provider 30 years and we’d look for similar.
  • Honest. If we say we’ll do something, we do it. We’d look for the same.
  • Professional. We ONLY use professionally-qualified, experienced mother-tongue linguists, and we’d expect the same.
  • Helpfulness. Our team are hand-picked helpful friendly people; we’d look for the same. And if they hide behind portals and automated “chat”, avoid!
  • Trust. We retain the best linguists for your stuff by looking after them. You’d be surprised how rare that is.
  • No hassle. Once a quote is given, that should be it. Any more than one or two follow-ups indicates a provider keener on sales than on service.
  • Capability. While few offer our range of services, we will always look for proven capability in what IS offered. Can they actually do it?
  • Recommendation. We get great reviews and would look for the same.
  • History. Having delivered some 50,000 projects ourselves, we’d look for similar experience in providers.
  • Security. Total confidentiality, secure systems, and trusted staff is essential. Obviously. Look for something like this.

We can’t guarantee that by following these guidelines to find a translator, you’ll find the right one first time. But you will be in with a much better chance of doing so.

We’re always happy to assist – just ask a question and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can, or to chat over call our friendly helpful team on UK Freefone 0800 783 4678 (Intnl 0044 1772 558858).