Online job boards, such as Upwork and LinkedIn, are making finding a freelance translator easier than ever. Organisations can post their specific project requirements, deadlines, and budget. Then, freelance translators ​can bid to get the gig. Alternatively, online marketplaces, such as Fiverr, are thriving places for translators and other freelancers to advertise their ability to translate professional documents, to be approached by potential employers. These accessible solutions have made it much easier to hire, or work as, a freelance translator. Online recommendations and reviews are helpful in evaluating the talent and subject matter expertise of a potential hire. However, they can’t guarantee a high-quality result or the service level that UK translation agencies can offer.

As with any project, establishing your business needs is important. Making a hiring decision should only come after you have a clear understanding of the project requirements. It is only after having a clear understanding within your organisation of your current and future project needs. Then, you will be able to sort through the pros and cons of hiring a freelance translator to translate professional documents. Having answers to these questions will also make the vendor evaluation, contracting and project management processes more efficient. Whether you choose one of the many UK translation agencies, or a freelance translator, you should consider the following questions in advance.

Translation Project Requirements Questions:

• Is this a one-time translation project or an ongoing translation task?
• What is my turnaround deadline?
• Does the time zone matter to me? For example, if you are based in the UK, would you prefer to work with a freelance translator or UK translation agencies or a similar time zone?
• What are the consequences if the delivery is not timely?
• Do I have the time and expertise to evaluate, screen, and hire a freelance translator?
• Is this a general translation project or specialised topic requiring an expert?
• Does my project require numerous professional translation services? For example, trancreation, subtitling, localisation, or voiceover work.
• Do I need more than one subject matter expert to complete the project collaboratively?
• Do I need a project manager to oversee the deliverables and milestones?
• Do I want to translate professional-level content into multiple languages? Does this require more than one translator?
• Is this a common translation language combination or a more unique source and target language combination? For example, a common language combination is French to English. However, Japanese to Swahili may be difficult to find professional translators proficient in both languages.
• Does my project require certified translation documentation to comply with relevant laws or regulations?
• What is the business risk if there is a mistake in the translation? Do we need our freelance translator or agency to have professional indemnity insurance?

Freelance Translator Pros

Cheaper: Freelance translators typically have lower expenses, as they typically work from home with no staff such as project managers, sales staff, or administrative roles. Thus, there are no agency fees to cover large business operating costs. This is often passed on to the customer, so hiring a freelance translator may be cheaper than UK translation agencies.

Direct Communication: With a freelance translator, you are typically communicating with the same person from the initial contact to the project’s completion. Some people prefer this personal and direct communication.

Verified Skills: The same person you initially discussed the project with will also be the person who will translate professional level work for you. Therefore, you will have a good idea of their areas of expertise and background in advance. There is also less room for miscommunication, as you are speaking to the translator directly.

Freelance Translator Cons

Recruitment & Contracting: You will need to search for, screen, and negotiate the project contract with every freelance translator individually. This can be time-consuming or even cause delays, especially if the freelancer does not have immediate availability on their calendar.

Service Risk: When working directly with a freelance translator, there is no guarantee regarding their ability to accurately translate professional materials to a high standard. The only reassurances come from their CV and references, whereas a translator hired via an agency would have been vetted with a skills test already. Moreover, if the freelancer does not have professional indemnity insurance, loss recovery is very limited.

Limited Expertise: A freelance translator has limited capacity to their skills and time. Once they reach this limit, you will need to start the recruitment process over again to find supplemental resources.

Limited capacity: With a freelance translator, the project will only be completed as fast as they are able. This means that large projects are difficult to turn around in a short deadline; on the other hand, UK translation agencies are more likely to have the capacity to handle short deadlines, bringing more translators onto the project if needed.

Translation Agency Pros

Professional Recruitment: UK translation agencies generally have strict recruiting standards to ensure only professional translators work on specialised projects. Recruitment standards required to translate professional documents can include a skills test, five years of translation experience, and a relevant degree or translation qualification. Further requirements are made for employees to work as industry subject matter experts or technical translators. This structure is not in place when hiring a freelance translator directly.

Verified Deliverables: For each project, translation agencies have a translator and a proofreader. Both translators are fluent in the source and target languages too. Therefore, all of the content is reviewed by two professional translators prior to delivery.

Advanced Technology: Many UK translation agencies have invested in the latest CAT tools and translation memory (TM) technology. This technology increases the accuracy and consistency of the final output, and can significantly increase the speed of a translation.

24/7 Resources: Translation Agencies often have hundreds or thousands of translation professionals on their books. This can significantly speed up a project, compared with using a freelance translator. Tight deadlines are easier to meet, as the project is easier to resource. Having a large directory to pull from also means that less time is spent looking for someone qualified to translate professional documentation.

Turnkey Service: Language service providers often offer a complete suite of services beyond translation, such as subtitling, voiceovers, transcreation , and typesetting. By hiring a competent vendor, your project can be completed efficiently from start to finish in one place. For large projects, this can save significant amounts of time. For large-scale projects, UK translation agencies usually assign a project manager who will coordinate the project throughout. In comparison, this would have to be done by you when working with a freelance translator, as well as with typesetters, subtitlers and proofreaders.

Guaranteed Results: Businesses often offer satisfaction guarantees to demonstrate their commitment to excellent customer service. If there is a mistake, UK translation agencies are more likely to carry professional indemnity insurance policies to protect all the parties involved.

Translation Agency Cons

Fees: Translation agencies hire more staff and therefore have more overheads than freelance translators. Whilst the customer does benefit from the expertise of additional staff such as project managers, the expenses are passed on to the client in the form of agency fees.

Agency Selection: There are many UK translation agencies, and internationally, to choose from. In fact, finding the right translation agency to partner with is a big decision. Looking at industry trade association memberships is a good first step. Reading testimonials, and asking for references from clients with similar projects to yours can help you decide who is best suited to translate professional documents for you.

Our Freelance Translators Are Experts!

Larger businesses often prefer to work with translation agencies, but there are also many benefits of working with a freelance translator. For larger projects, especially those requiring multiple languages or multiple services, working with UK translation agencies to translate professional documents may be the preferable option. Only you can decide whether a freelance translator or a translation agency is the right choice for you.

Renaissance Translations is an industry-leading translation agency, with over 5,000 translators on our books. We offer accurate and professional translation services, from translation to transcreation, in over 120 languages across a range of industries. Get in touch with our team today to discuss your upcoming translation project.