Before beginning your search, remember that the ideal certified translator for you will depend on the text that you need to be translated. If you have a text explaining pharmaceuticals, or legal documents to be translated, a general translator is unlikely to be suitable.
It also depends on what you are exactly looking for, but if you want to know how to start, I have a few ways that come to mind!
When finding certified translation services, the first step is to determine your translation needs. Each project range includes project format, languages needed, and destination countries. Ideally, your translators should be native speakers. While it’s possible to achieve complete fluency in a language that is not your native language, the best translators are usually native speakers. If you’re working in a language that has differences in usage between countries, ensure your translator has the right country-level expertise.
- Search the Internet for the freelancer: It’s the easiest one, at least at the beginning. Just put a certified translator in Google and look what comes up. What is a bit more difficult is sorting them out, as the ones who come up on first pages are usually the most expensive.
If you hire a freelancer, you will know who is doing the work, you will be able to talk to this person, and over time she or he will become knowledgeable about your endeavors.
You can go through the Proz. It is a directory where translators are listed or ranked in order, according to experience. Experience is based on the number of Kudos points that they have scored. These are gained from assisting other translators with multiple points of translation, and so relate to the experience.
You can also view the length of time the certified translator has been recorded with Proz and the number of years’ experience that they have of translating. There is also a feedback process from clients and associates.
- Referral or Word of Mouth: If you are looking for a legal translation, you can ask in an attorney’s office. For any other, ask around your friends or co-workers for advice. Cons? You never know if they are ready and you take their skills for a word.
- Find a translation agency: That’s probably the easiest one, as nowadays almost any translation agency can provide you with a certified translator. To make sure you can trust your translation agency, Google them and check their reviews.
It will provide you with a team of translators that can translate a long document at relatively short notice, produce versions in multiple languages, and guarantee that someone will always be available for you. They the proper credentials, many qualified interpreters and translators with the right experience, linguistic knowledge and subject matter expertise. Further, an agency can quickly select the most qualified professional to assist you even at short notice.
When in need of a certified translator, you can make contact with Universal Translation Services.
