Is final QA check translator's or proofreader's responsibility?
Thread poster: Sachiko Deguzman
Sachiko Deguzman
Sachiko Deguzman  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:21
English to Japanese
Mar 1, 2021

Hello to fellow translators ! I hope everyone is staying wellI have some questions about the standard procedure when you work on translation/proofreading projects through a translation agency. I am interested in who (translator or proofreader) takes care of the final QA process. 

I mainly work for three agencies. Here is the summary of my tasks at each agency.

Agency A: I translate documents on their onl
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Hello to fellow translators ! I hope everyone is staying wellI have some questions about the standard procedure when you work on translation/proofreading projects through a translation agency. I am interested in who (translator or proofreader) takes care of the final QA process. 

I mainly work for three agencies. Here is the summary of my tasks at each agency.

Agency A: I translate documents on their online platform. It gives me warnings (e.g. tag is missing, term in glossary is not used, etc. ) for each string. After I complete translation and take care of all warnings, I submit it. I think it usually gets delivered directly to the end-client unless they request proofreading phase as well. Occasionally the end-client gives me feedback through the online platform. Senior editor of this agency checks at random for quality assurance and I receive feedback and score. 

Agency B: I translate documents on their online platform. It gives me warnings about synthetic error such as missing tags for each string. After I complete translation and take care of all warnings, I submit it. For the project for one particular end-client, my translation goes to SME. After she checks my work, it is delivered to the client. For other end-client's projects, I am not sure if there is a proofreader/editor that is checking my work. It might go straight to the end-client. 

Agency C: For proofreading jobs, I receive documents on memoQ. After proofreading, I run a QA report on memoQ and take care of warnings that are not taken care of by the translator. Then, I deliver my file. 
For translation jobs, the process is different. I translate documents on memoQ and take care of warnings on a QA report. It is delivered to a proofreader. After the proofreader edits my file, it comes back to me to 'finalize' the document. PM usually sends the Inconsistency Report, the Validation Report and RTF file to check spelling (memoQ does not support spell check for Japanese, so I need to use Word to check spelling). During this 'finalizing' process, I need to determine if I can accept the edits that are made by the proofreader on memoQ. So I need to go back to the file and either accept the change or revert to my original translation. Then, I need to run a QA report again and check all the warnings. I need to check items in the Inconsistency Report and the Validation Report and comment if these are corrected or false-positives, etc. Then I deliver everything again to the PM. This 'finalization' phase is considered to be QA and I do not get paid. 

I am not happy with the process for Agency C. It is time consuming. Also, I do not understand the task as a proofreader when multiple translators are involved. Lately I have completed 2 big proofreading projects for Agency C. One was about 40K words and another one was about 60K words. For each project, there were 2 translators working and I am the only one proofreading these projects. I understand I need to run a QA report again and check all the warnings because new warnings show up after proofreading. However, the PM states that "The translators run the QA before you to reduce the true errors in the file, but you should supervise and check them as well." I do not think I have time at all to check all the warnings that are already taken care of ('ignored')by the translators. I need to check the Inconsistency Report that lists all the inconsistent strings that the QA report could not catch. Also, I need to check the Validation Report as well. Since this big project had 2 translators and I am the only one proofreading, the PM puts all the QA responsibilities on my shoulders. This agency highly depends on me for this particular client's project due to my experience and knowledge. I feel thankful that they trust me, but I feel they are asking me too much. 

Is this type of QA process normal when you work through a translation agency? What is your process that you usually follow when you translate or proofread? Do you get paid for the QA process or should it be just part of the translation/proofreading task? I appreciate it if you could share some experience and/or comments. Thank you so much for your time and help in advance!





[Edited at 2021-03-01 21:58 GMT]
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Sadek_A
Sadek_A  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:21
English to Arabic
+ ...
..... Mar 2, 2021

Think of the translator as an architect, the proofreader as an interior designer, the company as a stakeholder/authority, and the text as a building.

The architect gets commissioned, BUILDS and delivers to certain specifications and payment.

The interior designer later gets commissioned, BEAUTIFIES and delivers to other specifications and payment.

During their beautification task, if the interior designer finds a non-commissioned hole in the floor/ceiling (
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Think of the translator as an architect, the proofreader as an interior designer, the company as a stakeholder/authority, and the text as a building.

The architect gets commissioned, BUILDS and delivers to certain specifications and payment.

The interior designer later gets commissioned, BEAUTIFIES and delivers to other specifications and payment.

During their beautification task, if the interior designer finds a non-commissioned hole in the floor/ceiling (incomplete text), failing MEP, such as leaking plumbing, faulty internal wiring, and/or jumbled settings (disordered/improvised text), and/or cracked/cracking walls/columns (destructured text). Then they get back to the stakeholder/authority with their findings and either 1) the architect fixes these "building works" they got commissioned and paid for, or 2) the interior designer themselves sees them fixed at an additional, agreed fee.

However, if the interior designer finds no faulty building works, then they proceed with their beautification task. If during that task they find, say, a loose faucet aerator, a missing skirting's filler, a non-working light switch, and the like, then they can and should fix them. They are simple, cost little and both fall within/add to the beautification. Still, the same should be notified to the stakeholder/authority.

That said, the interior designer would have no right whatsoever to refer to the architect with the request for unpaid adjustments in the completed building works for the sole purpose of such adjustments ultimately "sitting nicely" with the interior designer's beatification vision. They can't ask the architect to, say, gratuitously demolish a wall/column simply because they want to use a longer couch. They just have to do with the delivered correct, complete building works the way they are.
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Vivianhu
Sara Massons
 
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:21
Member (2004)
English to Italian
Agency C Mar 2, 2021

No, not normal, but some agencies request this. My opinion? I wouldn't work with such agencies, unless I charge a rate which covers the time I'm spending on such elaborate (and frankly useless) QA process...

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Christine Andersen
Robert Rietvelt
Alison Jenner
 
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei  Identity Verified
Ghana
Local time: 22:21
Japanese to English
Charge a fee Mar 2, 2021

I read the Agency C process twice and still didn't fully get it. But I don't need to get it. If it's a tedious process that wastes a lot of time, charge an hourly rate for it or just don't do it. Assuming you have enough work from Agencies A and B, you can afford to take a tougher stance with C.

Christine Andersen
Shilpa Baliga
 
Sachiko Deguzman
Sachiko Deguzman  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:21
English to Japanese
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Mar 2, 2021

Thank you very much for taking time to read my long post and share your opinions. I am very sorry if I did not explain well enough about the process in Agency C. It is complicated and tedious. I thought this process was unusual compared to other agencies that I worked with, but I wanted to make sure with other linguists. 

For the 60K proofreading project, the PM offered that they can pay me for the final QA check, so I felt relieved. It took me 4.5 hours to complete it, so I am gla
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Thank you very much for taking time to read my long post and share your opinions. I am very sorry if I did not explain well enough about the process in Agency C. It is complicated and tedious. I thought this process was unusual compared to other agencies that I worked with, but I wanted to make sure with other linguists. 

For the 60K proofreading project, the PM offered that they can pay me for the final QA check, so I felt relieved. It took me 4.5 hours to complete it, so I am glad that I get paid. However, they do not pay for the same QA task for other smaller jobs, so I really need to think about how to approach this.  

I hardly get jobs with a decent rate from Agency A lately. Agency B used to be my primary source of work, but the workload has been decreased due to the pandemic. So unfortunately I cannot take a tougher stance with Agency C, but I am planning to apply for other agencies hoping to find a better one. Until then, I will consider asking Agency C to pay me the hourly rate for the QA check. Thank you again for your help!
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Is final QA check translator's or proofreader's responsibility?







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