Project Managers vs. Linguists?
January 27th, 2013Client: “We are sending you the latest files for translation, these are the instructions for the drug use so the applicable rate is the medical translation rate.”
Localization Vendor PM: “Why is this different from a regular rate?”
Well, this is (almost) a true dialog. How often have you encountered situations where your Localization PM in the vendor you work with shows inexperience in handling your requests? Our experience has showed that this is something encountered often in our business. That’s why I think that having PMs that are linguists or have gone through the translation/localization process has more pros than cons.
Some of the pros include:
- Linguists are familiar with terminology issues and can instruct the selected resources accordingly.
- They are aware of items that can go wrong during the translation process - and they can flag them appropriately.
- Linguists can accurately estimate timelines/deadlines, depending on content subject, difficulty, etc.
Therefore they are on top of the account both on project and language management terms and they can quickly resolve any possible issue.
One of the drawbacks - especially for the localization vendor - is that linguists will potentially need an additional training in order to handle projects more efficiently, especially from a financial point of view. But that’s an investment the localization vendor will have to make and that will - in the end - benefit the client. And that’s where the added value that the localization vendor has to offer to the client lies within.
So, next time you select a localization vendor, check your PMs background through their social media profiles - LinkedIn would be the best for that purpose - or don’t hesitate to ask your contact at the vendor side to provide some relevant information.