Quoting... Thread poster: Anna Villa
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HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK I CAN ASK FOR HOURLY RATE IN USD FOR PROOFREADING SLA (Service Level Agreement) 1000 words/hour AND TRANSL. 200 words/hour FOR A JOB ON-SITE? Please let me SOON - TKS!
| | | | George Trail 
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:39
Member (2009)
French to English
+ ...
| Charge by the hour? | Apr 15, 2013 |
I don't normally charge by the hour, as there is usually no way that the client can verify it. But I would say $15 for 200 words translating and $40 for 1000 words proofreading. But these are rough estimates - I guess that you could get away with charging more if the project is urgent or if the material is complicated.
| | | | | I do charge by the hour | Apr 15, 2013 |
I always charge by the hour if I can possibly get the client to agree to it.
I have ended up so many times doing several hours for free because the client underestimated the quality of the translation and the work involved checking it. So I set my rates for proofreading, or the client can find someone else to do it!
In one gross case it took me all the time that was paid for (when the rate was converted into what I need to earn per hour) to fill in the QA analysis expla... See more I always charge by the hour if I can possibly get the client to agree to it.
I have ended up so many times doing several hours for free because the client underestimated the quality of the translation and the work involved checking it. So I set my rates for proofreading, or the client can find someone else to do it!
In one gross case it took me all the time that was paid for (when the rate was converted into what I need to earn per hour) to fill in the QA analysis explaining what I had changed and why!
If clients don't trust you, then they should not ask you to edit/proofread in the first place.
If you use Track Changes, it does in fact register when changes were made, though of course not the time spent checking terminology, working on paper or whatever else you may need to do.
I also refuse to 'proofread' for some clients, because they send a long list of things to check, but expect me to do it at totally unrealistic word rates.
If you do charge a word rate, a third of your translation word rate is not too much to ask, and you can always give a discount afterwards if appropriate. That will testify to your honesty too. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Different Revision/Proofreading Rates | Apr 15, 2013 |
Roughly 40% of my general workload is some type of revision assignment. While the majority of my clients are European, with slightly higher rates than North America I generally tend to look at the content to determine whether the job is worth carrying out (as there really isn’t too much opportunity to negotiate, especially with revisions). i.e.
• Quality of the delivered translation/draft – Is the task a revision of a good translation/draft or a re-write of a horrible translat... See more Roughly 40% of my general workload is some type of revision assignment. While the majority of my clients are European, with slightly higher rates than North America I generally tend to look at the content to determine whether the job is worth carrying out (as there really isn’t too much opportunity to negotiate, especially with revisions). i.e.
• Quality of the delivered translation/draft – Is the task a revision of a good translation/draft or a re-write of a horrible translation/draft?
• Is a CAT tool required - is the revision paid on a weighted word breakdown? What tasks am I actually responsible for?
• Segmentation problems – how much time is actually required to fix tags, formatting, spacing, etc.
• Is the project manager asking me to perform tasks that are normally/clearly the PM’s responsibility?
I have found that many translation agencies (in my experience anyways), either in N. America or Europe tend to balk at hourly rates above 20-25 (USD or EURO), while they have no problem paying that very same amount if quoted a per-word rate. At that point it becomes semantics.
I generally charge a standard .02 (€/$) for revisions of proper translations, usually .03-.04(€/$) for poor translations ( re-writes are basically re-translations and should be charged accordingly) and I try to shy away from formatting/segmentation issues whenever possible (by charging per word and NOT per hour). ▲ Collapse
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| What she actually asked was ... | Apr 15, 2013 |
She wrote she would be working on-site. That means she goes to the client's office and work there, on their computers, using their tools. She only takes her brain with her and possibly a few dictionaries. This type of work is often required for legal cases, where the client does not want any documents to leave their premises, so they hire a translator to come and work onsite. They also want to have the ability to ask questions from the translator in person, right there. I heard this job could be... See more She wrote she would be working on-site. That means she goes to the client's office and work there, on their computers, using their tools. She only takes her brain with her and possibly a few dictionaries. This type of work is often required for legal cases, where the client does not want any documents to leave their premises, so they hire a translator to come and work onsite. They also want to have the ability to ask questions from the translator in person, right there. I heard this job could be quite demanding.
The client is asking for an hourly rate, because that is the easiest for them to measure. She goes there, checks in, they dump the work on her, and she leaves at the end of the day. They pay her based on the time she spent there.
They also specified what speed they expect her to accomplish.
They expect her to translate 200 words/hour and proofread 1000 words/hour.
So, her question is twofold, I think:
1. What hourly rate she should charge?
2. Are the speed expectations realistic?
My answers to these questions:
1. I don't know what hourly rate YOU should charge. I know what I would charge, but we probably don't live in the same country and don't have the same circumstances. The rate would depend on YOUR circumstances. Make sure you have the field of expertise required for the work. There is no reason to charge a different hourly rate for translation and proofreading. Your time worth the same, no matter what type of work you are doing. According to your profile, you have more than 20 years experience, so I am sure you have your hourly rate figured out. As to the on-site deal, you should add travel expenses, and if you incur extra expenses because you are out of your home office (such as baby-sitting), add that to your normal at-home hourly rate.
2. Translating 200 words/hour is a fairly comfortable speed, of course, it depends on the field. If a lot of research and terminology work needed, it may not be a lazy tempo.
Proofreading 1000 words/hour is an interesting question, first of all, I would clarify what they mean by proofreading, comparing source and translation and editing it for accuracy and style, or just proofing the translated text (for grammar, punctuation and typos). The speed is very different in these cases. In my experience, if bilingual editing is required, 1000 words/hour is only achievable with the best quality translations.
[Edited at 2013-04-15 14:47 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 07:39
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| 2 small points | Apr 15, 2013 |
Katalin Horváth McClure wrote:
According to your profile, you have more than 20 years experience, so I am sure you have your hourly rate figured out. As to the on-site deal, you should add travel expenses, and if you incur extra expenses because you are out of your home office (such as baby-sitting), add that to your normal at-home hourly rate.
It's possible that Katalin was including this in "travel expenses" but I just want to underline that travel time between your office (probably aka home) and theirs also needs to be paid for. I personally would be a little flexible about this (particularly if I'll be on a train enjoying a good book - or working on a laptop), but it does need to figure in the equation.
2. Translating 200 words/hour is a fairly comfortable speed, of course, it depends on the field. If a lot of research and terminology work needed, it may not be a lazy tempo.
To some extent, this must depend on the amount of work involved, too. There'll be an initial overhead of getting used to working on their computer, accessing their resources, etc., even finding the loo! Also, to a translator used to working in a quiet room there may be some problems concentrating in a noisy environment with phones ringing, people talking etc. With a long job, this will be insignificant; if it's for a total of 2000 words it could be quite significant.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 08:39
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Christine Andersen wrote:
In one gross case it took me all the time that was paid for (when the rate was converted into what I need to earn per hour) to fill in the QA analysis explaining what I had changed and why!
Although many clients expect you to fill in the QA analysis report, they are not exactly included in the proofreading rate, but should be paid for what they really are: additional, and at times, lengthy work.
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