'ISO certified' agencies adding anybody to their books with no checks whatsoever
Thread poster: Baran Keki
Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 02:55
Member
English to Turkish
Mar 7, 2021

I received a job notification some months ago from a western European translation agency, which is a part of a big group of translation agencies. I registered with that agency ages ago, but had never done any work for them up to that point. It was one of those 'first-come-first served' type of jobs, and since the rate and the deadline were okay and I had nothing going on at the time, I went ahead and accepted the job. This was around mid week if memory serves, and the deadline was Monday morning... See more
I received a job notification some months ago from a western European translation agency, which is a part of a big group of translation agencies. I registered with that agency ages ago, but had never done any work for them up to that point. It was one of those 'first-come-first served' type of jobs, and since the rate and the deadline were okay and I had nothing going on at the time, I went ahead and accepted the job. This was around mid week if memory serves, and the deadline was Monday morning. I also noticed that the translation agency posted an ad for a proofreading job (for the translation job that I just took), which remained available for the best part of the week (I half entertained the idea of accepting that job as well, but that wouldn't have been possible of course).
I delivered the job on Monday morning and started working on another assignment I got over the weekend, and about an hour later I received an email from an LSP (a Middle Eastern guy, with whom I had the misfortunate to work when I first started freelancing) for a proofreading job. Out of curiosity, I downloaded and the opened the file he sent me, and to my amazement I saw that it was my translation that I delivered an hour ago. That guy, who apparently got that proofreading job from that agency (and to do that he must have registered there as an English to Turkish translator) was asking me to proofread my own translation.
I was astonished to say the least, and declined his 'offer' (which was 0.02 USD per word, which I must say is not bad for a good number of Turkish translators, some of them even accept this rate as their translation rate), saying that "it wouldn't be ethical for me to proofread my own translation (not to mention that it defeats the purpose of the whole process)". He said it was an urgent job (I knew the deadline alright) all I had to do was just go over it and deliver it without any track changes "since he was sure I must have done a great job"!. I didn't reply and I got on with my other job. Perhaps I should've alerted the agency to the situation, but I didn't want to lose any more time with further email exchanges.
I'm guessing this guy must be registered with dozens of other 'ISO certified' translation agencies as an English to French or Spanish or German or Slovakian, you name it, translator and chasing job notifications from those agencies and contacting the cheap translators he finds on Upwork whenever he lands a job.
Earlier this year, about a month after that event, it was brought to my attention that a certain fake CV that I allegedly created was making rounds to various translation agencies, including my former agency where I worked as an in-house translator for nearly 10 years and left not on the best of terms. The CV in question was in fact mine (it was the very first CV that I created when I started freelancing), it had all my details except for the name, which was replaced with a Turkish film artist's name. The scammer didn't think to delete my email address in the Properties section, so that's what actually 'gave me away'. My former boss threatened to sue me on the grounds that I was breaching the 'confidentiality' of her clients by naming them in my CV (in the portfolio section). It took a lot of beseeching and convincing to talk her out of the legal action, and about a week later I was exposed as a 'Palestinian scammer' (because of the CV and my email address included in that CV) by a translators group.
I strongly suspect that this person was, and still is, using my CV (I may have sent it to him years ago) to get himself registered to those translation agencies as an English to Turkish translator.
I got over that CV debacle and annoying turn of events, but when you consider all this, I think this person registering himself as a translator in various language combinations is a lot more astonishing than the impossible coincidences (proofreading job, fake CV finding its way to my former agency) I had. I mean how is this possible? That translation agency (part of a certain group) has a stellar BB record here. If you were a translation agency boasting ISO certifications wouldn't you properly vet the translators applying to you? I understand that anybody can pass a translation test (by hiring another translator online), but wouldn't you check the person out and see if they're who they say they are? Wouldn't you check their Proz and LinkedIn profiles? Ask for real references with proper email addresses (not some dodgy gmail or yahoo accounts), preferably from European or American translation agencies, and ask those referees if that person is actually any good in their stated areas of expertise? I mean it beggars belief that these translation agencies allow anybody and everybody into their databases and expect to deliver quality end product to their clients. Applying the so-called '4 eyes principle' is one thing, but what happens if you have a guy like this at the wrong end of the '4 eyes process' as a proofreader of a language he doesn't even speak?
P.S. I wanted to post this under the Translation Agencies title, but I wasn't allowed to do so.
Collapse


Adieu
Dan Lucas
 
William Tierney
William Tierney  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:55
Member (2002)
Arabic to English
ISO Tricks of the Trade Mar 7, 2021

Hi Baran,

I appreciate your stand on business integrity. I have noticed the agencies that clamor the most about ISO never come to me. It took me awhile, but the light bulb finally went off. ISO only means that the agency has a padded file of all your wonderful accomplishments and heroics (just in case an ISO inspector jumps through the front door and crow bars their filing cabinet). It doesn't mean they will use use your services. If you have a graduate degree and/or are certif
... See more
Hi Baran,

I appreciate your stand on business integrity. I have noticed the agencies that clamor the most about ISO never come to me. It took me awhile, but the light bulb finally went off. ISO only means that the agency has a padded file of all your wonderful accomplishments and heroics (just in case an ISO inspector jumps through the front door and crow bars their filing cabinet). It doesn't mean they will use use your services. If you have a graduate degree and/or are certified, you are a target. I established a two-step policy on ISO. If an agency comes to me with an ISO requirement, I ask for the certifying agency and the name and contact info of the POC at the certifying agency. Normally, they baulk. Bye. If they provide the information, I verifying independently. If it checks out, I tell the agency I will send the background documents after two substantial jobs. I haven't gotten past the first stage yet. That said, if there is an obvious opportunity with a legit organization that requires background docs, I don't hesitate. It is a gut check. This process also works for international organizations. There are some junk translations for international organizations provided by agencies who listed qualified translators as their team, then went to cabbies when they got the contract.
Collapse


Yolanda Broad
Adieu
Baran Keki
 
Abba Storgen (X)
Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 18:55
Greek to English
+ ...
ISO is something that you buy... Mar 8, 2021

a) Kind of like car license plates. While a procedure might be in place, each step really depends 100% on the freelance translator doing it, and with the final steps in a project paying half a sandwich per hour, ISO becomes only a sign on the wall.
b) I tried to help a well-known agency a few years ago to improve their recruiting tests (which are, industry-wide, an elementary school level test of 300 words), by implementing larger and more difficult tests that Google Trans wo
... See more
a) Kind of like car license plates. While a procedure might be in place, each step really depends 100% on the freelance translator doing it, and with the final steps in a project paying half a sandwich per hour, ISO becomes only a sign on the wall.
b) I tried to help a well-known agency a few years ago to improve their recruiting tests (which are, industry-wide, an elementary school level test of 300 words), by implementing larger and more difficult tests that Google Trans wouldn't be able to translate. They never implemented it, because they are getting bonuses on the number of new recruits. Borat would easily pass the English translation tests of all fields of all agencies as we speak by at least 70%.
c) The mere fact that new agencies have been popping-up like mushrooms in the last 15 years and even to this day, gives you an idea of their profit margin, which mysteriously is the most well-guarded secret of the industry.
Collapse


Baran Keki
 
Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 02:55
Member
English to Turkish
TOPIC STARTER
ISO is not exactly the issue here Mar 8, 2021

Thank you for your contributions. You provide some very good tips, which I will take into account going forward.
However, the issue here is not the ISO certification per se. I'm well aware of the fact some translation agencies try to acquire the qualifications of good translators to get contracts or simply to decorate their file cabinets, this is not the case here at all.
The translation agency I mentioned is a reputable one and paid a very good per word rate (for my language pair
... See more
Thank you for your contributions. You provide some very good tips, which I will take into account going forward.
However, the issue here is not the ISO certification per se. I'm well aware of the fact some translation agencies try to acquire the qualifications of good translators to get contracts or simply to decorate their file cabinets, this is not the case here at all.
The translation agency I mentioned is a reputable one and paid a very good per word rate (for my language pair anyway) and paid me right on time. I'd love to work with them again, but then, it seems, so would other people who make a living by subcontracting the hell out of translation agency jobs to the cheapest possible translators they can find online.
I just can't understand why an agency (ISO certified or not) would allow anybody into their database without checking them out to see if they are a 'real person' and actually speak the target language into which they claim to translate, or, come to that, if they're a translator at all (surely a cursory check on their Proz or LinkedIn profiles will give them some kind of idea if they can't be bothered to contact their referees).
I should also mention that I was working with an Eastern European translation agency (headquartered in London; that's another thing! There are lots of them out there! always in London.) that paid slightly more than your average best rate agency. Once or twice I noticed that they assigned me MemoQ projects with the login credentials of other translation agencies. So, they, too, were subcontracting jobs from other translation agencies. But in that case this (Eastern European agency 'headquartered' in London) was an 'ISO certified' agency subcontracting jobs from other 'ISO certified' agencies, whereas in the present case an LSP (a Middle Eastern person) is subcontracting jobs from translation agencies by infiltrating into those translation agencies as a translator/proofreader of various languages with fake documentation.
Collapse


Abba Storgen (X)
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Lucia Leszinsky[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

'ISO certified' agencies adding anybody to their books with no checks whatsoever







Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »
Anycount & Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000

Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.

More info »