| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4 5 6] > | 4000 words per day? Thread poster: Rebecca Hansford
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Hello all,
I have recently been for a job interview in Italy to work as a translator for a translation company.
The contract in question does not provide for any set hours, just production targets.
The daily production target is 4000 words per day. I was under the impression that 2000 was the industry standard, can anyone confirm this?
I feel I will be staying long hours and producing poor quality work with this target and would like other opin... See more Hello all,
I have recently been for a job interview in Italy to work as a translator for a translation company.
The contract in question does not provide for any set hours, just production targets.
The daily production target is 4000 words per day. I was under the impression that 2000 was the industry standard, can anyone confirm this?
I feel I will be staying long hours and producing poor quality work with this target and would like other opinions on this matter.
Many thanks! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 23:02
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Proofread or just translated? | Mar 8, 2012 |
rhansf1 wrote:
The daily production target is 4000 words per day. I was under the impression that 2000 was the industry standard, can anyone confirm this?
I don't have all the answers as I've never worked in-house, but I would imagine that an inhouse translator could produce more than a freelancer. We have to spend time marketing, invoicing, accounting, quoting, chasing payments, etc., etc. In theory, an inhouse translator can just sit there translating.
Then again, there's a difference between translating a text and being ready to hand it to the client, especially if it's an end client.
Sheila
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4000 words is possible if you do a "raw" translation and have two extra pairs of eyes go through, correct and edit your translation (and possible use a google translate key with your CAT-tool).
If you're to have the translation ready for delivery... it sounds like they want cheap slave labour.
The "industry standard" may vary, from 1500-1700 words per day on EU-level, to an average of 2500 words per day as a freelancer, but 4000 is way beyond anything I've heard before.
... See more 4000 words is possible if you do a "raw" translation and have two extra pairs of eyes go through, correct and edit your translation (and possible use a google translate key with your CAT-tool).
If you're to have the translation ready for delivery... it sounds like they want cheap slave labour.
The "industry standard" may vary, from 1500-1700 words per day on EU-level, to an average of 2500 words per day as a freelancer, but 4000 is way beyond anything I've heard before.
[Edited at 2012-03-08 20:35 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | "just sit there translating" | Mar 8, 2012 |
in my experience, working in-house is no way more productive than working from home. meetings, interruptions, consultations etc. take just as long as the accounting and marketing bit when you freelance.
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| I would steer well clear | Mar 8, 2012 |
For a brief spell, I worked in-house at a law firm where 2,000 words per day was the expectation. Someone I know who works in-house for a European institution has also mentioned that figure to me, so I think you're right about that being a more usual figure.
If they're going to be giving you texts that contain lots of repetitions and are very easy, it might be a different matter, but otherwise, and especially if you're going to be translating technical material, I fear you could end... See more For a brief spell, I worked in-house at a law firm where 2,000 words per day was the expectation. Someone I know who works in-house for a European institution has also mentioned that figure to me, so I think you're right about that being a more usual figure.
If they're going to be giving you texts that contain lots of repetitions and are very easy, it might be a different matter, but otherwise, and especially if you're going to be translating technical material, I fear you could end up spending morning, noon and night translating, and that can't be good for your health or productivity. To me it sounds like a bit of a sweatshop, but let's see what others think! ▲ Collapse
| | | | JH Trads
United States
Local time: 18:02
Member (2007)
English to French
+ ...
| unsustainable - unrealistic | Mar 8, 2012 |
that is a figure that can be of course achieved one day, even several days in a row, but by no means can be a daily average in the long run. Plainly unsustainable, no matter how 'easy' the texts are. The more we translate, the more we realize there are no 'easy' translations, aiming at high quality requires effort, even for 'simple' texts. And we have to allow sufficient time to re-read our translations, before they are edited/proofread by another language specialist.
| | | | | Disregard the offer | Mar 8, 2012 |
2000 is my regular daily output. I might be able to produce some more for one or two days, though, as an exception, but never on a regular basis. No way 4000 words a day.
I would not pay attention to that offer. It doesn't sound logical or serious.
I'd just disregard it.
| | | | Jin Chang
United States
Local time: 18:02
English to Korean
+ ...
| Depends on you!!! | Mar 8, 2012 |
I've worked as in-house translator for 9 years.
There was a time where I had produced 5000-6000 words per day but occasionally.
My general ruld of thumb on translation is "word count per day is based on the subject."
The company will have you do their trainings, meetings, consultations, etc...
I would say talk them into rewording the contract to number of hourse per day...
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| 5000 words a day | Mar 8, 2012 |
When I started out as a translator, I worked in-house for an agency that expected its translators to produce 5000 words a day. If you didn't finish this amount, you couldn't go home! The office was regularly open until 10 pm! The turnover of staff was huge as people just couldn't work at that rate every day. When I complained to the team leader about it, she said she managed an average of 7500 a day and her solution was doing without re-reading a translation before delivering it. You can guess w... See more When I started out as a translator, I worked in-house for an agency that expected its translators to produce 5000 words a day. If you didn't finish this amount, you couldn't go home! The office was regularly open until 10 pm! The turnover of staff was huge as people just couldn't work at that rate every day. When I complained to the team leader about it, she said she managed an average of 7500 a day and her solution was doing without re-reading a translation before delivering it. You can guess what kind of quality that produced! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | seems unrealistic, especially on the long run | Mar 8, 2012 |
Hi,
I have never worked in-house, but as a freelancer I am calculating with a wordcount of 600 words per hour (might be more for easier texts or less for more complex ones, but normally that works out well for me for my time schedules). So assuming to have a regular working time of 8 hours minus your breaks 4000 words MIGHT be possible, but without careful researches in dictionaries or on the web and without proper proofreading (not just running a spell checker) and assuming you are not ... See more Hi,
I have never worked in-house, but as a freelancer I am calculating with a wordcount of 600 words per hour (might be more for easier texts or less for more complex ones, but normally that works out well for me for my time schedules). So assuming to have a regular working time of 8 hours minus your breaks 4000 words MIGHT be possible, but without careful researches in dictionaries or on the web and without proper proofreading (not just running a spell checker) and assuming you are not interrupted, you are not planning the next projects with your team and so on...
I managed once or twice to translate 6000 words on a single day, but really locked myself at home, did not answer the phone and felt really terrible afterwards, I'd never try that on a regular base!!
And that would be my arguments for asking for a change in this contract...
So be careful,
Good luck
Sandra ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 18:02
German to English
| 4000 words/day every day is unrealistic | Mar 8, 2012 |
Although I promise my clients 2500 words per day, my real output is frequently higher than that, depending on a variety of factors. If I translate 4000 words/day for several days in a row, I feel burned out, and the quality of my work suffers, and I need to spend a lot of time revising, thus negating the volume of my initial output.
Unless you're a very fast typist with a lot of excess energy, I suggest you either negotiate a lower output or pass on the job completely.
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Apart from translating, will you have to take care of any kind of administrative chores, contacts with customers, meetings, visits, paperwork, etc.?
Or will you just and only translate, at your pace, with no interruptions and no changes of task in between tasks?
If their work is very well organised, you are a reasonably fast typer, and you are acquainted with the matter at hand, in my opinion you could --perhaps-- produce not only 4,000, but even more in an 8-hour day. ... See more Apart from translating, will you have to take care of any kind of administrative chores, contacts with customers, meetings, visits, paperwork, etc.?
Or will you just and only translate, at your pace, with no interruptions and no changes of task in between tasks?
If their work is very well organised, you are a reasonably fast typer, and you are acquainted with the matter at hand, in my opinion you could --perhaps-- produce not only 4,000, but even more in an 8-hour day. I even worked with a guy once who translated 10,000 words a day, day in day out, in 9-10 hours and was perfectly rested at the end of the week. Of course he typed like lightning, was not interrupted in between tasks, and most importantly he was self-employed working full-time inside a translation company, so producing more words gave him that extra kick.
If however, you are not a fast typer, don't know much of the kind of materials you will translate, are relatively inexperienced, or will be interrupted often or will be in charge of other chores... clearly 4,000 is unrealistic.
What I would propose to the company is a goal of 2,500 words a day, and that any words you produce above that threshold gives you a bonus, in the form of 25% of the rate charged to the customer (just as an example). ▲ Collapse
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Buck
Netherlands
Local time: 00:02
Dutch to English
At the agency where I work, we are required to translate 3000 words a day. Period. Sometimes, for rush jobs, I am required to translate up to 6000 words a day. I think 4000 a day every day is a bit much.
| | | | Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)
Poland
Local time: 00:02
English to Polish
+ ...
| 2 thousand a day is amazingly low | Mar 9, 2012 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
If their work is very well organised, you are a reasonably fast typer, and you are acquainted with the matter at hand, in my opinion you could --perhaps-- produce not only 4,000, but even more in an 8-hour day. I even worked with a guy once who translated 10,000 words a day, day in day out, in 9-10 hours and was perfectly rested at the end of the week.
I'm not exactly that guy - 10k a day for more than 1-2 days would kill me - but 4-5k a day would be realistic even for the long haul. Maybe 6k.
I can't understand how one could do less than 500 words an hour into your mother tongue, including coffee breaks, staring through the window in the infinite space of nothingness and what not. That's half my pace (and the direct clients, who normally write in the target language themselves and know the source language, are perfectly happy with the quality - so am I). I am a fast typer but I'm not a genius. If an in-house translator for the EU is only expected to do 2,000 a day, as a taxpayer I feel am being ripped off. This post is 172 words long. How long does it take to translate it to your language? Yeah, specialised lingo makes things trickier, but unless you’re translating Anglo-Saxon legalese consisting of 1-page sentences, familiarity with the subject matter should just do it.
[Edited at 2012-03-09 08:43 GMT]
| | | | Rosa Grau (X)
Spain
Local time: 00:02
English to Catalan
+ ...
I can do 4,000 per day or more if it is a subject I know very well, I am using CAT tools and there are no kids around. It depends if the working hours/money rate is fair to you. I would give it a try.
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