Why can’t qualified subject specialists work on your project?

The biggest challenge for production staff these days is not finding qualified linguists.

There are many very qualified translators with very specialist capabilities who would have no difficulty with even complex content. However, in many cases they cannot be used on a project because they are not equipped with the particular flavor of new TM tool that is demanded by the client.

Most professional linguists at least have Trados, but, as we know, most of the industry is attempting to break away from using this TM tool. This has led to a dizzying grab bag of emerging translation tool systems that linguists must invest in and then be trained in.

The requirement that linguists use one of these new tools vastly limits the linguists who can undertake a project.

The overlay of processes, systems, specific software, on-line registrations and procedures by translation buyers is ensuring that the pool of translators available in our oversized cottage industry is considerably limited.

These systems are sold with the promise that the company will have its own unique process management and QA tools that will guarantee consistency and a perfect translation every time.

But down at the production level where the work is actually being produced, such tools waste time and have the opposite effect of creating quality. They instead ensure that the subject specialist resources who would be the very best translators for the job can no longer be used because they do not have the tool.