Translation in business – work with an agency or hire a translator?

More and more companies are facing this difficult question. As the company grows and expands into foreign markets, it becomes necessary to invest in translating a variety of documents. Both hiring a translator and cooperation with a translation agency have many advantages. The choice of an appropriate solution depends on several factors.

Costs

Hiring a translator costs the same as hiring any other employee. Not only salaries, taxes and insurance should be taken into account, but also the cost of creating a new workplace (room, desk, telephone, computer) and investment in motivating and developing the employee’s skills. When using the services of a translation agency, there are no such costs.

Translation topics

Many companies employ people who speak foreign languages perfectly. Often it is these employees who are responsible for translations. A big advantage of such a solution is the ease with which translators can use terminology characteristic for a given industry or even for a given company. However, it is important to realise that such a solution can easily lead to an accumulation or excess of duties. In order for a translation to be done correctly, the translator must have time to do so. If an employee has many more important duties than the translation, this time will be lacking. The problem also arises at a time when we are dealing with a wide variety of documents – from manuals to contracts. For example, a marketer with an advanced knowledge of a foreign language may not be able to cope with the translation of legal documents. When a translation is commissioned from a translation agency, translators, of course, take care of the translation exclusively and are selected according to the necessary specialisation.

Confidentiality of data

Olingua Translation agency also emphasizes the important issue of data confidentiality. When hiring a translator who will have access to a large number of different documents, attention should be paid to the important issue.  After some time, such a person will have extensive knowledge about the company, including confidential matters, and may use it in their next job (for example in a competitive company). It can be secured by signing a confidentiality and non-competition agreement with the translator. Additional confidentiality agreements may be requested from the translation agency. In both cases, data protection involves fees. In case of dismissal, the translator in the company will have to cover the costs related to the ban on working in a competitive company. We will also have to pay for extra-programme data protection during translation by the agency.