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L10n Alliance Employee Manual on Vendor Selection
Evaluating Vendors
Considering the fact that there are a large number of vendors interested in working with L10n Alliance, we work diligently and assiduously to make sure that the vendors we work with are not only real and reliable, but also trustworthy and professional. On one level, we have external tools to assist us in evaluating LSPs. This serves as the first screening process to filter robot translators. Apart from that, we also have excellent internal staff members who have extensive experience in screening and assessing vendors and freelancers. The evaluation process is also continuous. Our vendors need to remain up to our standards to keep being part of our L10n team.
I. On LSP Evaluation:
We start by checking our potential collaborators’ websites and social media presence. Doing so allows us to verify that they are a legitimate company with a presence that meets our professional standards.
Professional Website Requirements:
- Own domain. Quality matters to us. At L10n Alliance, we believe that although some people prefer to use free websites, vendors should be invested enough in their company and their digital presence to have their own domain.
- Professional design. If the website is poorly designed and looks amateurish, it was most likely created by non-professionals. We grant preference to sites that look well polished and put together.
Measures of Legitimacy:
- We check the localization quality of the website. If there are any visible spelling or grammatical errors, there is a high chance that the vendor is not legitimate. We also check if there is any plagiarism on the website- this is unethical.
- We assess their languages to check whether their contents are original and natural, or simply copied from somewhere else.
- Check the links, because reputable websites often link to each other.
- Make sure the LSP provides sufficient contact information to ensure the company is not a scam. LSPs should have a legitimate address, telephone number and contact email.
- Good tools to check company legitimacy: website domains (use the Wayback Machine to check how long it has been in existence), Whois Lookup (another domain name lookup service), Google Maps (if the company is located on a parking lot, it is most likely a fraud.) Better Business Bureau is a website run by the government to provide legal records of companies.
Quality Assurance:
The quality of our work is where our pride stands. At L10n Alliance we make sure that the vendors we work with are in line with L10n Alliance QA procedures and standards.
Language requirements:
At L10n Alliance, we strongly believe that LSPs that promote themselves as fluent in every language might have a harder time fulfilling those promises. We prefer to work with LSPs that are recognized in their language niche and areas of specialty.
Additional Requirements:
When possible, we work with trusted vendors or with LSPs that have been recommended to us from other trusted LSPs or our clients themselves.
L10n Alliance Guarantee:
Every one of our vendors must agree to provide the same quality and satisfaction guarantee that we offer our clients.
II. On Freelancer evaluation:
Working with freelancers requires other guidelines than evaluating LSPs. When assessing freelancers as language service providing vendors, we take on the responsibility of ensuring the quality of our services. We request proof of our freelancer’s education and credentials that make them qualified to perform well in our projects, and also check their social media presence and experience, test them with our frequently updated examinations, and ask for letters or recommendations from their previous clients. When our freelancers have a strong social media presence, we take that into account as well.
Tools for checking the credibility of a freelancer:
- LinkedIn: L10n Alliance examines closely if prospective vendors have any endorsers. It is a good idea to further check these those to make sure it’s a legitimate professional within the industry endorsing them.
- CV, Portfolios, and references: Upholding confidentiality guidelines, we also check education, background, certifications, years working as a translator, DTP and/or L10n expertise, types of jobs completed, previous clients, and more.
- Credentials: We prefer to work with certified or well accredited freelancers. We give preference to freelancers certified with the following:
- ATA certification- To check for this particular certification, access ATA’s online database of translators.
- CCHI certification.
- State or Federal Judicial certification.
- Freelancer’s personal website: A professional freelancer’s website should include the information needed to ascertain that they are a suitable and reliable providers. We check each vendor’s educational background, experiences, specializations, services provided, and contact details.
- What we look for in Linkedin account:
- Language professionalism
- Reliable recommendations from colleagues
- Professional Search
- Please be cognizant of the fact that some freelancers will bid very low in order to get a job. As a high-quality service provider, L10n Alliance does not select freelancers solely based on the rates they provide, but also on the quality of their work. We are well-aware of freelancers of lower quality who try to bid for the job by charging way below market price.
Evaluating Language Skills:
- Previous Work samples:
If possible, ask for a sample of their previous works in certain fields. Ideally, they will provide us with previous works that relate to their own specializations.
- Skill tests:
L10n Alliance issues tests to all potential vendors. Tests are changed annually, and are checked by our trusted subject matter experts. Depending on the demands from our clients, the tests would either be a general test designed by L10n Alliance, or sample work from projects. Each potential vendor’s test will be reviewed by 2 in-house reviewers to decide whether they can cooperate with us. - Other things to consider:
Furthermore, we also give freelancers working with us for the first time smaller jobs rather than counting on them to produce multi-million dollar translations. Once they prove themselves to be reliable and trusted, larger tasks will be provided.
III. Welcome Procedures
Once we have made a final decision on our collaborators and add a new vendor to our team, L10n Alliance provides them with the following:
- Information about our current client portfolio
- Confidentiality agreement to be signed
- Freelance Translator Contract
- Guidelines and expectations
- A questionnaire to be filled in order to collect our vendors’ data (for example: language pairs, CAT tools they are familiar with, specialties, etc.)
________
IV. Email Sample
Dear Lion,
Congratulations for passing our language assessment test. Welcome to the Pride! You are exactly the kind of professional and qualified colleagues we are looking for, and we are excited to welcome you to our pride for the opportunity to work with you in the future. Please kindly follow this link to get to know our company’s workflow.
Here is a brief introduction about LionAlliance:
About
L10n Alliance was born as part of the Localization Project Management Class.
We are a group of amazing students in the CI, TI, T, and TLM programs at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey. Each of us brings different skills and language combinations to the table. The following is a list of the many services and languages we can provide. We will be glad to become your allies!
Services
Translation, Localization, QA, Management, Global Marketing, CAT, Staff Recruitment, Editing & Proofreading, Subtitling/Dubbing, Audio/Video/Voice production
Specialties
Linguistics, Economics, Travel, Business, Legal, Education, Research, User Interface//User Assistance Software and Game Localization
Our Mission
We are lions of localization working diligently to meet your multilingual needs.
We are a group of motivated and productive translators and localizers from various international backgrounds. We don’t work for you. We work with you to help you reach more clients worldwide and maximize your profit margin. We empower international organizations, agencies, or individuals to actualize their full potential through outstanding localization and translation with our strong team.
Our Vision
Our goal is to become the L10n king of the LSP food-chain. We plan to achieve this by providing superior linguistic and L10n services to all our clients. Our alliance hails from all corners of the globe.
Below are some details relating to the translation workflow that you may need to know.
- Project requests
- Whenever we receive a request from our clients that matches your language pair and specialization, we will contact you with an email including: a sample of the source file(s), the timeline and the rates.
- Confirmation
- Once you reply to and confirm the translation request, we will send you the official translation package containing all the information you will need, including any previous glossaries, translation memories and general or client-generated style-guides.
- CAT-tools
- CAT-tools that we use (format): We prefer to receive our documents in a LIONDOS compatible format, examples such as .xtf, .sdlxliff.
- Method of Payment
- Payment of the project will be completed via direct deposit or e-check to your preferred account within 30 days of project completion. We will also provide a receipt. Please contact invoice@lionalliance.com for any inquiries you might have regarding payments.
Upon receiving this email, please kindly log into our vendor platform and register with your personal login code: [Sample Code Here].
Please find attached two files: Confidentiality Agreement and a Freelance Translator Contract. Please kindly read, sign and attach to this email, or send to vendors@lionalliance.com.
Also, please kindly answer our questionnaire here!
Should you have any questions, feel free to email lion@LA.com. Thank you for your cooperation!
Examples of specialization areas:
| Accounting Advertising Art Banking Beauty and Cosmetics Biochemistry Biometrics Business Chemistry Computer Hardware Computer Software Diplomatic Missions and Consulates Education Electronics Energy Engineering Entertainment |
Export Industry Fashion Finance Gaming Government Graphic Design Hospitals and Healthcare Human Resources Immigration Import Industry Internet Insurance Journalism Law Literature Market Research Marketing |
Medical |
Best Regards,
L10n Alliance
___________
Cited Sources:
https://www.rennert.com/translations/fields.htm
http://www.business2community.com/strategy/how-to-hire-a-good-professional-translator-0263555#0HIRk3iS1fkl09YD.97
https://www.thoughtco.com/gauging-website-reliability-2073838