RESPONSIBILITY FOR QUALITY OF WORK AND DATA MANAGEMENT

A professional is responsible for producing quality that is suitable to the purpose. This does not necessarily mean the best of the best, but it means that the translation matches its purpose and the quality that has been agreed with the client.

To achieve this, the translator must confirm certain matters with the client, such as specialized vocabulary as well as the terminology and the company policy. An amateur might not necessarily even think about doing this, while an employee in the client’s company knows how to use the internal jargon.

Additionally, a professional is responsible for the client’s information; it should not end up in the wrong hands. For this purpose, a professional has systems and equipment, such as a paper shredder. Documents must be filed and stored, so that they can be found if necessary, but not in Dropbox, openly available. Moreover, a professional will not translate an exchange-listed company’s bulletin in a nice corner café, where anyone can read the text over your shoulder. Such an organized and professional attitude can’t be expected from an amateur, while for an in-house translator it is the employer who is responsible for ensuring all this.