Poll: When a client assigns a translation-only job, they'll have someone edit your work. Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When a client assigns a translation-only job, they'll have someone edit your work.".
View the poll results »
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| Other (some do, others don't) | Sep 22, 2025 |
It is a normal procedure for a few of the agencies I have been working with, and over the years I have developed a good relationship with some of the editors. Two of my clients require a “good-for-print” translation, so I always send my translations to a trusted colleague. Since some years ago, my longest-standing customer said that my work doesn’t require editing, I have been particularly careful as I don’t want to disappoint him nor… myself!
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Zea_Mays 
Italy
Local time: 01:14
Ingiriisi to German
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When working for a direct client - no. If working for a _serious_ agency that applies the four-eyes principle - yes.
In the first case, the translation needs to be proofread by a third person paid by the translator, or the translator will check their own work thoroughly (possibly the day after).
Ps: these "someones" are called editors and proofreaders.
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Oscar Núñez Alfaro
Costa Rica
Local time: 17:14
Member (Oct 2026)
Ingiriisi to Spanish
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In my short experience, I see that my clients have another colleague translator to check my translation or editing work. When I also do ad honorem translation, the non-profit has someone to verify my job. In my opinion, receiving colleagues suggestions and corrections is tremendously beneficial for the job itself and you, as a translator, to be able to manage different points of view.
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IrinaN (X)
United States
Local time: 18:14
Ingiriisi to Russian
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| Are there any clients | Sep 22, 2025 |
Who would assign translation and editing for the same job and pay for both on top of usual mandatory proofreading embedded in "translation-only" jobs and per word rates???
Colleagues who answered tried to make sense of the question but it does not make any sense no matter how you slice it.
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Gregor Trebec
Slovenia
Local time: 01:14
Ingiriisi to Slovenian
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| Had a client... | Sep 22, 2025 |
Had a client that did not specify my work will be proofread. Later, during my work my mistakes were noticed and corrected therefore my guess is that there was somebody cheching the text.
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 19:14
Member (2005)
Ingiriisi to Chinese
+ ...
| Translation-only VS TEP | Sep 22, 2025 |
If "translation-only" is used as compared to TEP, maybe they will have a proofreader finalize your copy.
[Edited at 2025-09-23 01:44 GMT]
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Philip Lees
Greece
Local time: 02:14
Greek to Ingiriisi
The statement is false by definition. If the job profile includes post-editing, then it is NOT a "translation-only job".
QED
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Daryo
Local time: 00:14
Serbiyaan to Ingiriisi
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| What am I missing? | Sep 23, 2025 |
What kind of job given to a translator acting as a translator (i.e. within their 'job description') would be something else than 'a translation-only job'??
In my limited understanding, the expected thing is to give a driver a 'driving-only' job, to give to our old friend the plumber a 'plumbing-only job', to give a typist a 'typing-only job', and so on ...
Could anyone 'translate' this poll question into something that actually makes sense?
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 19:14
Member (2005)
Ingiriisi to Chinese
+ ...
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 19:14
Member (2005)
Ingiriisi to Chinese
+ ...
| If a job is specified as "translation-only" on the PO | Sep 23, 2025 |
Philip Lees wrote:
The statement is false by definition. If the job profile includes post-editing, then it is NOT a "translation-only job".
QED
If a job is specified as "translation-only" on the PO, do you think your client will send your version directly to the printer? Do you think they will assign another linguist to edit/proofread/review/check/QA/sign off (whatever they call it) your version?
[Edited at 2025-09-23 20:55 GMT]
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 19:14
Member (2005)
Ingiriisi to Chinese
+ ...
| A translator can be assigned a TEP job | Sep 23, 2025 |
Daryo wrote:
What kind of job given to a translator acting as a translator (i.e. within their 'job description') would be something else than 'a translation-only job'??
In my limited understanding, the expected thing is to give a driver a 'driving-only' job, to give to our old friend the plumber a 'plumbing-only job', to give a typist a 'typing-only job', and so on ...
Could anyone 'translate' this poll question into something that actually makes sense?
Also, some clients assign "translation-only jobs" to remind the translator NOT to hire a third party editor/proofreader on his or her own.
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 19:14
Member (2005)
Ingiriisi to Chinese
+ ...
IrinaN wrote:
Who would assign translation and editing for the same job and pay for both on top of usual mandatory proofreading embedded in "translation-only" jobs and per word rates???
Colleagues who answered tried to make sense of the question but it does not make any sense no matter how you slice it.
Some agency clients don't use proofreading as a mandatory step. They just expect one translator to produce a printer-ready copy. These clients usually accept a higher per word rate.
[Edited at 2025-09-24 08:51 GMT]
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Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 01:14
Ingiriisi to German
+ ...
IrinaN wrote:
Who would assign translation and editing for the same job and pay for both on top of usual mandatory proofreading embedded in "translation-only" jobs and per word rates???
With agencies, the standard is applying the four-eyes principle: translation (with self-proofreading of course) + editing/proofreading by a third person. This is industry ISO standard.
For quality concerns, the editing step should be involved also for MTPE.
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