How to post a job

by Korina

If you are looking for a language professional who meets your requirements you will have to provide as much detailed information about the job as possible. Please use the form that is accessible via Projects --> Post a Project.

Via the link Projects ---> Post a Project you can access the form that is used to post jobs at babelport.com. In order to find the translator or agency most suitable for your job it is important to provide as much information as possible.

First, you will have to decide whether the job in question can best be handled by a translation agency (due to the volume, several language combinations etc.) or by a single translator. For more information about choosing between an agency or a translator please refer to the article "Hints for Outsourcers".

Second, you will be asked to enter a job description and specify the required expertise. Please make sure that the subject of your posting summarizes the most important aspects of your job offer. Do not use general descriptions such as "Eng-Fr translator needed" but rather "Eng-Fr translator experienced in software translation using TRADOS needed" or "Large Ru-Eng video game translation". Note that a message containing your subject will be sent to all translators and/or agencies who roughly fulfill your requirements, i.e. language combination, area of expertise and so on.

Third, in the field job details you can add more detailed information about the job. In order to receive only quotes from qualified translators you should specify what the document in question is about. If you have a manual about welding machines to be translated than this should be mentioned here, rather than saying "technical translation". If the document contains graphic elements that need to be translated, if certain software is required for the completion of the job or if editing is necessary after the translation this should also be stated here.

Fourth, enter the volume of work in the appropriate line. Please note that the project volume is usually given as number of words because most translators calculate their rates according the number of words that a document contains and depending on their turn-around per day. If you are offering a certain rate you can also indicate this. Again, keep in mind that usually prices are given on a per word basis. When asking for a certain price you should not forget a simple rule: YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

Fifth, you are asked to provide information regarding the completion of the project posted. When entering the information until when bids will be accepted you should allow for at least 24 hours in order to give all professionals around the world a chance to view and reply to your offer. The starting date of the project should be at least one day after the bidding deadline to allow for a review of the job bidders and enough time to contact those professionals you are interested in working with. Please keep in mind that you will have to send a purchase order and should wait for it to return signed before the job can officially be considered as assigned to a certain agency or translator. Accordingly the deadline for your project should give your partner(s) enough time to complete the job within a reasonable period of time (usually 2000-2500 words per day). Please enter your timezone so there will be no misunderstandings about the deadline of your project.

Finally, you can enter further requirements that bidders should fulfill, such as minimum years of experience, only native speakers of target language, only agencies with in-house language professionals and so on. The specification of required software further ensures that only those who have and can work with the requested software will apply. If you are a paying member of babelport.com you can choose to restrict your project offer to other paying members (for 12 hours or completely) or not to restrict it at all. For non-paying project posters the job offer will be restricted to platinum members for 12 hours.

Now your project posting is complete. You will be notified about answers to your offer.

Please contact those professionals directly and make sure they are capable of fulfilling your requirements by checking their profiles at babelport.com and/or asking them to provide a short test translation (no more than 250 words).