If a mistake was made through the fault of the translator himself, then you can and should count on its prompt correction, even if it requires some expenses on the part of the translator or the translation agency. If you hear something like “well, you have to check your transfer,” our advice: take your money and leave. The ability to admit one’s mistakes distinguishes the professional of his industry from the “guest performers of labor activity.” We will call this point “What a professional should do”.
And, finally, the main thing is “What a professional cannot do”. Apart from, of course, some obviously illegal things, a real professional cannot, for example, fail to fulfill his promise. If you have been told that your translation will be ready in half an hour, it should be ready in half an hour. You have entered into an oral transaction, formally the translator takes a certain amount of time from you, and he cannot violate the agreed conditions for one simple reason: you have not agreed on the liability of the parties in the event of such a violation, although you have every right to do so. Ask the translator if he agrees to make your translation at his own expense, if he is even a minute late with its delivery. If the answer is negative, such a person is not responsible for his words, which means that he cannot be considered a reliable professional. If you cannot trust such a person even with your time, how can you trust him with your personal documents? These are only obvious aspects of the work, and there are also non-obvious ones.
In the translation environment, samples of translations of personal documents are of some value. It is much easier when you already have a birth certificate blank or passport items entered, and you just have to fill in the necessary fields when translating.
Each translator creates such samples for himself and, if necessary, uses them in his work. Sooner or later, the temptation arises to share such samples with colleagues, which leads the translator into a kind of professional trap. By transferring samples of documents, he will in one way or another transfer the personal data of the owners of these same documents, and this is not just wrong – it is illegal.
The worst thing is that some “translators” put up their databases for sale, actually trading in your information. Such ads can be easily found on the web. We think that it is pointless to talk about any kind of professionalism here, therefore, when choosing a translation company, you need to take into account the fact that your data will remain with the translator for quite a long time. All this imposes an even greater responsibility on you personally when choosing the translators.
It is no secret that most large companies, both private and public, have their own codes, codes of practice and regulations governing not only activities, but also informal professional relationships and rules of conduct. Medium and small companies often do not have their own codes, but there are general rules inherent in the industry or profession as a whole.
Any self-respecting employee of the relevant company or industry professional adheres to these rules. Actually, knowledge of these rules already makes it possible to identify whether a person is a specialist in his industry or not. If you know some aspects of these informal rules, you can check yourself if you are dealing with a professional. It seems to us that this statement is applicable not only to translation activities.
