A translator at ProZ posts jobs as outsourcer on other platform, is this OK??

Frank Feng wrote:

I understand it may be a common practice that some translators sub-contracting his or her job to other translators, and make some profit, but to sub-contract one's testing job?

I'd like to hear your opinion about this - Is this proper? Is this common? Any suggestion?

Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.) wrote:



I learned from many translators that trial translation demands are rising since more translation providers exist in the Internet-based job offers. The trial translation requests change in a number of patterns. I am not surprised that trial translation is sub-contracted to other linguists. In fact, trial translation output is doubtful since it rarely induces to actual job orders.
I suggest that Frank does not take serious of such test translation request.

Soonthon L.

Catherine V. Howard wrote:
...

This outsourcer is probably one of a growing number of translators who are preying on each other and cannibalizing the profession. They simply hire someone else to do the job for a third party, keep part of the profit, and add no value at all. Sometimes they don't even know the languages involved. They are imitating the worst of the predatory pseudo-agencies that so many of us complain about here in Proz.com forums.
...

Catherine V. Howard wrote:

This outsourcer is probably one of a growing number of translators who are preying on each other and cannibalizing the profession. They simply hire someone else to do the job for a third party, keep part of the profit, and add no value at all. Sometimes they don't even know the languages involved. They are imitating the worst of the predatory pseudo-agencies that so many of us complain about here in Proz.com forums.

An ethical outsourcer should be a highly experienced translator who outsources only in languages he or she knows, would search ahead of time for qualified translators who are skilled and trusted before assigning jobs, and would add value to the translation by reviewing, revising, and/or formatting it before returning it to the client, thus earning the profit kept. In other words, outsourcers should be more advanced translators than those to whom they outsource jobs, since they will be responsible for assuring the quality of the final product. They rarely outsource jobs on the fly to just anybody who submits a bid (as in the example you gave), only in extreme circumstances, and even then, they usually tap into a network of translators they already know through long experience interacting with other translators in forums and associations.

Catherine V. Howard wrote:

It's a good sign of your gut ethical sense that something is not right in the situation you describe. It is just plain unethical for a translation test to be outsourced under false pretenses. For one, if the translator is being tested by a client or agency in order to demonstrate his or her linguistic skills, the text should not be outsourced to someone else unless ALL three parties are clear about the arrangement. Since the job post did not say that the job was for a test, then the outsourcer is not being transparent or honest with those he or she will hire to do the actual translation, and therefore probably not being transparent or honest with the agency either. This is basically impersonation. If the outsourcer is being unethical in this regard, I would not trust any other business practices he or she may engage in either.

This outsourcer is probably one of a growing number of translators who are preying on each other and cannibalizing the profession. They simply hire someone else to do the job for a third party, keep part of the profit, and add no value at all. Sometimes they don't even know the languages involved. They are imitating the worst of the predatory pseudo-agencies that so many of us complain about here in Proz.com forums.

An ethical outsourcer should be a highly experienced translator who outsources only in languages he or she knows, would search ahead of time for qualified translators who are skilled and trusted before assigning jobs, and would add value to the translation by reviewing, revising, and/or formatting it before returning it to the client, thus earning the profit kept. In other words, outsourcers should be more advanced translators than those to whom they outsource jobs, since they will be responsible for assuring the quality of the final product. They rarely outsource jobs on the fly to just anybody who submits a bid (as in the example you gave), only in extreme circumstances, and even then, they usually tap into a network of translators they already know through long experience interacting with other translators in forums and associations.

Note that Proz.com has a rule that similarly requires transparency and honesty: one of the rules for asking Kudoz questions requires a test question be labelled as such:

"2.7. Labeling of certain types of questions is required.
Term questions that are either derived from a translation test, or which contain content that may be perceived as offensive by others, should be marked using the checkboxes provided in the posting form."

So, like Soonthon, I urge you to avoid this particular job; I would go further and recommend you stay away from that outsourcer altogether.

Catherine V. Howard wrote:
In other words, outsourcers should be more advanced translators than those to whom they outsource jobs, since they will be responsible for assuring the quality of the final product. They rarely outsource jobs on the fly to just anybody who submits a bid (as in the example you gave), only in extreme circumstances, and even then, they usually tap into a network of translators they already know through long experience interacting with other translators in forums and associations.