How To Win Agencies and Influence Them

Why do some translators seem to have lots of work when others are twiddling their thumbs at the keyboard? Why do agencies choose certain translators over others? And how can you the translator improve your chances with the agencies?

Along with all the suggestions and advice in this and the preceding articles about being a responsible, honest, professional, there are a few other things you can do. Here they are.

First, send letters to agencies regularly and remind them that you exist and are active in the industry. Keep them updated about your abilities, equipment, and accreditation. Call them and speak with someone there for a while. If you are close enough to visit in person, do so. Remember, you have to spend money to make money.

Second, get to know other translators and recommend them when you can’t take a job. The agency will appreciate it and will think well of you, even though you didn’t do the work (of course, this assumes that the person you recommend does a good job; don’t recommend bad translators). The other translators will probably reciprocate, though if they don't, you should consider not recommending them any more. Being open and friendly about business is a good policy, to a certain point. But there is no reason for you to be nice to people who aren't nice to you. Just stop dealing with them and find people who will appreciate your openness and friendliness. Ours is a tit-for-tat industry; so let the rules benefit you.

Third, be active and involved in the industry. Keep track of the big trends, such as machine translation systems and the changing laws for independent contractors. Keep up to date with which agencies are doing what and keep in touch with the ones who might need your services.

You may scoff and say that it’s not important to be aware of the big issues or send out lots of letters. Nevertheless, I guarantee that it helps. Agencies want to work with serious, committed, responsible professionals and it is up to translators to be professionals. Of course, the opposite is true, too: translators want to work with professional agencies, not the one-person, one-phone fly-by-nighters. So think about it in reverse. If you’re a translator, think about how you would run an agency. If you’re part of an agency, think about working as a translator. You’ll understand soon enough, if you don’t already.