You Made a Mistake, What Do You Do?

You need to act immediately to salvage your client relationship and your good name. I have made mistakes. And when I ran a T&I agency, I received complaints about subcontractors. In both cases, here is what I learned  about resolving issues fairly.

Start by knowing the impact to your client.  A mistranslation in an evidentiary document may make that evidence inadmissible.  Delaying a deposition by arriving late costs both sides money and time. Interpretation errors change testimony and can alter the outcome of the case.

Be the first one to tell your agency scheduler or your direct client, if you think you have made a mistake. Be honest about the mistake. Avoid downplaying it or shifting the blame to anyone else. Offer to help resolve it. There is a possibility they will dismiss it as insignificant.

Neutralize your mistakes before they affect anyone else.

Translation errors.  Don’t just offer, go ahead and send the corrected document with a notice of revision along with your apology for the mistake. Do not charge for the correction.

Interpretation errors. These are corrected at the time they are made. In a deposition the interpreter should correct their English target language errors on the record, speaking in the third person. “The interpreter respectfully requests to change the interpretation from X to Y.” If asked for the source term, say it and spell it. I’ve never had an objection to this request; lawyers are more understanding of the honest approach to mistakes.

Mistakes in Business Conduct. The most common are being late and invoicing errors. These are quickly forgiven and forgotten if you admit and apologize. If you cost the client time or money- discount your fee. Call if you think you are going to be late, and apologize if you are late. Tell the agency you arrived late before you invoice them.

If you think you can get away with a lie; you won’t. I’ve heard some doozies.  A client called from a deposition saying the interpreter I had subcontracted hadn’t shown up. I confirmed the time and location with the client. I took a break from my job to call her but had to leave a message. The client called that she finally arrived (45 minutes late) and that she told them she had the wrong address. I discounted my fee to the client, apologized and he still hires me. Without returned my calls the interpreter invoiced me her full rate.  When I finally reached her, she claimed a train crossing the freeway made her late. I checked her route and saw trains don’t cross that freeway. She was busted lying to both of us. I never hired her again, refused to recommend her and I heard similar reports abut her from other attorneys. Her lying is an indelible stain.

Act quickly, honestly and be humble about your error. Even with high standards, we all make mistakes in this field. Then move forward to an even more successful career.

Skip These Seven Hassles for a Serenely Successful 2017

 

 

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  1. Skip the stressful “offer “ of  insulting rates and oppressive terms .

Introduce yourself with you rates and  terms backed up with your certification and training. If being offered an assignment , ask for acknowledgement and acceptance in writing of your rates and terms  Add a dose of manners by offering to answer any questions they may have.

 Stress Buster : Develop a couple of templates of polite  responses for  when unacceptably low     rates are offered. Save them in your drafts and you will avoid the irritation felt when  writing a new one every time.

   2  Skip the embarrassment of being taken advantage of.

Research the market and  match your experience and qualifications for equal ranking of pay.

  1. Skip the stress of hearing that the prospective client that wants you won’t pay what you’re worth.

Look up their website and see how they promote themselves to the market If they claim to have the lowest rates then how do you think they make a profit.

Inquire from colleagues on professional forums, on both Linked In and Face Book , what kind of an experience  anyone has had with said a client. Share your experience in return.

  1. Skip the stress of a job with terminology and procedures that stump you.

Don’t accept an assignment you have never done before until you have observed the interpreted proceeding in person or reviewed a few source and target translations of the same subject matter. Do this until you are comfortable that you can perform quality work.

  1. Skip the stress of hassles caused by a client uneducated in your work.

Look for the red flags waving: when translator and interpreter is used interchangeably, when your availability is asked without  identification of the proceeding, whenever a translation has no word count or deadline…  And my favorite when you are asked to be at a location over 100 miles away in a half an hour.  Decide the value of your time required in “babysitting” this kind of client.

  1. Skip the embarrassment of being labeled as unqualified and unprofessional.

Research the market and  match your experience and qualifications for equal ranking of pay.

  1. Skip the stress of payment disputes.

Send your rates and terms ( learn what these are) in writing and ask for acknowledgement and acceptance in writing.  Add a dose of manners by offering to answer any questions they may have.

Inquire from colleagues on professional forums, on both Linked In and Face Book , what kind of an experience  anyone has had with said a client. Share your experience in return.

Assess the client agency by their reputation among their employees and contractors. Listen and weigh both the accolades and the complaints. Complaints reflect poor management and instability and that leads to non-payment of freelancer’s invoices .

Top Ten Signs that tell me I’m going to Love Working with this Agency

 

From the first point of contact, the Translation/Interpretation agency shows me the voyage I will go on if I chose to work with them.  The danceScan

They reveal their professionalism in this field and their respect for a good contractor  by how they speak to me, what they tell me about themselves and their operation and the contents of the all important contract and agreements. Some sound like sweat shops with supervisors who worked at the Gulag, others are working out of a dry cleaners with about as much knowledge of  court interpreting.  But when I match the criteria listed below,  I have found some T&I agencies that are so well run that I get excited about the mutually productive and enjoyable relationship we will have. And for some, it has been many years of a great experience working together.

See if your next agency contact shows you these signs.
1. Their entire staff has done professional interpreting or translating  work and they know the terminology, the expectations, the market and the work they are going to ask me to do.

2. They have read my resume and are familiar with my specialization and credentials.

3. They know the laws and regulations that I am bound to and that they are bound to.

4. They negotiate rates and terms instead of insisting I adhere to theirs.

5. They aren’t collecting resumes that they never read.

6. If they can’t afford my rates, they tell me instead of never calling me.

7. Their contract reflects correctly and specifically the interpreting proceedings or translating legal material work that they expect me to do.

8. Their contract is intelligently crafted to reflect a contractor –subcontractor relationship and does not include irrelevant responsibilities applicable to employees.

9. They are respectful and polite and never condescending. They show how they realize that with all the big money clients in the world, their company fails without good contractors who actually do the work.

10. They don’t ask me to find them another subcontractor for an assignment, also known as doing their job for which they are paid a salary .

In your experience, is there another sign?