| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | ATA certification... pen and paper? Thread poster: jenbikkal (X)
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| My uses of the certification | Jun 11, 2011 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
- I'm not dying to translate birth certificates;
- many clients have never heard of the ATA or other similar bodies;
- agencies have heard of them but may have their own test;
- despite any de facto status, the ATA and various other associations are essentially paid private associations and have no legal status as such (though of course it doesn't matter necessarily whether they do, but whether clients think they do...);
- an ATA (or similar) directory listing is a pretty feeble form of marketing *these days* when anybody can set up their own web site and people tend to search for services via Google etc not necessarily via a "directory";
- passing the ATA etc exam shows that you translated using pen and paper a short moderately general passage without access to Internet, colleagues, contacts and other resources... whereas in no real life situation will you actually be translating under those circumstances.
So I shall not be applying to the ATA/other institution at this time. Surely in a few months time I'll forget the above and go through the same mental process... and come to a similar conclusion...
I haven't translated a birth certificate (or similar documents, for that matter) in my entire life! I am not interested either.
Now, you have your Master's as proof of your knowledge and abilities. In my case, I have been self-taught all my life, also in my previous career in IT.
When I took the ATA exam, I had already been translating for 12 years, with a high flow rate of work, interesting customers and reasonably good rates, but to be honest, some customers expect credentials even before they send you a test translation or read your CV in more detail.
The ATA certification and now the IOL's Diploma in Translation help me prove my abilities to many customers (who by the way now come to me instead of me sending out CVs), reduce the number of translation tests I do, and help customers see that my rate level is reasonable in my two rather crowdy language pairs.
| | | | | And, on occasion, it might be your strongest suit | Jun 11, 2011 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
I think (and I'm in that category of people that about this time every year considers whether I should become a member/take the exam of an institution wuch as the ATA) it depends a bit on your circumstances:
- passing the exam is ONE way of demonstrating your competence, along with other ways such as having satisfied clients, completing a successful test for a particular client, having other qualifications etc;
- the ATA directory is ONE method of advertising your services;
- ATA (or other) membership can be a de facto qualification for doing a very restricted set of jobs (e.g. producing birth certificate translations accepted by immigration services).
On the other hand:
- I'm not dying to translate birth certificates;
- many clients have never heard of the ATA or other similar bodies;
- agencies have heard of them but may have their own test;
- despite any de facto status, the ATA and various other associations are essentially paid private associations and have no legal status as such (though of course it doesn't matter necessarily whether they do, but whether clients think they do...);
- an ATA (or similar) directory listing is a pretty feeble form of marketing *these days* when anybody can set up their own web site and people tend to search for services via Google etc not necessarily via a "directory";
- passing the ATA etc exam shows that you translated using pen and paper a short moderately general passage without access to Internet, colleagues, contacts and other resources... whereas in no real life situation will you actually be translating under those circumstances.
So I shall not be applying to the ATA/other institution at this time. Surely in a few months time I'll forget the above and go through the same mental process... and come to a similar conclusion...
[Edited at 2011-06-11 01:40 GMT]
1. I have not translated a birth certificate in years. Those offered to me since were declined. I do not enjoy “drawing” forms. The documents I translate are patent applications, litigation-related papers, extradition requests, informed consents (for clinical trials), contracts, international bids, and the like.
2. I became ATA-cert. before I sold my first translation as a freelancer in 2003. During the previous 10 years, I had become involved with translation/interpreting activities in my law practice. That was my translation “education.”
3. My three major clients (all from U.S.), which combined represent 50% of my translation volume, did in fact require ATA-certification (one is an agency working for the government, and that was a requirement of this special end-client).
4. “Feeble” as they may be, my only “marketing efforts” are and always were ATA and ProZ memberships.
5. Those “efforts” have led to an annual volume of more than 750,000 words, at a source language word rate in the middle teens for agencies (much higher for direct clients) in that rare pair EN>ES. I have practically closed my law practice, and I do not miss it one bit, financially or otherwise.
Clearly, there are many ways to establish and maintain a translation practice. ATA-cert is but one of them. Further, at most, it is just a starting point; it may provide the initial contact. Clients must be, of course, maintained. Given my type of translation practice, not based on birth certificate translation or other “one-off” assignments, I try to do my best to maintain those clients I land from ATA or otherwise.
Further, from a marketing P.O.V., ATA-membership may work for some, but not for others. ATA is, simply, a small pool of relatively credible translators. For example, someone looking for an EN>ES patent translation will find only 43 EN>ES cert. translators offering that type of services, a much smaller pool than say in ProZ. However, one still must differentiate oneself from the other 42. In my case, it does not hurt that when the potential client opens my profile, he or she learns that I am also a USPTO-Registered Patent Attorney.
Luis
| | | | Neil Coffey 
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:59
French to English
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| Thanks to last two posters | Jun 12, 2011 |
It's always good to get a different perspective. I should perhaps emphasise that I'm in no way denying that ATA membership could be the right way forward in some circumstances. If you do work in a field/pair where only 40 other people in the universe are also ATA members, then I can see how the directory could maybe give you an advantage. If there are hundreds, then I think it's less clear (but welcome counterexamples). I suppose changing your name to "Aadvarkson" might help. ... See more It's always good to get a different perspective. I should perhaps emphasise that I'm in no way denying that ATA membership could be the right way forward in some circumstances. If you do work in a field/pair where only 40 other people in the universe are also ATA members, then I can see how the directory could maybe give you an advantage. If there are hundreds, then I think it's less clear (but welcome counterexamples). I suppose changing your name to "Aadvarkson" might help.
[Edited at 2011-06-12 01:47 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Angela Dickson (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:59
French to English
+ ...
Neil Coffey wrote:
- an ATA (or similar) directory listing is a pretty feeble form of marketing *these days* when anybody can set up their own web site and people tend to search for services via Google etc not necessarily via a "directory";
- passing the ATA etc exam shows that you translated using pen and paper a short moderately general passage without access to Internet, colleagues, contacts and other resources... whereas in no real life situation will you actually be translating under those circumstances.
Assuming you are in Europe, I suggest you look into ITI membership; you might be pleasantly surprised, particularly with respect to your last point. Look up the circumstances under which the MITI exam is taken, for instance.
You might think that a directory entry is a feeble form of marketing, but there are some high-quality clients who only use translators they find in the directory of MITIs.
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Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 10:59
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
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| Legal status | Jun 13, 2011 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
- despite any de facto status, the ATA and various other associations are essentially paid private associations and have no legal status as such (though of course it doesn't matter necessarily whether they do, but whether clients think they do...);
The assertion that it has no legal status is misleading. The ATA certification allows my translations to be accepted in the courts of many U.S. jurisdictions.
The ATA is not a government agency, but its certifications are recognized by many governmental bodies.
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:59
French to English
+ ...
| Legal status | Jun 14, 2011 |
Steven Capsuto wrote: Neil Coffey wrote:
- despite any de facto status, the ATA and various other associations are essentially paid private associations and have no legal status as such (though of course it doesn't matter necessarily whether they do, but whether clients think they do...);
The assertion that it has no legal status is misleading. The ATA certification allows my translations to be accepted in the courts of many U.S. jurisdictions.
Steven -- thanks for the clarification. I know that ATA certification is also a "requirement" for some "official" uses such as immigration papers.
But... one thing I'm curious about: is it actually a *legal* requirement in the jurisdictions you mention, or is it that certain lawyers have decided to require ATA certification because they believe it will add more weight to their case? If it's the latter, that is still of course a motivation for getting ATA certification if you intend to specialis in that market. But I'm curious to understand if it is actually a *legal* requirement, or more of a "de facto" requirement as I'd understood to be the case. (I suppose with the added complication that it could vary from state to state...)
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:59
French to English
+ ...
| Sorry yes I'm being unfair to the ITI | Jun 14, 2011 |
Angela Dickson wrote:
Assuming you are in Europe, I suggest you look into ITI membership; you might be pleasantly surprised, particularly with respect to your last point. Look up the circumstances under which the MITI exam is taken, for instance.
You might think that a directory entry is a feeble form of marketing, but there are some high-quality clients who only use translators they find in the directory of MITIs.
Thanks Angela -- yes, as I recall the ITI do effectively allow you to conduct the test under "normal conditions" of completing it to your convenience within the deadline and sending it back, and this is indeed refreshing.
Actually one problem I seem to recall with the ITI, who I have considered and will surely consider again at regular intervals, is that they have particular requirements about references/lists of past projects which for me effectively amount to "please give us several pages of confidential information that you have agreed with your clients not to divulge to any third parties". But I appreciate that that may not be the case for everybody. This is one of the things about such associations as I see things-- they're as much about whether you work within their particular parameters and "bees in their bonnet" as about actual translation quality.
| | | | | An exam is an exam | Jun 14, 2011 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
Thanks Angela -- yes, as I recall the ITI do effectively allow you to conduct the test under "normal conditions" of completing it to your convenience within the deadline and sending it back, and this is indeed refreshing.
Wow. I did not know that. I am considering to apply to a member of the ITI, and this is shocking indeed.
To me, an exam is not something you should take home. I think there is a good reason to ask someone to do a translation exam in controlled conditions and at a special venue: if the translation done under these conditions is a reasonably good one, you can expect that this person is able to translate a lot better at home.
On the other hand, with the ITI's approach you will never be 100% sure of who did the translation. There could be people out there who could be tempted to hire another translator to do the work, being unaware of the final destination of the piece.
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