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Working with translation agencies involves taking some important things into consideration in order to facilitate the task for both you and the agencies in selecting you for the combination of your languages. Certain points are discussed below in this regard to give you an idea about handling your work with translation agencies.

Discuss the job details before accepting it. If the client does not provide enough information, then you should check which software is used and whether to charge for the source or target word count and set the deadline. If you see any potential issues discuss them with the client. If you agree to a price with the client, then you should quote a realistic price to make the client come back with other jobs.

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If you have any queries about the job, then you should save them for later, or until the job ends. You should then fax or email them to the client. The client might not answer all of them but some basic queries might be answered.

You should try to sort out any basic or simple queries yourself if they are not related directly to the end-client not including the agency. Big lists of queries containing abbreviations make translators look meticulous. If they just have basic issues, it reduces the client’s reliability on your skills and raise doubts about your knowledge of the source language.

You should read the purchase orders carefully and check for deadlines too. Suppose you cannot meet the deadline, regardless of the reason; you should inform the agency in advance so they can ask the client about any timing issues. If the client knows in advance, a deadline extension could be negotiated.

You should promptly invoice your client within a week of completing the job, as invoices for jobs that were done months ago can raise accounting issues.

If the graphics in the translation have text, you should ask the agency whether they have to be translated instead of just assuming that.

Please confirm the receipt of any email or fax sent to the client either via telephone, or via any other mode to avoid any transaction issues at the end of the project.

You should never rush with telephone or fax to chase for payments or invoices from translation agencies. You can get help from project managers to sort out such matters only if there are some credibility issues otherwise you should let things go smoothly to benefit in the end.  Lastly, only work with a professional translation servicescompany that can value your hard work.