At the moment I’m working on one of the larger projects I’ve ever taken on; a bit over 40,000 words. This has gotten me thinking about the pros and cons of large projects versus small projects, as well as which type of projects I prefer working on. I’m interested to hear what other translators think about this as well.
I think that there are a few issues associated with project length: income potential, job satisfaction and quality control (and probably others that I’ll depend on you to point out!). In terms of income potential, I don’t give volume discounts because I am usually as busy as I want to be. However, I do like that a large project gives me the opportunity to earn a guaranteed large chunk of money at once rather than a few hundred dollars at a time. Large projects have some economies of scale: one invoice, one client, one glossary for 40,000 words as opposed to multiplying all of that by 10 for a slew of 4,000 word jobs. However, I find that the higher the word count, the higher the chance of client sticker shock regardless of the per-word rate. I charge $50 per page to translate official documents, which often comes out to $1 a word or more. Still, very few potential clients ever object to that rate. But when you’re talking about 30,000 or 50,000 or 75,000 words, even a very reasonable per-word rate just comes out to a pretty huge number (and numbers tend to sound bigger when you have to say them out loud!). So, in some ways I find that it’s easier to charge high rates for short documents than it is for long ones.
Job satisfaction. I think this can cut both ways. When you land a huge project that you really love working on, it’s a treat. Life is predictable because you know what the day’s agenda is and you can really enjoy the work. But when you commit to a big project and things go wrong, it’s really excruciating. Rather than telling yourself “one more day and I never have to look at this document again,” you might be facing a month or more of slogging through a book or manual that you wish you’d never come eye to eye with.
Quality control
on very large projects is hard. I seem to forget this every time I take on a huge project. I use CAT tools and I have a pretty good memory for terms, but when you’re getting that “haven’t I read this somewhere before?” feeling on a project that you’ve been working on for 3 weeks, it’s not always easy to pull up the section of text you’re thinking about. And when you were mulling over “CEO” versus “Chief Executive Officer,” which one did you choose? Did you change your original term or just think about it?
In general, I think that my ideal project length is about 5,000 to 8,000 words: long enough to really get into, long enough to generate a decent invoice but not long enough to start getting bored. A project of that length represents about 3-5 days of work for me, and I find that to be an appealing amount of time to work on a project. Thoughts?
I just finished up a project with almost 13,000 words, and I think that’s right around my maximum for best length. Of course, it does depend on what kind of text I’m working on. Some texts can seem too long after just a few thousand words. 😉
I agree that (assuming you aren’t kicking yourself for accepting the project) quality control is one of the biggest issues for long texts. I have discovered that careful glossary work–from the very beginning–is the best strategy for me. If I suspect I’ll have to stop and think about my choice for the word/phrase later, I try to enter it in the glossary. But if I still find myself scratching my head later, I keep a list of words to double-check once I’m done. I write down the original word and the various translations I may have chosen, and I search for each one, making replacements as necessary. Tedious? Heck yes. But worth it.
Thanks Rachel! You are so right that some texts feel long when they’re still short…thanks for pointing out the importance of a really good glossary!
I agree: the economy of scale makes large jobs attractive – especially for the “coming up to speed” phase in the subject matter!
I also think the CAT tool aspect is critical for information management on large jobs. I work in SDL Trados Studio, which lets you filter the display by any character string in source or target. So when I come upon a knotty term, for example, I filter the display to show me only those segments containing that term. Often this larger context helps me decide how it needs to be translated. Ditto when you’re trying to harmonize something 28k words into a 40k-word job …
Michael, thanks for that point about “coming up to speed,” that’s very true. I find that element of really small jobs (like 1 page) frustrating; you’re just into it and it’s over. And thanks for the tip on filtering, very useful and I need to learn that feature (soon!).
Definitely, CAT tools are of critical importance for managing large jobs. I also work with glossaries. They are essencial for consistency purposes. I agree with Rachel: careful glossary work–from the very beginning–is the best strategy, especially for patent texts.
Hi Corinne,
I’m currently into a 63k word project, so this is very germane.
One of the benefits of a large project, as you have said, is that you have certainty of work, and therefore of income, for an extended period. One of the drawbacks, at least if you have built up a regular client base, is that you may well be forced to turn away business from solid regular clients until that project is finished. No-one enjoys turning away work from good quality clients, and there is always the worry that they might start to look elsewhere, and that the requests might have dried up by the time the large project is despatched.
I think the ideal scenario is therefore to have a large project on the go with a sufficiently long deadline that there is actually time to slot in other smaller projects as you go along. I always try to build some flexibility into my project deadlines anyway, as it gives me a bit of room for manoeuvre if unexpected requests come in (as well as allowing extra time to deal with unforeseen problems!).
Thanks Rob! I really like your idea of the large project in the background but not taking all of your time. That’s a nice mix of security and freedom! And I agree, it’s really painful to turn down interesting smaller projects for your enormous project… Best of luck with those 63K words!
My gut feel on optimum project size isn’t far off of yours, Corinne. I am not fond of most jobs that take less than half a day, but many that require more than a few days work try my patience in one way or another. Maintaining consistency and quality control really can be a challenge with large volumes and many files, and I find that the status sorting, glossary and filtering features in my current main tool (memoQ from Kilgray) are absolutely critical to creating an acceptable product.
Perhaps it’s just a personality quirk, but I prefer the variety of 10 projects of 2,000 words each in subjects I enjoy to 20,000 words of one of those subjects. The big stuff often means having to pass o some very interesting texts.
Sticker shock for a big project seldom seems to be an issue. On those rare occasions when a client uses bad language (especially that nasty phrase “volume discount”), I offer a bar of soap and a toothbrush and tell them I won’t raise the price this time for asking, but that they shouldn’t make a habit of it. And if it’s someone familiar with my routine and they start with that line about the advantage of all that “guaranteed” volume, they usually stop themselves when they realize that a pitcher can only hold so much water.
Kevin, your comments always make my day! I agree, one issue with big projects is having to turn down something interesting that comes in while you’re busy; and I am *definitely* going to use your technique with clients who ask for volume discounts!
Another thing about big projects is that if the client doesn’t pay, the cost is much higher. If a client doesn’t pay me on a 4,000 word job, it sucks, but on 40,000, it is really bad.
I’m about three quarters of the way through 38K at the moment. I get a few projects like this year, and I love them. I’m definitely on the ‘prefer longer jobs’ end of the spectrum. I do need intermittant deadlines to keep me accountable though, so I like partial deliveries for about every 10K words.
I find there is economy of scale in my thinking and I don’t get bored with longer jobs. The only downside in my mind is having to refuse other clients more often, but I try to negotiate loose deadlines for long projects to minimize that.
And on Michel’s point
>I work in SDL Trados Studio, which lets you filter the display by any character string in source or target. <
I LOVE this feature.
Hi Corinne, great post!
I’ve been a staunch opponent of larger jobs since early in my freelance career when I took a 45k-word job but was unable to turn down work from my then short list of regular clients. As a result, I kept putting off the big job and was forced to complete it in 2 weeks! I don’t think I’ve ever been more stressed out in my life.
Once bitten, twice shy certainly fits the bill for me. However, I agree with Rob and would consider a larger project if the deadline was comfortable enough for me to keep my regular clients happy. The trouble is, this is rarely the case.
On another note: I’m just getting started with Trados Studio and very much appreciate the filtering tip. Thanks Michael! It really pays to read your blog, Corinne! 🙂