Poll: How often do you know who the end client of your translations is?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Sep 21, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you know who the end client of your translations is?".

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Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 05:16
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Occasionally Sep 21, 2019

My clients never tell me, but sometimes file names or the content itself gives it away.

Josephine Cassar
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 04:16
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Almost always Sep 21, 2019

With direct clients it’s obvious who the end client is, with agencies they either tell me who the end client is or the content provides clues that help to identify who they are.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 05:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
Almost always Sep 21, 2019

With my direct clients it's usually directly for them. I have a market research agency as a client and their texts are usually for one of their end clients, usually phytochemical or agricultural supply companies, although sometimes they are for other sectors as well.

I only work with one or two agencies occasionally. One of them usually tells me who the client is, and sometimes they are texts to be submitted for publication in different technical journals. The other agency is less f
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With my direct clients it's usually directly for them. I have a market research agency as a client and their texts are usually for one of their end clients, usually phytochemical or agricultural supply companies, although sometimes they are for other sectors as well.

I only work with one or two agencies occasionally. One of them usually tells me who the client is, and sometimes they are texts to be submitted for publication in different technical journals. The other agency is less forthcoming about the final destination of its texts.

When my university or research Institute clients send me texts for translation or correction which they intend to publish, I insist that they specify the name of the journal in question, as they have different standards and rules regarding language and formatting, etc. A few years ago I decided to draft a standard reminder for this type of client, and it has come in very handy.
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 21:16
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Sep 21, 2019

Most of my clients are international organizations. I know that I'm working for their translation service, but sometimes I don't know the actual requesting unit. I have some direct clients. The agencies I work for don't always tell me who their end client is.

 
LIZ LI
LIZ LI  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 12:16
French to Chinese
+ ...
Not all the time Sep 22, 2019

It happened to me a couple of times that a listed company apparently looked for merging/acquisition opportunities in a foreign market , thus asked for translation of the annual reports/researches... of their targeted firms.
I thought at the first place that it was just an ordinary procedure of translation for multinationals, but it turned out to part of something big in the business world.


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 01:16
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Not often Sep 22, 2019

Most of my clients are agencies. They rarely ever tell you who the client is, and even if they do, there is no direct contact with them.
Sometimes you can guess who they are per the documents you translate, but you're still not sure who it is. For example, when translating a contract or a lawsuit, you can guess the client is probably the contractor or the plaintiff's lawyer, but it's not 100% for sure.



[Edited at 2019-09-22 03:31 GMT]


 
JaneTranslates
JaneTranslates  Identity Verified
Puerto Rico
Local time: 00:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other: I always know, but often it's only "approximately" Sep 22, 2019

I usually know in what country or state my translation will be used, and the corporation for which I do a large percentage of my work usually has only one or two offices in that country or state. So, I know it's for X Corporation's office in, say, the US Virgin Islands, but I don't know the names of the people who requested the translation and will be using it.

--Jane


 


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Poll: How often do you know who the end client of your translations is?






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