As a freelancer, what can you do to ensure you receive work from Transcription Global? Our project coordinator Sam gives you the low down.

Being a freelancer is extremely competitive. You are up against hundreds of applicants each week who are bidding for the same jobs as you are, or hoping to get an email checking your availability. Although we work with a vast amount of experienced freelancers, there are some things you can do to improve your chances of being specifically selected by Transcription Global:

  • Stick to deadlines. This is absolutely crucial. If you let us down on a deadline, it means that we are potentially letting our clients down. If we don’t get repeat business from our clients, then there is less work to allocate.
  • Return high quality work. Ensure you assess and proof read your work prior to returning, and make sure if it requires a particular program that you are familiar with it. If you do not feel comfortable or have limited experience but are willing to give it a go, then let your project manager know immediately. There is a misunderstanding amongst freelancers that think the work will be taken off them if they say their knowledge is a little vague. However, this has the opposite effect with a project manager. It shows honesty and trust in your own capabilities. We do not penalise translators who are open and honest, our feedback process in line with our ISO9001 will provide you with feedback, and it would be in your interest to take on board this feedback allowing you to specifically tailor your work for us.
  • Always proof read your work before returning. If you do not proof read your own work, how can you be totally happy with the content? Yes a lot of potential errors can be picked up in-house when you return the document, but you are more likely to get repeat business from us if your work is more accurate than someone else’s.

Freelancers often ask us, what can I do to get more work off you? The answer is very simple – do not guess at words you hear. It is far better to type (unclear) and mark it with the relevant time stamp than to guess. For example, one of the worst mistakes I saw at a previous employer, and one that still makes me smile, is Ninja Cockle when referring to Meningococcal disease. Although you can all probably see the funny side to this, I doubt anyone would have been laughing at the client’s headquarters in New York if our thorough in-house proof readers hadn’t picked this up straight away. Always research your terms and drug names on the internet. Ask for as much supporting documentation as you can get your hands on. If in doubt, ask your project manager who will no doubt have read many transcripts covering the same topic and will only be too willing to assist you.

Image credit: Banalities