- I want to work with BigTranslation, how do I do it? What do I need?
If you want to work with BigTranslation, you will need to be registered as self-employed and up to date with your social security (tax) obligations. If you are not registered as self-employed, you must be able to demonstrate that you are not legally required to do so in the country where you are established.
Then, you can register through our online registration form.
Once we have received your registration, if your profile matches our needs and demand, your account will be activated immediately. We will contact you to welcome you to the team and provide you with the information you need to work on our translation platform.
The translation platform
- Where can I find the translation platform?
The translation platform is not located on the BigTranslation website. You can find it here: platform.bigtranslation.com
- I don’t seem to have received my login details, how can I get them?
Your login details for the platform are always sent to the email address you provided on your registration form. If you have not received them, please check your spam folder, as this email sometimes ends up there.
If you have checked all your emails, including your spam folder, and cannot find this email, please send an email to[email protected] . We will look into the problem and resend your login details if necessary.
- My login details are not working, what should I do?
If, once you have activated your account, your login details do not work, first check that you are accessing the correct website (platform.bigtranslation.com) and not the BigTranslation website.
If you are on the correct website but your details still do not work, please ensure that there are no spaces before or after your username or password that could be causing the problem.
If you are still having unexplained problems accessing your account, we recommend clearing your cache. To do this, press CTRL+F5 simultaneously. Once you have done this, try accessing the platform again. This often solves the problem!
If, after trying this, the error persists, please contact us at[email protected] . We will check your settings and send you new login details.
- Where can I find the Translator Support Area?
We have merged our Support Area with our blog so that all the information is in one place (articles of interest, documentation, FAQs, etc.).
You can find the material here: blog.bigtranslation.com.
If you select the EN language and browse through the entries or search for a specific question (e.g. invoicing), you will find everything you need.
If not, and you need more information, we will be happy to help you if you send us an email to[email protected] . We will either be able to solve the problem or send you the information you need.
- I haven’t taken the pre-test yet? How can I go about this so that I can start translating?
If we have not contacted you directly to do a translation test, but you have already received your login details and information about available projects, please do not worry. We have a testing system in place whereby one of our senior validators will review your first three translations on our platform to check that they meet our quality standards. These validators will also leave any comments or feedback they deem necessary. These three translations will be paid for as normal translations but will be considered as tests and will simply be reviewed very carefully internally to ensure that everything is in order. If there is anything that catches our/their attention and needs to be changed, or if the quality does not meet our standards, we will contact you.
- Why can’t I see all the target languages I specified in my registration when I log into my account?
BigTranslation only works with translators in their native language to ensure the best quality and that your texts sound natural and are effectively localised. Therefore, even if you specified many target languages when you registered, we will only activate your native language as a target language.
That said, we know that translators sometimes have more than one native language, and we will check all the information you send us to verify this and activate more than one target language in these specific cases.
- Can I add more target languages to my account?
As mentioned above, we only work with translators in their native language(s). For this reason, it is not possible to add target languages to your account on the platform without confirmation and verification by our team. If you believe there has been an error in your target languages, please contact us directly and we will check your settings and ensure that everything is correct.
- I don’t see any projects on the platform. Is there a problem?
If, after clicking on the “Projects” section in the menu and then on the “Available projects” section, you cannot see any text, it is because other translators have already been assigned the projects available in your combination.
You will ONLY receive a notification if there is a project available in your combination.
However, please note that notification emails are sent to several translators whose combinations and profiles match the available tasks.
In this case, we encourage you to check again when you receive another notification, as we have a large volume of texts and you will be able to select one very soon.
Furthermore, as projects can be added to the platform continuously and outside of email sending hours, if you want to find a project, you can log into your account at any time and check if there are any texts available.
With our emails, we try to help translators as much as possible, which is why we send them approximately at the start of the working day (CET) and at the beginning of the afternoon, when translators start working again after lunch.
However, this does not mean that all projects have been uploaded to the platform at that exact time; they may have been uploaded earlier and the email simply lets you know that they are still available.
- Why has my project disappeared?
Sometimes, there are cases where a project has apparently disappeared from the translator’s account when they think it has been assigned to them.
In this case, what may have happened is that you and another translator were looking at the same project at the same time and the other translator clicked on the green “Take on the project” button just a second before you did. This means that, exceptionally, even though you clicked on the button, you have not actually been assigned the project.
To avoid confusion, once you have clicked and assigned yourself the project, exit the task and make sure that the project is in your “Projects in translation” area with the status “Translating”.
If you cannot see it, there may have been a problem and you should contact[email protected] to check the situation before you start translating. This way, you will avoid spending unnecessary time on a task that has not been assigned to you correctly.
- Where can I see the project deadline?
You can find the deadline for any project in the column to the right of the project, under the heading “Deadline“. Please remember that this deadline is fixed and is based on Central European Time (CET).
We ask that deadlines be respected. However, if you need to postpone the deadline due to an emergency, please contact[email protected] as soon as possible and we will let you know if this is possible.
- I want to see the text before I decide whether to translate this project, how can I do this?
This is not a problem. We want our translators to be able to consult any aspect of the project before deciding whether to accept it. You can click on the “Eye” button next to the project to access the texts and see the rate offered for that particular task.
Please do not worry, clicking on the view button does not oblige you to take on the task. After clicking on that button and reviewing all the relevant information, you will need to click on the green “Take on the project” button to accept the project.
You will be able to download the source file(s) and, if you carry out the project, you will need to upload the translated file to the platform in the same format as the source text.
- Are there any support materials to help me carry out the Translation?
Please be sure to always check the “Support documents” section under the project to see if the client has left any supporting documents or provided any information or guidance for the translation. If there is any supporting material, you will find a button there that will allow you to download it.
If there are no comments or supporting documents, it is because the client has not provided additional instructions or there are no supporting documents available.
If you believe that supporting material is necessary for the translation or you need additional information for the project, please contact us directly at[email protected] , indicating the project number or name so that we can consult with the client. We will let you know if it is possible to obtain more information.
- Where can I see the price of the project?
You can click on the “View” button to access the project and see the text(s), as well as the corresponding price offered for that specific task.
Please do not worry, clicking on the view button does not oblige you to carry out the task, as once you have clicked on this button and consulted all the important information, you will have to click on the orange “Take on the project” button to accept it. You will be able to see the price of the project at the bottom right of the screen.
- What is “validation”?
Validation is the process by which one of our validators (senior translators with experience working with us) reviews the translation to ensure that it meets our quality standards and corrects any minor errors in the translated text.
If the validator believes that the translator needs to make certain changes before validation, they will send the project as an incident with the main instructions for review as necessary, and you will be able to see the project in the “Projects with incidents” section. The validator will flag the problem and leave a comment so that the translator knows what needs to be changed. Please keep an eye on your email in case any incident notifications are sent and check your account to see if any of your texts have been flagged for review.
In addition, we encourage translators to review any validated text to see the final product and any changes that have been made, and also to check if the validator has left any comments or observations. This way, we can work as a team and continuously improve our reductions.
If validators observe that a translator’s work does not meet the required standard on a regular basis, we will be forced to discontinue our collaboration with that translator. We will contact the translator to inform them if this situation arises.
Once you have worked with us for a while, if we observe that your translations meet the required standard and are of high quality, we may invite you to join the team of validators.
- How long does it take for a project to be validated?
The validation process is similar to the translation process. The time required depends on the number of words in the text, as well as the type of text, its priority and the delivery date. Although most validations are completed within a few days, this process may take a little longer in certain cases.
At a minimum, we try to ensure that all texts are validated by the end of each month so that the project payment is added to the “Payment Record” section and the translator can include it in that month’s invoice.
- Is it possible to receive feedback on the translation I recently carried out?
We encourage translators to review any validated text to see the final product and any changes that have been made, and also to check if the validator has left any comments or observations. This way, we can work as a team and continuously improve our translations.
If there are no comments and the project has been validated, it is because any errors were minor (e.g. a small typo, etc.) and the validator felt that the quality of the text met the required standard without making many corrections or changes.
- Can I take on a project if the deadline has already passed, and how will I know what the new deadline should be?
Yes. On rare occasions, it may happen that the date has not been updated, but the project is available. In this case, the project should take priority over others you have assigned yourself, as the deadline should be as soon as possible. If you have assigned yourself a task whose deadline has passed, please contact[email protected] to let us know so that we can find out when you could have finished the translation and confirm whether it meets the client’s requirements.
- Where should I upload my translation once it is done?
Once you have completed your translation, it will need to be returned to us through the translation platform too.
If you click on the project, you will see a green “Upload translation” button to upload the project or to edit it and upload a new copy, click on the “pencil” button. Here you can upload your file. After uploading your translation, you must mark the project as complete by clicking on the orange “Translation Finished” button and save it. A validator will then see that the project has been translated and is ready to be validated.
- I have just been appointed as a validator. How do I go about this process?
Once you have worked with us for a while, if we see that your translations meet the required standard, we may invite you to join the team of validators.
If we appoint you as a validator, you will be able to assign yourself review projects that you find available.
Once the project has been assigned, you can proceed as you would for translation projects for information and assignment.
When you are inside the project, you can browse the text to see if you can validate it, depending on its length, subject matter, etc. Once the project has been assigned, it will appear in the “Projects in validation” section. The projects you are validating are in the “You’re validating” section, and your completed translation projects that are being validated by other reviewers will be in the “Being validated” section.
Once assigned, you can correct and validate the task, ensuring that the grammar, spelling, meaning, etc. of the text are correct and that it reads naturally and appropriately for the target reader.
If it is necessary to return the text to the translator for revision, you can mark the process for return and you can also leave any observations or constructive comments for the translator when notifying them of the issue.
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the BigTranslation team at: [email protected]
