If you would like to translate for us, please download the APPLICATION FORM from this page, complete it, and send it to us. Please answer all the questions in the form as we would like to get an idea of your abilities, knowledge, experience and technical tools. This will also enable us to place you into an appropriate database and offer you translations suitable for your abilities later on.
Another condition you need to fulfil in order to be placed into our database is to download a TEST TRANSLATION and send it to us together with your application form. Please do not send us the APPLICATION FORM without the TEST TRANSLATION or a TEST TRANSLATION without the APPLICATION FORM! A TEST TRANSLATION is a short text which will show us your knowledge of the target language and your translating abilities. Based on the evaluation of the TEST TRANSLATION, we will assign you a rating and if your translation conforms to our quality standards we will include you into our database. Our evaluation will be sent to you only if we judge that your translating abilities meet our requirements. Otherwise, after a period of time, not less than one year, you are welcome to apply again if you are sure you have improved your abilities. If you are applying for the second time, please e-mail us directly at our company’s contact e-mail address.
Our cooperation with the translators is based on a business relationship (if they own a business licence) or an employee relationship (we conclude a contract of services). After we receive a document for translation and select you as a suitable translator for the text, we will contact you by telephone. We will inform you of the document's length, its topic, the language combination, the price for one standard page and the deadline. We may also send you a document for your review. When you accept the assignment, we will send you the document in its entirety and you can begin your work.
Translator's remuneration depends on the length of the document in standard pages. To determine the text length consistently, we use the EU standard: one standard page equals 1500 alphanumerical characters without spaces. Extra payment is made for express translations. The amount of the extra pay is always agreed upon before the document is translated. Subsequent requirements imposed by the translator will not be accepted.
Remuneration for interpreting is calculated according to the amount of interpreted hours; where appropriate, further activities will be taken into account as well.
When translating, it is always necessary to keep the layout and font of the original document. It is not acceptable to change the width of the original margins or the font (its size, italics, and bold face), size of headings, indenting, etc. The original graphical layout is best retained when you save the original document under a different title and translate directly into the original text. A different approach is possible only in exceptional and justified cases. Please do not change the name of the document. (This is because it contains the code for the translation, which you will have to list in your invoice; we will also evaluate your translation under this number.) Just add the ending of the target language, i.e., the language you translate into (e.g. add "sk" or "en") at the end of the document name.
The translation is supposed to be accurate but not mechanical. Do not simply translate individual words, but the document as a whole. Your translation should not "sound" like a translation and, moreover, the reader should not recognise the original language from which it was translated. That is why it is imperative to use the stylistics, word order and wording of the target language.
To ensure a high quality translation, once you have finished, please read it through once more (preferably after some time). Then you can review it and correct any errors that may have been caused by the influence of the original language document. A grammar check using the spellcheck feature in MS Word is essential. Please use up-to-date software for the target language; in case you do not have it, please acquire it ASAP. Another useful tool is a list of rules for Slovak, English and German in which you can find the target language grammar rules you need for a correct modification of numbers, brackets, abbreviations, etc.
After you have finished the translation, please send it to the address from which it was e-mailed to you. Send the translation in the format in which you received the original document (exceptions are possible only upon mutual agreement). You must state the document number. If the document is large, please compress the data using WinZip or Winrar software. Please keep to the agreed delivery deadline; if it is not possible, let us know ASAP any time - during the weekend or at night as well (at night, via SMS) - so that a delayed delivery might be negotiated.
After the proofreading and evaluation of your translation you will receive an e-mail indicating the exact length of the translation (in standard pages) and your remuneration. In case of a poor quality translation we reserve the right to reduce your remuneration by up to 100%. This measure is used only in extreme cases in which the translator's approach is deemed neglectful and opinionated. The percentage of the reduction is agreed upon together with the translator. The aim of the reduction is neither to discourage the translator nor to deprive him/her of his earnings. On the contrary, this measure is supposed to motivate the translator to improve his/her work.
After you receive our evaluation, you can make out an invoice and send it to us. Your invoice must include data according to the Slovak accountancy law – i.e. the name and correct address of our company, your correct name and address, ID number, tax ID number or VAT ID number. If you are not a VAT-payer you must state it in the invoice. Your invoice must be issued for the period in which you did the translation. After the acceptance and review of your invoice, we pay it within 10 – 14 days (after its issue), whether our client pays us or not.
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