| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| JamesGibbs |
Posted - 07/07/2008 : 12:28:12
Hi everyone,
I'm rather new to the freelancing scene, and it's become apparent to me that knowledge of TRADOS is rather important, since a lot of companies seem to require it. I'd never heard of the software before once throughout all of college - my problem at the moment is the cost, at around 800 euros (which would make it even more expensive than my computer) for the package 'deal'.
My question for everyone here is whether or not the TRADOS 'certification' is worth it ... it seems to be a great way to make an expensive product even more expensive, and I'm certainly not made of money (being a recentl college graduate), but I can't tell if it's arbitrary or not. Do clients/employers care about Level 1/2/3 certification? I've seen a lot of mentioning about TRADOS being required or preferred, but not much mention of this certification. If anyone could shed any light on this subject, I'd be very grateful, because right now I'm very confused.
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| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Stanislav_Pokorny |
Posted - 03/03/2009 : 19:22:01
To make a few things clear here:
1. Certification is absolutely not worth the money. I've been never asked by an agency to have it (although I am certified in fact). Moreover, there is a release of a completely new and revolutionary version (called SDL Studio) scheduled for this summer, so any certification taken now will lose any sense just in a few months. Just read the manuals and learn by hands-on experience. Trial and error: that's the best way of learning how to use any software.
2. quote:
there's also the CAT tool across available for freelancers. The price should be about 400€ for freelancers.
Across is [b]absolutely free[/b] for freelancers. All you have to do is register, download, install the latest patches and wait for the Across staff to generate a license code for you. Across's profits come from selling servers and professional editions to in-house translators. BTW, I use it. It's very complex, not very much user-friendly, but increasingly used by agencies, as the Across server is much less expensive than Trados TM and MultiTerm servers. On the other hand, it has all the features you need to establish yourselves as active CAT users.
3. quote:
Or, could TranslatorPub make a bulk order for members to buy Trados licenses cheaper? I am sure Trados would make a huge discount (50% ?)in this crisis context if we were, say 100 people willing to purchase 100 licenses.
A) Forget about collecting 100 licenses
B) Forget about Trados giving a 50% discount.
Both for one reason: there are Translators' Group Buys (TGB's) on other community servers. Trados gives a maximum of 25% off and never provides more than 20 licenses into the TGB's.
I hope to have answered most of your questions.
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| Stefan |
Posted - 02/05/2009 : 14:17:41
Hi Philgib,
welcome to TranslatorPub.com. I hope you´ll enjoy your stay here and become a valuable member of the community.
Regarding the buld order - if there are others out there, we will certainly move on with this and organize special conditions with SDL. Please let us know here if you are interested in this. Should enough persons be interested, we will gather those information and proceed.
Cheers, Stefan |
| philgib |
Posted - 02/05/2009 : 12:21:51
I am in the same boat. I connected here, wrote to about 10 job posts and not a single answer, even negative. I want to get some jobs before investing such a large amount. I am using the limited versin of Wordfast for the moment.
Does Trados allows for one single license for a pool of translaters ? If yes, then we could make one and share the costs.
Or, could TranslatorPub make a bulk order for members to buy Trados licenses cheaper ?
I am sure Trados would make a huge discount (50% ?)in this crisis context if we were, say 100 people willing to purchase 100 licenses.
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| Stefan |
Posted - 01/29/2009 : 13:59:17
Hi Ansty, nice to meet you. I´m not a use of Across, but of Wordfast :) But it would be interesting to get some more knowledge about Across. |
| ansty |
Posted - 01/29/2009 : 08:52:15
Hi everyone,
there's also the CAT tool across available for freelancers. The price should be about 400€ for freelancers.
Since I am also a college graduate I am struggeling whether to buy the Trados or the across software.
In general they say that you get more jobs from agencies or companies if you own the Trados software since it is the only one well known throughout the world. I think the level certification offered by Trados is just a matter of money and none of importance.
By the way, I would be interested in more facts on the Across software topic. Is there anybody here who uses this software
and can tell a bit about problems, etc.?
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| Stefan |
Posted - 07/08/2008 : 00:56:22
Hallo James,
thanks for your message. Trados is gaining more and more importance lately. It certainly is a good factor if you can market yourself being Level 1, 2 or 3 certified, but I think most clients / agencies are not putting an emphasize on this during their selection process. More important is that you can work with Trados and know the features.
E.g. is our company using Wordfast as their primary CAT Tool, which is similar to Trados - but cheaper.
I hope I was able to help you a little. Please note those are my private thoughts and certainly other persons can lay a bigger value on this. |
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