What to Look for When Hiring Freelance French to English Translators
Professional translation is an essential service for thousands of businesses and private clients, where they need to ensure any translation from French to English, or vice versa, is error-free and of outstanding quality.
Across the Guru platform, we have thousands of professional French translators, of whom hundreds specialize in English to French translation–giving you a huge amount of choice and a wide array of freelance skills to hire from.
In this hiring guide, we’ll summarize some of the considerations when choosing a freelance translator to hire, from the services available to average prices.
What Translation Jobs Can a French to English Translator Help With?
With such a large array of talent within the Guru network, we provide employers and French to English translators with access to a range of specialisms and abilities, with some of the popular translation services including:
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Audio transcriptions from French to English
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Interpretation services within virtual meetings
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Contracts and insurance document translation
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French and English translation from either language into the other
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Website localization into French from English
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Certified translations for ID documents and visa applications
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Technical translations of medical or financial documents
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Legal translations of important, confidential materials
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Business French to English translation
There are countless other tasks that may require an accurate, precise translation from French to English–using a qualified English freelancer ensures your completed translation is correct and clear, with the right tone and context, and available for immediate use.
What Is a Certified French to English Translation?
Certified translations are accompanied by a signed statement or stamp issued by the translator, confirming that the translation is accurate and has been completed by a professional. English translators must have the necessary experience, talent, and accreditations to certify their work, a mandatory requirement for purposes such as applying to join a university or college or submitting documents as part of a visa application process.
What Should I Expect to Pay a Freelance French to English Translator?
The standard rates for French to English translation are usually around $15 per hour, but that, of course, depends on all sorts of elements, such as the complexity and technicality of the translation material, the duration of the project, and the experience you need your translator to have.
It is also possible to hire international translators with extremely competitive rates or entry-level translators who are native speakers and provide good quality translation suitable for hirers working on a tight budget. Hourly rates available through Guru start at just $5, with the standard minimum project fee beginning at $25, making quality French to English translation affordable and accessible.
Should you have a set budget in mind for the French to English translators you hire, you may wish to post a job via Guru, including your cost expectations within the project description, along with the translation deliverables and an outline of the scope of the task. This allows freelance English translators to respond with a quotation and proposal for your consideration, where you can compare pricing and decide which French to English translator seems the best fit.
Pros and Cons of Hiring a Freelance French to English Translator Versus Working With a Translation Agency
Translation agencies are one of the potential solutions when you need to translate content from French to English with a high level of accuracy. However, there are multiple scenarios when this is not the ideal solution, perhaps because:
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The fees charged by a translation agency are several times higher than the cost of working directly with a freelance translator.
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Translation companies have higher minimum project charges or will not accept smaller tasks that require just an hour or two of translation.
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Turnaround times are unsuitable for your deadlines, particularly if you need a French to English translation completed within one or two days.
One of the many benefits of hiring an independent translator is that you work directly with them to explain your objectives, negotiate a price, and progress through the translation work.
Rather than paying additional costs for overheads, you pay the hourly or project rate you have agreed to and can use our secure payments system for peace of mind and the assurance that you won't pay anything until your translation has been finished to the right standard.
What Skills Should I Prioritize When Hiring a Translator for a French to English Project?
Translation covers a broad scope, and your choice of independent translator might depend on the nature of the documents or content you need to translate, their knowledge of your sector or industry, or the speed at which you require a professional translation to be completed.
Top translators are either first-language speakers or multilingual–able to translate to and from several languages with excellent levels of accuracy.
Below, we've listed some of the criteria most commonly featured in French to English translation job posts:
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Good communication, providing regular updates, or being able to project manage larger translation jobs and submit completed content according to a pre-agreed timescale
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Flawless attention to detail, ensuring the translation isn't just technically accurate but has the same flow, tone, and meaning as the original source content
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Strong writing skills, crafting the translated phrases into the right order and structure to preserve clarity and ensure the content makes sense to the target audience
Some employers look for translators with a formal qualification or certification in translation, and this may be relevant for more technical translation tasks or where you need a certified translation for official use.
How Does Hiring a Freelance French to English Translator on Guru Work?
We’ve mentioned a job post, which is where most hirers start. The process is straightforward, and you can sign up through an email address, LinkedIn, Google, or Facebook account for convenience.
Another option is to use our skills search, matching your hiring requirements with expert freelancers. You can browse profiles and portfolios and evaluate French to English translators based on the following:
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The services offered
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Their prices and project rates
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Reviews and ratings from previous hirers
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Their location and expertise
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The number of translations completed
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The quality of their portfolio work
Each translator’s profile features contact buttons and a handy ‘get a quote’ link, so you can request pricing straight away once you have chosen the freelancer you’d most like to hire!