PROJECT MANAGERS IN THE TRANSLATION INDUSTRY - ARGENTINA
Rosario Traducciones conducted the 4th Annual Survey on Argentina’s Translation Industry. The focus this time was on project managers, their profile and daily work.
It is interesting to note that 72% of the respondents are women, and 50% are professional translators. 50% has undergone some specific training on project management. Also, 59% indicated their willingness to pursue additional training. When asked about their primary areas of interest, they preferred sales, human resource management, and DTP.
These professionals handle several language pairs:* English-Spanish (93%), Portuguese-Spanish (79%), French-Spanish (50%), German-Spanish and Italian-Spanish (42%).
57% work for up to 8 hours/day, while 29% work more than 8 hours/day; only 14% work up to 6 hours/day.
Actuals vs. Projections
64% of respondents indicated that in the last three years their volume of work has increased, while 21% reported there was no change.
71% believe that their workload will increase in the next three years, 21% think it might decrease, and 7% believe there will be no change.
Technology
On the expected impact of technology on our industry, the five more desired outcomes are*:
1. Facilitate integration 86%
2. Improve MT quality 79%
3. Improve knowledge management 71%
4. More efficient tools 71%
5. Increase leverage 57%
We also asked about the relevance of social media in their professional life. 39% think their social networks are of some importance, 28% think they are of great importance, and 33% think they are not so important.
Translation Tools and Training Goals
This is the CAT tool ranking for project management based on frequent use: Plunet (79%), Projetex (43%), XTM (36%), WordBee (21%), Gespoint Translator Business (7%).
And when surveyed about their preferences, participants responded: Plunet (76%), Projetex (29%), and XTM (21%).
Finally, PMs responded that the tools they should learn more about are: Plunet (50%), Projetex (29%), XTM (29%), Gespoint Translator Business (7%), and WordBee (7%).
This is the CAT tool ranking for translation based on frequent use: Trados Studio (100%), Xbench (83%), MemoQ (83%), Memsource (75%), and Wordfast (58%).
And when surveyed about their preferences, participants responded: Trados Studio (62%), Xbench (69%), and MemoQ (46%). As for the tools they should learn more about, they listed: MemoQ (50%), Trados Studio (42%), Memsource (42%), Xbench (42%), and MateCat (25 %).
Overall, they would like to receive more training on quality control and project management (57%), followed by translation tools (50%), and finance self-management (29%).*
Client Relationship
86% are employed under contract with a company. 64% have been working in this industry for more than ten years, and 21% for more than five years.
When discussing their employment within a translation company, 31% of respondents prioritized an excellent working environment. When describing their relationship with the translators and editors in their teams, 46% of PMs prioritized the quality of translations delivered. Finally, when dealing with end clients, 36% of those who were surveyed prioritized having a good relationship with their corresponding Project Manager.
Please note that this survey was conducted in early March 2020, before the COVID-19 lockdown in Argentina.
Note: *Respondents were allowed to choose more than one option so that the total percentage might be over 100.