Linguists that you have no information about are usually the most problematic. For example, you may have work with a linguist who disappeared or didn't turn in their work at all. You got angry and swore never to work with them again, but didn't tell anyone about this. Another PM may encounter the same problem and you don't know how grave the consequences may be.
On the other hand, if you recorded the issues you had with the linguist, such as misspellings, grammar mistakes, or punctuation errors, your colleagues will set aside enough time for a good editor to work post-translation, if they see fit.
This is why our company has a rule: when you get new information about the freelancer, share it and make sure that your colleagues have easy access to it, clearly understanding what to expect, and not wasting time for re-testing a new candidate.
For example, after working with a freelancer on several projects, a PM may change their status in the resource database. You can see how the roles have changed in the list below:
- John did well on the translations, but constantly used extra spaces and forgot tags. He's now our backup translator.
- Maria did well and was moved up to the main translator role.
- Elizabeth had issues with quality and we no longer work with her.