Small translation jobs can be a big drain on your time and resources—particularly when the pressure is on to turn them around quickly.
Translating a single UI string or temporary website banner might seem like a quick and easy task. But what about when you need to translate these short chunks of text on a regular basis, for multiple markets? Constantly firing off urgent, ad hoc requests to your LSP (language service provider) can lead to mountains of admin and spiraling costs.
What’s more, the need for speed doesn’t mean you should compromise on quality. Even the shortest piece of text is a reflection on your brand, and rushed, low-quality translations can impact your customer experience.
Rubric’s structured approach helps you manage these small jobs more efficiently, delivering the quality you need alongside long-term savings. And that leaves you free to focus on the bigger picture.
The challenge: Small jobs eat up time and money
Sometimes, the smallest jobs come with the highest pressures. They can feature high-value, high-visibility content (such as online ads), so balancing quality and speed is key. Getting all this right can be expensive.
The LSP still needs to contact and brief linguists for each market, and these jobs often have tight turnarounds—for example, “we need this banner on our website tomorrow”.
Translators face similar challenges: while they may only be working on a few words, translating a sentence out of context, potentially within a limited character count, isn’t always straightforward. Questions and clarifications can mean the job takes longer than anticipated.
For these reasons, most LSPs have minimum charges or rush fees in place. These costs can swiftly add up for clients.
The solution: Rubric small jobs workflow
At Rubric, we’ve developed a structured process for our clients where small jobs (typically those under 100 words) are handled together.
All requestors put their source content in one place, and we check in on an agreed cadence. We then commit to delivering the translations within 48 hours. This means there are no surprises for project managers or translators, and we help our clients to become proactive in their approach.
The process also helps us ensure quality and protect our client’s brand. Rather than sending out one-off requests to linguists with little context, we can provide the background and references they need to deliver the best translation, along with brand and formatting guidelines to prevent rework.
Having this structured workflow in place simplifies project set-up and allows for a monthly translation invoice, rather than lots of small bills applying minimum charges.
Results: Less admin, lower costs, happy team
The small jobs workflow significantly reduces the admin burden for all concerned—clients, linguists, and project managers. And with predictable turnaround times and delivery dates, everyone knows what to expect. Of course, there will always be urgent requests, and we will always be responsive to our clients’ needs. But now, these requests can be handled in a more structured way that gives our clients certainty at the right price.
Indeed, clients see impressive cost savings with this service. Admin overheads are slashed, with quoting and invoicing reduced to once a month and job tracking streamlined, so you only pay for what you need.
On average, our clients save 67% a month, compared to the cost of handling the same work as individual requests.
With these results, it’s not surprising the small jobs workflow has quickly become popular with our clients: we process an average of 30 of these batches each month.
If minor translation jobs are causing you a major headache, contact Rubric. Our tried-and-tested small jobs workflow cuts through the chaos, offering a fast, reliable, and affordable option for high-quality short translations.