Pros
There are very few. The only positive I can really give is that the regular members of staff are often very bright, funny and friendly people. I was only there for nine months but during that period I made some great people who turned into really good friends.
Cons
How long have you got? Management: I suppose the biggest con is the fact that the managers are all completely and utterly inept. I met managers from a couple of different European offices and also had quite a few e-exchanges with some in the US, which is where the company's headquarters is based. Unfortunately they are nearly always rude, obnoxious, arrogant and really rather ignorant. They have often advanced up the TransPerfect ladder due to their resilience and ability to deal with the quite appalling internal politics that takes place. They are, in my experience at least, never actually equipped to manage people. They have got experience of managing accounts, often accruing accounts and therefore building their book of business through luck more than judgement. They then tend to take on an approach where 'one size fits all.' This is to suggest that they treat all of their team members in exactly the same way and do not consider individual and, perhaps more importantly, cultural differences. Cultural differences: That last point is something that particularly frustrated me during my time at the company. Americans have a very different approach to most other nationalities. I am British and felt that the 'sell at all costs' approach was slightly unethical. I was encouraged at points to exaggerate our value proposition to clients in order to try and impress them. This probably works in the short term, but in the long term I have no doubt that it would come back to haunt you. Unrealistic targets: The targets set by the managers are often completely untenable. By setting these targets they immediately set people up to fail. It gives the impression that people are underperforming even if they are doing their best. Punishments: Managers are very keen to punish team members who do not reach the quite ludicrous targets that are set. One such punishment for failing to reach targets that was suggested but never actually implemented was for the member of staff concerned to have to sing a song in front of the whole team. It was only when other team members informed the manager that they did not agree with it that she relented. This sort of humiliation does not encourage someone to perform well, instead it creates resentment and anger. That sort of behaviour is indicative of the company, and goes to show just how ill prepared people are when they are given management positions. Relentless reporting: Without a shadow of a doubt the most tedious part of the job. They don’t tell you when you do the interview that you have to submit an end of day (EOD) report EVERY SINGLE DAY! Often this is follow by and end of week (EOW) and in some cases even an end of month. Essentially you end up regurgitating the same information three times. It is utterly pointless and a complete waste of time. It also gives you the impression of being back at school and also being constantly surveyed. Not a good way to keep up morale. Systems & poor quality: TransPerfect has many internal problems. You only have to google the company to find articles explaining the extremely ugly relationship that exists between the two CEOs. The company has been told by a court of law that it has to be sold and it is currently looking for a buyer. While this is going on the management team is absolutely relentless in ensuring that it maximises every possible deal, while keeping costs to a minimum. Until the company is sold there will be no investment in new electronic systems which are badly needed. The sales teams and various other departments are using programs that are anything between 8-15 years old. They are confusing to use and more importantly very time consuming. The other crucial element is the quality that TransPerfect provides its clients. I was always receiving or hearing about complaints made by clients who were saying that the quality of the work TransPerfect was providing was simply not good enough. Furthermore, clients are charged very high rates, way above the market rate, and very little of that money gets fed back to the linguists who produce the work. It is therefore obvious to see where the problems lie. It is a vicious circle where management ensure their pockets are well lined, and then don’t pay the linguists who produce the work a reasonable sum. The company simply cannot continue in this vein.
