Onboarding Guide

Working with Language Delivery Teams

2022
Table of Contents
Version history ...............................................................................................................................................................3
1 Onboarding Guide.................................................................................................................................................4

2 Receiving work .......................................................................................................................................................4

2.1 Initial contact and accepting work ............................................................................................................4

2.2 Project handoff & kick-off...........................................................................................................................5

2.3 Style Guide & reference material ..............................................................................................................5

2.4 Undertaking projects via GroupShare ......................................................................................................5

3 Processing Work ....................................................................................................................................................6

3.1 Query management ....................................................................................................................................6

Query Checklist ......................................................................................................................................................6

Invalid Queries .......................................................................................................................................................6

Tips on how to write queries................................................................................................................................7

Example wordings for queries:............................................................................................................................7

smartQuery ............................................................................................................................................................7

4 Delivering Work .....................................................................................................................................................8

4.1 MDS (Material Delivery Sheet) ...................................................................................................................8

5 Deadlines for project completion and delivery .................................................................................................8

6 After the delivery ...................................................................................................................................................9

6.1 Feedback.......................................................................................................................................................9

7 Purchase Orders & Invoices .................................................................................................................................9

7.1 Purchase Orders ..........................................................................................................................................9

7.2 Submitting Invoices.....................................................................................................................................9

7.3 Changes in bank details............................................................................................................................10

7.4 Additional invoicing and payment information ....................................................................................10

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 Version history

Version Owner Description of changes Revision Date

Document created.
1.0 Supply Chain Strategists April 2019

Document revised.
1.1 Supply Chain Strategists June 2020

Formatting updates.
1.2 Supply Chain Strategists May 2021
Document re-branded.
Formatting updates.
1.3 Supply Chain Strategists July 2022
Document re-branded.
Document revised.
1.4 Supply Chain Strategists November 2022

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1 Onboarding Guide
This Onboarding Guide will introduce you to working with RWS Language Delivery Teams. In
addition, we have created a series of other useful guides on various topics:

Best Practice Guidelines_Translation.pdf

Best Practice Guidelines_Review.pdf
Information on our requirements for
How To Guide - Post Editing and Spot
different tasks and what deliverables we
Check.pdf
expect
How To Guide - LSO.pdf

How To Guide - Root Cause Analysis.pdf

How To Guide - QA Checks.pdf Information on standard QA checks

How To Guide - GroupShare.pdf

How To Guide - Trados and Product
Support.pdf
Instructions and tips for working with our
Getting Started Guide - Passolo.pdf tools
Quick Guide - Trados Studio.pdf
Quick Guide - Workzone.pdf

Most of these guides are only few pages long but contain valuable information so please ensure
to have a look through them.

2 Receiving work
2.1 Initial contact and accepting work

Our work givers will contact you via email or phone to inform you about new work and
will send you the source file/sample, if available, for you to check before accepting the
project. In the case of urgent projects, they may contact several translators
simultaneously and then allocate the work to the first suitable vendor who confirms
they can take the project.
Please respond as promptly as possible to confirm or decline work. Some vendors
choose to divert emails to handheld devices or activate out of office messages which

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 helps us to manage communication and successfully allocate work.

2.2 Project handoff & kick-off

Once you have confirmed you will take the project, the work-giver will send you the
necessary translation files, instructions and any reference material. You will also be
issued with a Purchase Order detailing the work allocated.

For larger projects the project team may organize a kick-off call with you. We use this
call to expand upon the requirements of the project to ensure that the whole team is
clear on what is required, and any initial questions are addressed. If you are invited to
participate in a call, please make every effort to join.
We may send large files using our file management system CSS or FTP.
o For CSS, we will provide you with a link and a temporary password to access files.
o For FTP, we recommend using FileZilla as your standard FTP client. It is free to
download from https://filezilla-project.org/

2.3 Style Guide & reference material

• The Style Guide for your target language is hosted online on Community. You will need
an account to access it so if you don’t have one you can create one here. Then simply
request access to the style guides here
Please ensure you refer to the Style Guide at all times (unless specific accounts’
language guidelines take priority over this). Any updates are accompanied by a date, so
you can easily keep track of any changes.
• For certain projects we may also provide you with a Style Guide or other reference
material specific to the client, which dictates how certain terminological and grammatical
aspects should be handled for that client throughout the translation. This may include
client preferences for terminology choices or grammar rules, for example, as well as
information on translation memories, the query process and the delivery procedure

2.4 Undertaking projects via GroupShare

• Some projects will be sent via a system called GroupShare. This automates many of the
admin processes associated with translation requests, allowing translators and reviewers
to focus on the task they have been assigned.
• Terminology databases, translation memories and projects are hosted on a server,
eliminating the need to create packages and upload files to FTP servers.
• Files can be downloaded from GroupShare directly within Trados Studio. You will receive
an email notification when the project is ready to start. You can simply click on the link in
the notification to open the job in Trados Studio.
• Trados Studio will download a copy of the project to your computer for you to work on,
but the translation memory and terminology database are hosted online. This reduces

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 the amount of data you need to download and ensures that you always have access to
the latest content.
• More information is available in the “How To Guide - GroupShare”.

3 Processing Work
Check out the separate guides for different tasks.

3.1 Query management

• We have an established query procedure should you encounter specific issues or

ambiguities in the text that you are unable to resolve through research. You will either be
provided with a query template (please ensure all sections of the query sheet are
completed in full, including filename, page and segment number, source text and
suggested translation), or you will use our smartQuery system (see more information
below) or in some cases, a query management system of the client.
• Queries should always be worded clearly and appropriately as they may be sent to the
end client.
• Please send the query document to the work giver in advance of the deadline if possible,
as raising queries upon delivery can result in a delayed delivery. Our project teams will
make every effort to respond to you with solutions that can be resolved internally, while
queries requiring outside clarification will be passed to the client.
• If queries are outstanding when your deadline is approaching, deliver the files with your
best assumptions for the queried terms (unless instructed otherwise) and leave
outstanding queried segments unconfirmed in Trados Studio.

Query Checklist

Before sending any new queries, please check the following:

• Did you check the past queries?
• Did you double-check the Style Guide?
• Did you double-check any other instructions given?
• Did you refer to the Glossary and the TMs?
• Did you check in the installed product (the ’software build’), if available?
• Did you refer to any other provided reference materials?
• Did you check with other publicly available resources (such as Microsoft glossary, the
Internet, dictionaries)?
• Did you check the source files for context (not only the one you are translating)?

Invalid Queries

The following types of queries should not be raised, unless stated otherwise in the specific
instructions for your projects:

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 • Queries asking for confirmation of translations. The client quite often does not speak any
language other than English. Also, we are the language specialists and the client believes
that we are being paid to provide the translations, not the other way round. The exception
should be if your project has an in-country language specialist dedicated to answering
language specific queries.
• Queries without context or with fields missing, e.g. file name.
• Queries where the answer is in the file being translated or that can easily be answered by
searching dictionaries or search tools like Google.

Tips on how to write queries

• Please write your queries in English unless specified otherwise. Make sure you provide all
the information needed for the Multilingual Client Lead and/or client to answer your
queries (source file name, component, product name, string ID in software, topic number
in Help system, pdf page in documentation, etc.).
• Try to write your query in a concise, "straight to the point" style and remember that the
client may or may not see your query (therefore comments such as "The source text is
badly written, it does not make sense" or other similar derogative comments are to be
strictly avoided).
• As a rule, try to make suggestions as to what you think the answer may be (avoid queries
such as: "What does X mean?" or "Please provide translation for X"). However, if you have
really no idea about a term, you do not have to make something up, you can just politely
request that the meaning of the term be clarified.

Example wordings for queries:

Can you please provide more context for this sentence so that we can ensure our translation is as
accurate and as meaningful as possible?
There appears to be an error in in this sentence or the sentence is incomplete. Can the client please
indicate how the sentence should read correctly?
Is there an existing English translation available for the software option in bold or how should we treat
it?

smartQuery

For some clients, we use a tool called smartQuery to manage queries. It is a web-based portal to:

• Create and categorize queries.

• Delegate, answer, track, confirm and manage queries among translators, project
managers, clients and subject matter experts.
• Log queries for future use - new queries are automatically checked against existing ones,
so they are not logged twice.

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Further information on smartQuery would be shared by your
work giver in the case that you will be asked to log queries in
this system.

4 Delivering Work
4.1 MDS (Material Delivery Sheet)

• When you undertake a translation for us, we might ask

you to complete relevant parts of an MDS, or Material
Delivery Sheet. This is essentially a quality checklist that
certifies that the person involved in each stage of the
project has carried out everything required for the
completion of that task (it may also include specific
requirements stipulated by the client in some cases).
• Should you receive this form when we send you the
materials to translate (or review), or with any other task
we may allocate to you, please complete and return it
to your project contact with your delivery.

5 Deadlines for project completion and delivery

• When you are allocated a project by the Language Delivery teams you will be advised of
the deadline by which you must complete and deliver the work (in some cases, for larger
projects, delivery may be in stages with phased deadlines).
• You should always confirm receipt of the job we have sent you and confirm that you have
opened the files for translation and checked that everything works and looks as expected.
Spotting issues early allows us to fix them and not put our deadlines to our clients at risk.
• Deadlines are not usually moveable and we expect all our freelance translators to
appreciate the importance of adhering to the specified deadline, and the impact that
missed deadlines and late deliveries have on the project – these can lead to financial
penalties being imposed on RWS by the client and can ultimately jeopardize the whole
relationship with the client.
• Should you exceptionally encounter any unexpected event or issue that means there is a
risk you won’t be able to meet the specified delivery deadline, you should notify us
straight away. Ensure you give our project teams as much notice as possible so that they
can take any steps they can to minimize the impact on the project schedule. There are
many stages involved in a typical localization project, and therefore the knock-on effects
of a late delivery at any stage in the process can be very serious.

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6 After the delivery
6.1 Feedback

After your work has been reviewed, you might receive feedback from your work giver/reviewer.
This feedback is often provided in a form of compare files and can help you to learn Language
Delivery and client specific expectations. Make sure to review it carefully and contact your work
giver if anything in the feedback is unclear.

For some projects, the work giver may also send you feedback from the client or a third party
reviewer and ask you to comment/rebut the feedback. When replying to feedback, consider the
following:
• Be polite. Always stay professional despite how the other party phrases their comments.
• Be clear. Consider that the recipient might not have all the same information you have.
Screenshots can be very helpful when explaining your point of view.
• Be assertive. If you disagree with the reviewer, explain in detail why you feel you’re
right. Provide objective evidence if possible (i.e. link to a reliable source to support your
case).
• Consider who is giving the feedback. If the feedback is directly from the client, they will
always have the final say on their content.

7 Purchase Orders & Invoices

7.1 Purchase Orders

• When we allocate you work, we will issue you with a Purchase Order (PO) via email,
describing the basic details and scope of the work, as well as the deadline(s). In some
cases we may raise POs on a weekly or monthly basis – this will be agreed with you before
proceeding as such.
• Certain POs are subject to additional sign-off so may take a little time to reach you. Do
ensure that you read it carefully and in full, as it contains important information regarding
the project work, and may contain additional instructions.
• Once you have received your PO by email you can view it in Workzone in the ‘My Purchase
Orders’ tab.

7.2 Submitting Invoices

• When you have undertaken work for us, you’ll need to submit an invoice for the work.
The majority of invoices should be submitted via Workzone, however your Talent
Manager will let you know if you should invoice via email instead.
• Your invoice must include:
o Your full name, address, phone and email contact details

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 o Any other company name or invoicing name
o The date the invoice is being submitted
o Your unique Vendor ID, as it appears on the Purchase Order
o The Purchase Order number(s), as it appears on the Purchase Order
o The total amount which you are invoicing for the work in question, as it appears
on the Purchase Order

Your invoice must be submitted following the instructions specified on the PO. The invoice
information should match the PO, including the currency.
For more information on how to invoice through Workzone, please see the Quick guide -
Workzone.

7.3 Changes in bank details

If your POs are raised from an entity in any of the below regions you can manage your bank
details directly in the Payment Details tab of your Workzone profile. This tab will appear once you
have received your first PO from RWS and you’ll be prompted to fill in the information. If you ever
need to change the information please do it in this tab.

• Central Europe
• Nordics
• UK & IE
• Mediterranean
• NASA

If your POs are raised from an entity not in one of the regions listed above, please submit any
changes in bank details to [email protected] detailing all entities that you collaborate with
for which you would like the details updating.

7.4 Additional invoicing and payment information

If you have undertaken several projects for the same Language Delivery team, you may include
these together on one single invoice. Please, however, note the following:
• The amounts for each separate project must be broken down and specified clearly on the
invoice next to the corresponding Purchase Order number. Grouping invoice amounts
together in this way and submitting them, e.g. on a monthly basis, can help minimize your
bank charges.

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 • Work done for different Language Delivery teams cannot be invoiced on the same invoice
– they must be sent to the corresponding office.
• POs in different currencies cannot be submitted on one invoice.
• Invoices should not be submitted for partial amounts unless agreed in advance with the
work giver and a staged payment schedule appears on the Purchase Order.

Processing of invoices and payments is handled by our Accounts Payable team. According to
the standard payment terms in operation for the particular office for whom you have
undertaken work, your invoice will be processed for payment within the specified time period,
from date of receipt of invoice. Please note that this is subject to the payment “runs” organized
by the office in question – most offices typically carry out two payment runs per month.

Most offices arrange payments via bank transfer unless otherwise specified. Note that in
accordance with the Freelance Contract, where payments are subject to bank charges, RWS will
meet only those charges levied by the originating bank.

To reduce bank charge fees for both sides, any invoices below £75/$100/€100are held by RWS
UK and US entities (SDL Ltd (Maidenhead), SDL Ltd (Sheffield) & SDL Inc) where the payment
transaction is international. Payment will continue be held until (i) there is sufficient funds from
additional invoices where the combined total exceeds £75/$100/€100 or (ii) you request that the
payment be released on the understanding that bank charges may be applied to the payment.
Local domestic payments such as ACH or SEPA are not held.

Should you have any queries regarding payment for an invoice submitted, please get in touch
with the Accounts Payable team to whom you submitted the invoice for assistance.

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About RWS

RWS Holdings plc is the world’s leading provider of technology-enabled language, content management and intellectual property services.
We help our clients to connect with and bring new ideas to people globally by communicating business critical content at scale and
enabling the protection and realization of their innovations.

Our vision is to help organizations interact effectively with people anywhere in the world by solving their language, content and market
access challenges through our collective global intelligence, deep expertise, and smart technology.

Clients include 90 of the globe’s top 100 brands, the top 10 pharmaceutical companies and approximately half of the top 20 pa tent filers
worldwide. Our client base spans Europe, Asia Pacific, and North and South America across the technology, pharmaceutical, medical, legal,
chemical, automotive, government and telecommunications sectors, which we serve from offices across five continents.

Founded in 1958, RWS is headquartered in the UK and publicly listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L).

For further information, please visit: www.rws.com

© All Rights Reserved. Information contained herein is deemed confidential and the proprietary information of RWS Group*.
*RWS Group shall mean RWS Holdings PLC for and on behalf of its affiliates and subsidiaries.

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