It’s easy to find a professional writer or translator. Countless online platforms offer competent writing or translation services across subject areas, languages, and contenttypes. But what if you need both? Should you look for a writer and a translator in two separate places or try to get a two-in-one specialist? Here are a few helpful tips.

Where to Start

First, you’ll need to decide if you’re looking for a writer who can translate or a translator capable of writing. The answer to the question of where to hire writing and translation specialistdepends on your priorities. Most clients looking for such a specialist need one thing more than the other (say, mostly writing). Once you know what matters to you more, you’ll be able to narrow down the choice of platforms and professionals to hire.

Sure, it’s possible to find a writing and translation service where you can both from the same specialist without sacrificing the quality of their work. For example, Skillhub (alongside a few similar services) has equally competent people in both writing and translation. But if you’d like to look elsewhere, you might need to choose if you’re after a writer or translator.

Two-In-One Services (Writing + Translation)

If most of the work you’d like to hire a specialist for is writing, it makes sense for you to use one of the writing services. Few offer writing and translation services (so you won’t have to look in two separate places), but some do, including Skillhub and Leaders Language Factory.

Skillhub is primarily a writing service that can help clients with almost any type of writing, including SEOcontent, resumes, articles, and cover letters. But it also specializes in writing for translation, so it’s one of the places where you can find your two-in-one expert. Or you can hire two specialists without switching between different services, which is still quite convenient.

Unlike Skillhub, Leaders Language Factory is a translation agency first and a writing assistance platform second. It works with all types of translation, including legal, technical, and medical. But it does offer copywritingservices as well. You can request a writer with translation skills (remember that such specialists are rare and aren’t always available) or order writing and translation services separately.

Translation Agencies

But if you already have a writer in mind and translation is your priority, you’re better off with one of the services focusing on translation work. They don’t offer writing assistance, but it shouldn’t be challenging to get it elsewhere. So if you’re after a competent translator, consider one of the following agencies:

• TransPerfect. TransPerfect has a stellar reputation and over 25 years of experience in the translation industry. It has a large team of translators who work in different subject areas. Even if the content you’d like to have translated is very complicated and requires a subject-matter expert, you’ll find the right person for the job at TransPerfect.
• Lionbridge. Lionbridge is an excellent choice if you need a translator urgently. Thanks to the talent pool of over 20,000 translators, it can deliver the completed work faster than a client could ever hope for.
• RWS. RWS is considered the uncontested leader of the translation industry. The quality of the translation services it delivers is indeed unparalleled. But everything comes at a price, and RWS is definitely among the pricier options in the translation market.
• LanguageLine Solutions. LanguageLine Solutions is praised both for the quality of the work it delivers to the clients and the way it treats its employees. The agency is exceptionally skilled in medical translation, so if you’re looking for a translator for healthcare-related content, LanguageLine Solutions is the best choice.

Once again, keep in mind that these are translation agencies; they don’t offer writing services.

Freelancing Platforms

Finally, if the price is among your top priorities, consider looking for a writing and translation specialist on one of the freelancing platforms. You can even find a person who can do both for a much lower price than you’d have to pay elsewhere. But the quality might suffer. Still, if you feel like taking a risk, these are the most popular freelancing platforms:

• Upwork. Upwork has the most significant number of contractors. Because of this, the writers and translators who offer their services there are constantly competing with one another. To attract clients, some of them have surprisingly low hourly rates.
• Fiverr. Some of the specialists on Fiverr charge even less than their colleagues on Upwork do. But you’ll have to filter the offers carefully unless you want to end up with a low-quality product that you’ll have to redo.
• PeoplePerHour. Unlike Upwork, PeoplePerHour has a lot of entry-level specialists who are just starting in the writing and translation industries. Despite the benefits (primarily the low fees), the downsides are too severe to ignore. The quality of the work you’ll receive from a PeoplePerHour freelancer might be way below your standards.

How to Choose the Right Person for the Job

You can skip this section if you’ve decided to hire a writing and translation specialist from a professional writing service or translation agency. Those platforms have rigorous vetting processes that ensure everyone working there is great at their job.

But if you’d like to save moneyand use an Upwork, Fiverr, or PeoplePerHour freelancer instead, you’ll need to be very careful when selecting the specialist. You’ll likely get tons of offers. Hire a specialist only after looking at their portfolio, reading their previous client’s reviews, and talking to them. Don’t be tempted by the lowest fee.

An Afterword

It’s not easy to hire a two-in-one writing and translation specialist who is skilled enough in both. But you can go with a service that offers writing and translation help (even if different people do them), such as Skillhub or Leaders Language Factory. Or you can hire a freelancer from a freelancing platform, which is cheaper but also riskier quality-wise.