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Absolute Translations

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Disappointing - Project Manager Absolute Translations Employee Review

1.0
1 Jul 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I don't think there were any pros.

Cons

I worked at Absolute Translations for less than a year and every time I look back and reflect on my time there I'm more and more baffled. Back then it was a small company in a small office and a suffocating culture: - In my first week there I was asked my zodiac sign by a colleague (someone related to the owners) and received a very hostile look when I replied and this person didn't like the answer. - There was a rota to clean the coffee machine, which I had to do even though I explained that I don't like coffee and therefore never drink it. - One of my colleagues literally told me that women couldn't be pilots because they're women, but men can, of course! - There was no room whatsoever to eat your lunch in peace. Also, lunch was only 45 minutes instead of a full hour and working hours were 9 to 6 for very little money. - The female owner was lovely and understanding. Not so much the male owner, who was loud, overexcited to the point of interference, and slow to apologise to the clients when mistakes occurred. Most frustrating of all, this experience left me very disappointed in the translation industry. They claim to use experienced and specialist translators, but most of the time that's not the case. Clients would pay for a specialist service and the translation would be assigned to the usual generalist translators. This is not to say that these translators are bad, just that they're not specialist professionals. The company lets clients believe that they are, and then of course they complain about massive, embarrassing errors that wouldn't have happened if this company really cared about quality. Additionally, never did I witness a project manager telling a client that a translation would take longer because the best translator for the job was unavailable. They would just send the text to someone else. All in all, this was a very stressful experience, with not very nice colleagues and with clients complaining all the time about the bad quality of the translations. I believe Absolute Translations gives translators a bad name. I was truly excited about this job and it's a shame that it turned out to be such a bad experience.

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Absolute Translations Response
6y
Thank you for your review and we are sorry that Absolute Translations and your colleagues here did not meet your expectations. We are however surprised that you have submitted a review 7 years after we had to let you go. We would agree that the culture is slightly different in small companies and this sometimes does involve everyone mucking in, and in our case that did mean we all helped in cleaning the coffee machine at the end of the day. The over-excited owner you mention would have been Sergio, he is still very excited and with bags of passion for the business, it is the excitement and a strong team which has propelled the company to now be in the top 7% of all UK companies across all sectors. Regarding how we worked with the clients, I would strongly disagree - this is not and has never been our policy or the way we worked. We were the very first UK translation company to be ISO 17100 accredited and our commitment to quality is at the forefront of what drives our business. In the industry, brand is synonymous with high quality translations and we are proud to work with some of the world’s leading brands. Our rapid growth, without any external funding, has only been possible due to the consistent high level of repeat business. If you’d like to provide additional feedback, please feel to contact our office manager: cristina@absolutetranslations.com Thank you for your review.

Explore other reviews about Absolute Translations

5.0
8 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great colleagues and supportive managers. I was very happy with my experience working at Absolute and learned a lot along the way. Would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a career in the localisation industry.

Cons

Sometimes workloads can be heavy but team and managers are always supportive

4.0
8 Mar 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pay on time. Interesting Projects.

Cons

They send work on a first come first came basis

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