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Contemplating becoming a member of ITI
Thread poster: Manuela Junghans
Manuela Junghans
Manuela Junghans  Identity Verified
Germany
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None the wiser :) May 20, 2016

Many thanks for all your valuable input.

Opinions seem to be rather divided here. But it´s pretty much in line with what I´ve heard in the past. Some value their ITI membership very highly, others not so much.

For supporting their corporate members rather than individuals the investment for joining seems a bit steep really...

Still undecided.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Manuela


 
Dan Lucas
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Talk is cheap... May 20, 2016

Manuela Junghans wrote:
Opinions seem to be rather divided here. But it´s pretty much in line with what I´ve heard in the past. Some value their ITI membership very highly, others not so much.

Some of the assertions made in this thread amount to fairly provocative statements that can be neither proven nor disproven.

Personally, I do not get the feeling that the ITI supports corporates at the expense of freelancers, but I admit that I don't fully understand how corporates fit in and ITI's rationale for their membership. Maybe to represent in-house translators? Either way I would prefer that the ITI worked solely for translators.

I certainly get the feeling that the ITI is increasingly pushing "professionalism" with a focus on CPD, standards and qualifications; this may have ruffled the feathers of what you might call the old guard whose views on translation were formed a two or three decades ago when it was still a cottage industry. (There you go, now it's my turn to throw in a provocative assertion that can be neither proven nor disproven. See how it works?)

My perspective: gaining either the ITI or the CIOL qualification will show clients that you care about education and CPD. The difference between the two is unlikely to be noticed by most (if any) clients.

Regards
Dan


 
Diana Coada (X)
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Lack of basic knowledge about our associations May 20, 2016

Dan Lucas wrote:
My perspective: gaining either the ITI or the CIOL qualification will show clients that you care about education and CPD. The difference between the two is unlikely to be noticed by most (if any) clients.


The ITI exam is not a qualification. Full stop.


 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
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It depends how you define qualification. May 20, 2016

If I had a choice between someone who'd passed the ITI exam and someone who'd failed, I know who I'd choose.

 
Diana Coada (X)
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Here is what a qualification means in the UK May 20, 2016

philgoddard wrote:

If I had a choice between someone who'd passed the ITI exam and someone who'd failed, I know who I'd choose.


http://register.ofqual.gov.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/find-a-regulated-qualification


 
Christine Andersen
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Emma Goldsmith's comments May 20, 2016

I am a great fan of Emma Goldsmith's blog on Trados Studio, but she also makes wise and helpful comments on lots of other topics.

https://signsandsymptomsoftranslation.com/2013/06/11/diptrans-miti/

There is some food for thought there.


 
XXXphxxx (X)
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@ Dan May 20, 2016

Which assertions specifically would you say cannot be proven or disproven?

The pushing of CPD has indeed ruffled the feathers of more experienced members (I won’t use the term “old guard”, which I find offensive), precisely because it is mainly targeted at beginners/newcomers and is of little to no use to those of us who have been in this business for decades.

I think Diana has covered the ITI’s “qualification”. To be absolutely precise, neither the ITI nor
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Which assertions specifically would you say cannot be proven or disproven?

The pushing of CPD has indeed ruffled the feathers of more experienced members (I won’t use the term “old guard”, which I find offensive), precisely because it is mainly targeted at beginners/newcomers and is of little to no use to those of us who have been in this business for decades.

I think Diana has covered the ITI’s “qualification”. To be absolutely precise, neither the ITI nor the CIOL have a qualification as such. The IoLET which is part of the CIOL is: “the sole organisation recognised by Ofqual to deliver graduate and postgraduate-level professional qualifications for translators and interpreters.” (from the CIOL website) and offers the Dip. Trans. and DPSI, both accredited qualifications, with increasingly international recognition and neither of which are prerequisites for becoming a CIOL member. The ITI’s exam has not been accredited by any outside body and is not a standalone qualification. I think Emma Goldsmith may mention that in the blog post Christine has linked to.

I really can assure you that translation was not a cottage industry two or even three decades ago but I assume you were just trying to be provocative (?) It is because there was a time when the profession had more respect and wasn’t ruled by greedy mega-agencies and certain professional associations that have apparently lost their way that more experienced members are speaking out. Has it occurred to you that they have nothing to gain from doing this? They are just trying to point out that there was and is a better way and are attempting to secure a more viable and sustainable future for the profession.
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Herbert Eppel
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ITI exodus in ITI's 30th Anniversary year May 23, 2016

[quote]philgoddard wrote:

Diana Coada wrote:


5. A couple of recent blog posts and Facebook discussions have been quite enlightening and I see many members have decided to leave. Again, Google is your friend.

How do you define "many"?



[Edited at 2016-05-11 14:48 GMT]

[Edited at 2016-05-11 14:50 GMT]



Whatever the numbers, some of the members who recently resigned in disillusionment (to put it mildly) were ITI founder members or very long-standing members. The fact that this is happening in what should be ITI's celebratory 30th anniversary year should surely give pause for thought?

@Phil: Have you actually read the censored Bulletin letter on the subject? See Lisa Simpson's blog post at http://decipherit.net/blog/blog.php?d=5 and additional thoughts from me at http://herbeppel.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/the-ongoing-iti-retirementresignation.html


 
Herbert Eppel
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The "Networks" are one of ITI's main assets May 23, 2016

Manuela Junghans wrote:

I´m currently contemplating becoming a member of ITI and would be happy to hear the thoughts of people who are members. Is it in your opinion worth the investment? Did you get many (good) jobs through the network? Or profit in any other way?



Dear Manuela,

Coming back to your original message, there is another aspect, which apparently hasn't been mentioned yet, i.e. the ITI "Networks". These are the language networks and the regional groups (see http://www.iti.org.uk/networking-groups). For many ITI members, these "Networks" are one of ITI's main 'assets'. FWIW, I'm a member of no fewer than five of these networks/groups, although I mainly focus on the German Network.


 
Angela Malik
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My thoughts for Manuela May 23, 2016

Hi Manuela,

You certainly have received a lot of input from people with very differing opinions! To give you a bit of my own background, I was an Associate member of the ITI for about 6 years (well, at some point in those 6 years I downgraded myself accidentally to 'Career Affiliate' which is a funny story but not relevant here so I'll leave it for another time). I decided to become a 'Qualified Member' last year. My main motivation for becoming a Qualified Member is because my comp
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Hi Manuela,

You certainly have received a lot of input from people with very differing opinions! To give you a bit of my own background, I was an Associate member of the ITI for about 6 years (well, at some point in those 6 years I downgraded myself accidentally to 'Career Affiliate' which is a funny story but not relevant here so I'll leave it for another time). I decided to become a 'Qualified Member' last year. My main motivation for becoming a Qualified Member is because my company is starting to grow more and I felt being an MITI would add a little more substance to my reputation -- and it definitely has.

So here is my personal comparison of the two membership grades and my suggestion for you:

Qualified Membership: Adds some extra 'oomph' to you as a serious professional who has completed a peer-reviewed exam to prove their capability. You also get voting rights within the organisation, and have the right to run for organisational positions within the ITI -- some of the negative things that members and non-members seem to be focused on here could be changed if the right people put themselves forward to make those changes. You are also added to the directory, which expands your reach to new clients. In my personal experience, immediately after joining the directory I was contacted by a few new clients.

Associate membership: you get almost all the relevant benefits -- you get the ITI Bulletin, you get discounts to a lot of translation conferences and events, you are allowed to join the regional networks. The annual fee is cheaper, but you are not added to the directory, you cannot officially call yourself an MITI (you can call yourself an AITI though), and you do not have voting rights.

Apparently another difference is that MITIs get preferential rates with Towergate Insurance for their professional indemnity insurance. This is new, as when I was an Associate, we also got these preferential rates. To be honest though, I think you can just tell Towergate you are a member, provide your membership number (even as an Associate) and they give you the preferred rates anyway as they don't bother to check.

So my suggestion is that if the ITI still seems to be of interest but you aren't sure you want to dive right in completely, why don't you become an Associate and just see how that goes, get a taste of the ITI as an insider and then make your decision as to whether or not to become a qualified member later?
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Herbert Eppel
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ITI PII marketing 'propaganda' May 23, 2016

Angela Rimmer wrote:

Apparently another difference is that MITIs get preferential rates with Towergate Insurance for their professional indemnity insurance.


Actually, some ITI members object to the ITI PII marketing 'propaganda'. I for one resisted it and stayed with MFL, and I can recommend them.


 
Angela Malik
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Your choice May 23, 2016

Herbert Eppel wrote:

Actually, some ITI members object to the ITI PII marketing 'propaganda'. I for one resisted it and stayed with MFL, and I can recommend them.


That's your prerogative, but I think it's appropriate for an organisation such as the ITI to have agreed preferred rates with an insurance provider. They went with Towergate, but of course you are welcome to choose something else.


 
Manuela Junghans
Manuela Junghans  Identity Verified
Germany
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Wow May 23, 2016

Good Morning all you lovely people

Wow, you absolutely overwhelmed me with all your very interesting posts.

At some point during the discussion I almost feared that some of you might start to argue...

Angela, you hit the nail on the head What you explained was pretty much exactly what I wanted to know. Joining as an Associate is
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Good Morning all you lovely people

Wow, you absolutely overwhelmed me with all your very interesting posts.

At some point during the discussion I almost feared that some of you might start to argue...

Angela, you hit the nail on the head What you explained was pretty much exactly what I wanted to know. Joining as an Associate is IMO a good idea, although from what I gather, and what you seem to confirm, on of the main benefits (apart from networking, conferences etc.) is apparently the directory, which gives you the exposure to potential new clients.

But as someone earlier on in the discussion said, Dan I think it was, everything that you want gain something from, costs money to start with. If it was cheap and easy, it would be overcrowded and lose its value in the end.

Many many thanks again to all of you for taking the time to give such detailed information.

Have a good start to the new work week.

Manuela
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XXXphxxx (X)
XXXphxxx (X)  Identity Verified
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Misc May 23, 2016

As it happens, over the weekend I got quotes from two associations’ “preferred suppliers” and both were higher than MFL’s so I opted for them instead.

“Benefits” are a thorny issue. They give the business a nice set of warm leads but members rarely get any real discounts. The fact that a company with a recent history of financial difficulty is being pushed on members at the time of membership renewal does raise eyebrows.

It is worth adding that several ITI
... See more
As it happens, over the weekend I got quotes from two associations’ “preferred suppliers” and both were higher than MFL’s so I opted for them instead.

“Benefits” are a thorny issue. They give the business a nice set of warm leads but members rarely get any real discounts. The fact that a company with a recent history of financial difficulty is being pushed on members at the time of membership renewal does raise eyebrows.

It is worth adding that several ITI networks do not require you to be a member of the institute to join them.

A directory listing is indeed useful for those wanting to work for agencies, much less useful for those who don’t. Personally, I found regular contact from agencies I was not interested in working with more of an inconvenience than a bonus. Particularly as many of them were trawling these directories as they’d been banned from posting jobs here.

Edited to change a very crucial "lower" to "higher". Sorry, typed in too much of a hurry.


[Edited at 2016-05-23 10:38 GMT]
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Herbert Eppel
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ITI Directory May 23, 2016

Lisa Simpson, CL wrote:

A directory listing is indeed useful for those wanting to work for agencies, much less useful for those who don’t. Personally, I found regular contact from agencies I was not interested in working with more of an inconvenience than a bonus.


Indeed, not to mention the fact that some agency staff seem to display symptoms of reading impairment. I make it quite clear in my ITI profile that I work mainly for direct clients these days, and yet the enquiries from agencies, inviting me to fill in 'application forms' etc., keep coming. Ditto ProZ Directory, by the way.


 
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