I sympathise, I really do, as I've been there before (including the stonewalling). Educating clients about editing (or even translating) is not the easiest thing in the world. I've seen Trados stuff too... ouch. It's often a case of a client *thinking* he's saving money by investing in the software (and/or training someone who is probably not really a translator) to use it, then realising it needs more work and refusing to pay the price.

But yeah, when there's no other work on the horizon I know how it feels - the worst is when something good *does* show up and you're then stuck trying to do both rather than lose either client.

I find the ATA system extremely lenient! We do have an association of translators and interpreters here, but I confess to not knowing their standards. It costs a small fortune to be certified, and 99% of my new clients aren't interested in paper qualifications, only references and experience (ok, so this is after 23 years... *g*). One train of thought among many colleagues is that only lousy translators and beginners bother getting some sort of piece of paper from the Switzerland if it's not a Swiss language, as anyone worth their salt is qualified in their native country.

You've got me interested now, though. Must go check out UK 'standards' some time