One job listing you should not apply for
June 26, 2009 by Jennifer
Filed under Blogging Jobs
Today I’m posting a gig that’s annoying right off the bat:
Green blogger – NOW while I’m sure some of you will apply for this gig, I’d rather you didn’t, I’m posting it to show you an obnoxious job. If you’re hired the pay is good per post, but they’re asking for a lot for free. Too much. Here’s what they want you to do…
“To apply, follow these simple 3 steps:
1. Browse our site and see if you connect and resonate with it. Start with the About Us page and check also the other links in the bottom, like the Alternative definitions.
2. Apply for an account here.
3. Upload your sample blog on a topic that is relevant to AltGlobe’s Alternative subjects and categories.
4. E-mail us with the title of you blog to let us know you are interested in becoming a team member.
After your sample blog post is published on the site, we will allow one week to see how our readers react to your writing and how you integrate in the community. We encourage all our bloggers to be active participants by connecting with other members on the site and commenting on other bloggers’ posts, as well as answering questions people had to ask about your own blog post.”
Here’s why this is an obnoxious gig…
- If you’re an actual writer/blogger you likely have a collection of links and past work to share. A new sample is unnecessary. If a client can’t tell how you write from a collection of past posts you’ve done, if they really need a NEW one, in my opinion there’s something wrong with the client. They’re just lazy and don’t want to sort resumes or they’re looking for page views at their site.
- Their “simple 3 steps” to applying are actually a little involved. It could end up taking you up to an hour to do all that; an hour in which you could have been making money elsewhere.
- AFTER you do the three simple steps, you have to hang out doing other stuff – answering comments, making sure you promote that new post, and social networking – all for free. You’re helping them build a community for free. Lame. PLUS it can take longer than a week for a post to get decent traffic or responses, which tells me they expect unrealistic things right off the bat.
- After you do all of the above it’s highly unlikely you’ll be that one blogger to get hired. According to the ad, they’re looking for “A” green blogger. Your odds of getting hired when hundreds of writers have no issues applying for a lame audition gig like this – NOT GOOD.
Why would I post a lame job ad – as an example. If writers and bloggers apply for gigs like this, if we offer up free content and time without batting an eye, potential clients will go right on expecting that they can hold obnoxious job application processes like this.
Do you need to do the above?: Heck no. All my current jobs had no audition process. I’m making enough $ to live on through my blogging gigs, and not one of my clients wanted me to do all this crap above. I sent an email bio, cover letter, and past samples of my work, had an interview, and was hired. 20 mins tops from applying to job. In general, I don’t do lengthy audition processes for gigs and you shouldn’t either. Our time is worth more than this, don’t you think?
Coming up in a little bit, the actual job listings of the day.
Amen. Thanks for for writing this! It seems like a lot of ads, particularly the ads for blogging jobs or jobs for online writing, are asking for things like this. My instinct was not to follow-through because it does take time to write something specifically for one client, even a sample. It’s frustrating when you see 3 or more job leads that require that. How much of your time is taken writing for them when you could be writing for someone without the hurdles or you could be writing for yourself.
I applied for a job with them several months ago, but didn’t go for it. The contract was several pages of really intense legalese in very small print. I am pretty good at deciphering long, complicated texts, but I just couldn’t handle the feeling that I was being bamboozled by not being able to afford to have a lawyer go over the contract for me.
I’ll second that “Amen.”
Who has time for that, anyway? Not me, that’s for sure.
Thanks for posting this. I was wondering if I was the only one frustrated by similar posts!
This is another case where I feel like the site is simply looking for a way to build up a community for free. If 100 people apply – and it’s likely they will, that’s a lot of not only free content, but that’s a way of keeping a site active and alive looking without having and “real” members.
In a way, though, this isn’t any different from the process Tereece went through to get the job here. Actually this person has to write only one blog while the finalist at FWJ wrote 12, if I remember correctly.
@Brandi – are you talking about the idol contest? I don’t know how that deal was run exactly – it was at the main site not this one, and I didn’t follow along so I can’t comment too much on it, but I think Deb was trying to do something fun vs. a plain old job posting. In that case didn’t other readers choose the winner?
Glad we all agree
And Cynthia, I agree, this sort of thing does make their site look used, without having to have any real visitors.
@Jennifer – Deb ran it basically like American Idol works. Lots of people entered. She and Jodee picked 11 or 12 (can’t remember the exact number) of finalists. Each person wrote an entry each week based on a topic or theme Deb picked. The entrants had to communicate with their readers through the comments section, and one person was cut each week based on reader’s votes. So each week you were in you wrote 1 piece for which you received no financial compensation. (To be fair, Deb did agree to take down the posts if people preferred when they were eliminated.)
I’m not down on FWJ Idol. Obviously all of the entrants knew what they were getting into when they signed up. I’m just saying that what this very blog network did (which, in fact, was the beginning of the split into a network from just a single blog) is no different what the green blogger posting does.
@Brandi – thanks for the info. I caught some of FWJ idol, but didn’t hang out, or vote or anything, so I wasn’t quite sure. Personally, I wouldn’t enter a job contest any more than I would apply for that green gig (too much time spent working for no money) but I do think idol was a little different in that in Deb’s case she was likely trying to let readers have their say about the applicants vs. her making the final decision, which is cool, since who better to know what they want to read. BUT I can’t say for sure, because as noted, I wasn’t involved. Maybe Deb will come over and say something.
FWJ Idol was a good idea at the time but I wouldn’t do it again. We thought we would let the community pick their own bloggers. Each week the contenders would posts and each week the community would vote until we came up with a winner. Thought we’re content with our choices, we received a bit of negative feedback. Now, I don’t even accept guest posts very often. I don’t want to take advantage of anyone , and I don’t want others to see us this way either.
One person (and I know absolutely who it is) is following me around everywhere to this day still trolling me about the contest. I wanted to make it like American Idol, which it was, but we received a lot of backlash for it. We did give the bloggers to pull their posts a week after they were posted but only one asked to do this. Our intentions were honorable.
@Deb – Thanks for commenting Deb. At a community like this, I can see the perks of allowing readers to choose their own fave blogger. I can also see why some might have been down on it though. It’s kind of lame though if someone is still harboring issues about it – that’s too bad.
Hi Jennifer,
Great Post!
I recently had an interview for a freelance “writer/market researcher” position and had a phone interview in which the client wanted me to send writing samples (this song and dance has happened to me before).
I created a few new writing samples and sent them and never heard back a thing! The client even told me he looked at my blog…if you’ve looked at my blog why on earth would u need to see more writing samples?!?
This is very frustrating to tailor make posts for each application.
Amy S, I hear you! And I agree: if you have already lots of clips on your blog, that should give a good sense of your experience and writing ability. Why would someone need more?
Sometimes I get grumpy about people asking for new samples because I really do want to know why my existing samples are not adequate. I’ve been a professional writer for more than a dozen years! I really have learned something, and I’ve got hundreds of clips to prove it! Why do I have to provide free work for you on top of it?
Grumble grumble grumble. (I think I need a vacation…)
Sometimes bad examples are the most helpful. I think this is an example of this. Keep up the great work.
Hey, I am trying to find an agency that provides all employment services. I heard that International Workplace Consulting Pte Ltd is pretty decent. Anyone knows about it?