Are The Writing Jobs You Post Real?
May 11, 2007 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
I keep responding to some of the ads you post. Usually I ask for guidelines or more information. I’ve yet to get a response. Are the jobs you post real freelancing gigs?
Kay
Hi Kay,
While I have no way of knowing who is behind the writing and editing jobs I link to, my sense is that by and large most of them are legit.
I also suspect you’d do better actually applying for the writing and editing jobs you think you’d like rather than requesting more information. Send your resume; write a good, short email cover letter that sells you and your ability to solve their problem.
If they like your credentials, they’ll respond and that’s when you can ask more questions.
Also, come on over to our forum and ask for more specific advice. We’ve got folks there who regularly get gigs from the job links. You’ll have to register, but it’s no big deal.
Write well and often,
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So often the ad is “looking for content for my super-cool up-and-coming website” and I have no idea what kind of articles, how many, how long, one-shot or weekly features, etc. etc. I think a lot of the writing jobs aren’t exactly fake, but they’re folks who are in the early stages of a new venture, who don’t themselves know what they want. (that sounds sort of bitter but I think it’s true, especially on CL and other free listings sites)
I’d post this in the forum, but I still can’t get in. I hope Kay checks back here.
If you ask for more information ONLY, you lose the gig, because fifty other people will have sent credentials and samples IN ADDITION to asking for more information. If I think I’m a good match for the job, I write my pitch, but also present any questions I have.
When I get a response, we go back and forth to see if we’d be a good match.
If you think they’ll stop everything to send you info and then wait for your response, you’re wrong. They’re filling the job. You have to convince them that you’re the ONE for the job, and they should just ignore the other eighty emails in the box.
And still, ask your questions and get your info.
I agree with Meg’s comment, above — and those are the jobs I skip. After a few weeks, you can hear the cadence of a legit job from a job posted by someone who’s clueless.
A lot of the gigs on cl are beginning ventures and often unfunded… which one reason I really work to post only those that state pay.
Devon is right…