Yesterday was fruitful. I was able to get a bit more marketing done than usual, and because the projects I expect aren’t in yet, I had some free time to read around the forums and blogs.
To some extent, that’s a learning experience. However, there’s always one. Maybe I’m more excitable than most people, but I react rather strongly to writers making the same mistakes over and over. These are people touting themselves as “professionals” or my least favorite word “seasoned.” You’re not a casserole, people. Stop using that word to mean experienced. /rant
I hear plenty of writers saying that clients aren’t hiring, that they’ve tried “everything” and can’t get a break…. fill in the blank. There are as many statements of finality or frustration (usually both) as there are writers to speak them. Yet it often doesn’t take much to get to what the real issue is. Here are a few of the more common reasons why you’re not getting hired:
You seem desperate. I watched with resigned horror as yet again someone posted a ridiculously low-paying gig on a forum and writers lined up to beg for the job. While it may seem better that this place is offering $25 an article, there were no more details. How long were the articles? How much research is expected? How much work is involved? Is there a chance to negotiate a better rate? Frankly, judging just from the lines of writers tripping over each other to get the gig, I’d say that last question has already been answered.
You’re not following directions. I’ve witnessed this both firsthand and secondhand — the listing states clearly the instructions for responding. Yet the notes that come in don’t follow the directions at all. I posted an ad for help once. I turned down people I know because they didn’t send me their resume, two samples, nor did they email me directly instead of responding to the thread. One sent a note that said, “What do you need?” Others sent notes saying “Hire me because I know what I’m doing” yet didn’t send any proof. One didn’t send samples, and acted like he was doing me a favor. Only one person — the one I hired — followed directions to the letter (they weren’t hard, either). She turned out to be conscientious, reliable, and good. Be like her — follow directions.
Your query is off — way off. I’ve seen some queries that read like books. Great if it’s for a book, but these were magazine queries. I’ve also seen queries that withhold the “killer intro” for fear the writer give up all the secrets. Your editor is your first reader — hook them with that killer beginning! Make sure your query states your idea clearly, gives just enough information to show the topic, shows the direction you’re going, and shows what experience you have to pull it off.
You’re willing to compromise too much too quickly. I’ve read people lamenting how their clients are mistreating them — expecting the world, not paying for anything…. yet these are writers who said yes to a job that didn’t fit, to conditions that weren’t right, and to clients who were cracking whips over their heads. You get what you agree to.
You don’t understand them. Clients want to work with people who will partner with them. They want to know you get their business, their publication, their direction. If you come steaming at them with ideas that are quirky when they’re aiming for authoritative, they’re going elsewhere. Put it into perspective — would you stand for an interview subject telling you what he thinks you need to write about instead of what you’ve been assigned to write about? No? Then don’t expect clients to adapt to your thinking. They know their businesses best.
You’re not congenial. Just because they need a writer and you write doesn’t mean you’re automatically hired. You have to build a relationship. That relationship also cements your reputation with that client, which means you could be extending your clientele by securing some referrals. Only once was I witness to a writer letting loose on a client, calling her unprofessional and chastising her for keeping us both waiting in a phone call (she’d missed the first two entirely). While he was absolutely correct in his assessment, he lost the gig (not a loss, in his or my opinion), and he cemented a picture of himself in her mind that he was intolerable. Not true, but there went any chance of referral.
You’re not looking. How will they know you’re there if you’re not telling them? You must market. Anyone who knows me knows I hate absolute terms, but that is the only absolute I live by. You have to be there — consistently — in order to get the job.
What ways do you see writers sabotaging their chances?
8 responses to “Why They Don’t Hire You”
Not following directions is a big one. I tell my students to think of exercise guidelines as the same as submission guidelines — if they don't follow them, it's sent back, and at least in class, they get a second chance, which they don't in the real world. "Creativity" is not an excuse to send whatever you want, especially if it doesn't fit and isn't proofread.
Biggest problem I see from writers? Lack of craft and lack of care to take the time to build it. There are 10,000 lined up right behind you just as talented who bothered to learn the craft, so when they deviate, it's a CHOICE, not a careless mistake.
There's also the opposite of the "not congenial" writer: the overly familiar writer. A bit too casual, overly friendly (often unaware of normal boundaries). They're the ones most likely to intrude on a client's time, too. At least they're usually pretty easy to spot – which is why they probably lose out on some great jobs opportunities.
To your penultimate point, and Paula's followup: This is paramount, to work things in terms of relationships evolving. I act quite a bit different with clients on first interaction versus those I've worked with for 10+ years. I dress nicer for the first few meetings…I'm a little more formal in written and verbal comms, but not to the point of dorkiness…I might joke lightly, but not in my (far more natural) cynical or sarcastic tone.
Interestingly enough, I think that's why at least one in-person meeting (and periodic ones thereafter) is such a powerful relationship tool. It's much more challenging to read cues purely over the phone or net; which is not to say long-distance clients are worse, only that I personally find it easier to cement things face-to-face — or to figure out more quickly, "this ISN'T someone I care to work with."
Great comments all. Another biggie is not listening, which manifests itself in writing like those you listed, Lori-not following directions.
Especially the first time you speak with a prospect, you need to notch up the listening skills. If you are distracted, it's better to let that call go to Voice Mail than to pick it up, find out it's a potential client and your head's still lingering on what you were working on.
Listening is a key one, Lori, as is knowing your value – that stops you from jumping into something that may not actually be worth it.
I wonder why so many folks seem to have trouble figuring this out… it's not rocket science… following the instructions, building relationships, refusing to sell yourself short. sigh
Anne,
I think a lot of it has to do with insecurity hiding behind ego. I hear a lot of that, "I'm good enough so I don't HAVE to follow the rules."
Well, when you're working with a client, it's not all about YOU. It's about meeting the client's needs.
And, in fiction, it's about understanding the craft and seducing the reader, not whacking him with a 2 x 4. Few people will choose to be continually whacked. They'll find another writer who enchants them instead.
Great points, Devon. Learning the craft and understanding how that affects the product is essential.
Paula, having been trapped by one such writer last year at the show, I wholeheartedly agree. Overshare and Too Much Information were his calling cards.
I say this in my marketing book, Jake — you can't propose on the first date. I wish more writers did as you do: treat it like a first date and be on your best behavior.
Cathy, amen. I've spent way too much time around salespeople who ask you how you are and their eyes are scanning the room as you're answering. I could bet money few of them could have repeated what I'd said. Those are not people I care to talk to, nor do business with.
Sharon, exactly. It works as a great filter, too!
Anne, too many are selling themselves short, aren't they? It's been a point of frustration for me, but I've had to shed that and let them make their mistakes. My goal is to be there as a resource when they come to their senses. LOL
Devon, that's also true. I know a lot of freelancers whom I'd avoided back in the day because they were too married to their own brilliant prose for me to make any sense of their articles. No thanks.