Writers Worth: This Job, Not That Job

What’s on the iPod: Lay Back Down by Eric Lindell

Don’t forget — visit the All Indie Writers Freelance Theater page this Friday to hear Jenn’s interview with yours truly. We’ll discuss easy ways to market your services.

Interesting week so far. I spent Monday finishing up edits, marketing, and updating blogs. Yesterday was more of the same. Today, you guessed it.

One thing I had time for was what I call job listing trolling. It’s an intentional search for the worst jobs being offered. I found a few winners, but this one in particular stood out for a few reasons.

Here’s the worst of it:

Part-time writers needed (Telecommute)

Seeking part-time weekend writer to produce web-cased content on commission basis (we expect that you should be able to put in four hours of work per week and make in the general area of $100-120 per month). Writer must be comfortable composing quick, clean copy on a variety of subjects. Ideal for recent college grads.

If interested, send a cover letter and resume.
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Doesn’t sound bad on the surface, does it? Oh, but it is. Let’s look at reasons why this one stinks:
The title. Why does that send up red flags? Because it’s trying to draw you in with the “telecommute” and “Part-time writers needed” wording. Aren’t all freelancers working part-time for someone? And why the need to define it? Typically, this is being framed to attract someone who has a full-time job or needs quick cash.
“Web-cased content.” Huh? You mean web-based? They can’t proofread their own stuff. How serious are they about hiring good writers? 
(we expect that you should be able to put in four hours of work… Stop it. First, get rid of “that” in the sentence and my eyes may stop bleeding. Second, you’ve just set the bar for the writers. What you “expect” and what is reality is usually worlds apart. 
“…an make in the general area of $100-120 per month… Can I laugh now? Writers should be making that per hour. Not only have you qualified the pay with how many hours you think it should take (and what you think is probably unrealistic), you’ve now stated how little you’re actually paying.
Writers must be comfortable composing quick, clean copy… Translation – Instant turnaround and no payment if they have to edit. 
Ideal for recent college graduates. There it is. You’re not a writer unless you’re competing with college graduates? At least they didn’t say “stay-at-home moms” again. 
The amount of work you’ll do… Wait. They didn’t say, did they? Hell no, because it’s probably a ridiculous amount of immediate work for that lousy monthly insult.
Instead of working under these veiled conditions and unrealistic parameters, try a job like this: