This Job Not That Job | Words on the Page

This Job, Not That Job: Learning Via Collage

Posted on June 24, 2019June 20, 2019 by lwidmer

Sometimes I see one job posting that’s so bad, it sets my hair on fire. Sometimes I see several. There are so few hours in a day (or a life), so instead of examining them one by one, I thought I’d pull out elements from some of the worst. We can learn from these. Mostly,…

Writers Worth: This Job, Not That Job

Posted on June 19, 2019June 19, 2019 by lwidmer

Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the fly. If you’re still cruising job boards as your primary source of work, you’re the fly meeting the windshield. With rare exception, job postings work out in favor of the poster, not the writer. And if I’ve not preached enough on the subject, job postings give…

This Job, Not That Job: Part-time job, Full-time headache

Posted on April 17, 2019April 18, 2019 by lwidmer

Yes, it’s clearly spring, for the lousy job listings are piling up like a line of cars following behind a cow. A really slow cow. Really slow. And the posts are getting weirder. What I’m seeing lately are postings that mask the true intentions of not the poster, but the job itself. Here’s an example that…

This Job, Not That Job

Posted on April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 by lwidmer

A late start today. Maybe it’s something about the change in season, the warming up of the atmosphere, the budding flowers …. maybe that’s what brings the lousy job offers out in droves. Whatever the reason, the bad jobs are floating to the surface with alarming regularity right now. The This Job, Not That Job…

This Job, Not That Job

Posted on March 25, 2019March 25, 2019 by lwidmer

Ah, Spring, when a young writer’s fancy turns to thoughts of …. Work. Finding work. Hey, when aren’t we finding work? Alas, for every new bud pushing through the ground right now, there are an equal (if on excessive) number of lousy job offers making their way to your handy job board. Which begs the…

A Double Dose of This Job, Not That Job

Posted on March 1, 2019February 28, 2019 by lwidmer

It’s not rare when a writer friend sends me a lousy offer to post here on the blog. We writers stick up for each other, and part of that includes alerting newer, less experienced writers on bad offers framed as good ones. What is rare is when two writer friends send me two separate lousy…

Writers Worth: This Job, Not That Job

Posted on November 12, 2018November 8, 2018 by lwidmer

Happy Veterans Day to all who have served. We appreciate you. It must be the time of year for weirdness. Paula Hendrickson sent me a job listing that was pretty awful. It was going to be today’s post. However, as bad as the one she sent was, this one was so, so much worse. Time…

This Job, Not That Job

Posted on August 30, 2018August 29, 2018 by lwidmer

Wow. Funny how one week you’re enjoying a quiet week and the next you’re swimming in deadlines. In the past day, I’ve gotten two large projects to go with the two smaller ones I had already. Feast and famine is a cycle we freelance writers know all too well. Luckily for me, the famine cycle…

Free Advice Friday: This Job, Not That Job

Posted on June 1, 2018May 23, 2018 by lwidmer

Whew! We made it! Another Writers Worth Month in the books. Thank you to everyone who contributed to probably the best Writers Worth Month we’ve ever had. That includes everyone who commented, shared, lurked. You made this happen, and you made this special. This was the 10th anniversary. It was also the last one. I’m…

This Job, Not That Job

Posted on March 29, 2018March 28, 2018 by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Die Like A Rich Boy by Frightened Rabbit It’s been a few months since we’ve done the This Job, Not That Job tribute to the worst jobs of the moment. It’s not for lack of material. Today’s candidate for the Worst Job on the Internet comes via Jenn Mattern. Jenn spied…

Devon Ellington

March 29, 2018

A couple of weeks, ago, on Ink-Dipped Advice on the Fearless Ink site, I wrote about ads that turn off writers, especially those that don’t really want a writer but a combo of secretary/bookkeeper/receptionist, et al, which is what a lot of the ads in my area demand. This past week, I wrote about some of the things that ads should include – like what the business is about, a realistic scope of the job, etc.

Frankly, many ads turn me off at this point. I’ll look at magazines for submission guidelines, but at this point, I research companies that interest me and then prepare LOIs, unless I see something on a major site that is well within my price range.

I’m tired of people who don’t understand what we do or respect it trying to get away with conning work out of people and not paying a fair price. Just done.

1. lwidmer
  
  March 29, 2018
  
  I’m right there with you, Devon. In the few minutes I spent trying to find a counterpoint to this ad, I was instantly depressed by what passes for a “job offer” these days. I don’t know why anyone would spend time sifting through those boards. The only thing you get for your trouble is depression and a sense of worthlessness.
  
  I understand budgets. And this poster may have just that much to work with. But like you said, it’s not respectful to expect any writer to bust their arses over a holiday weekend for that little. Maybe someone could do part of the job for that price, but there are far too many red flags in that post for my liking.
  
  The LOI, all the way. We are soul sisters in that matter!