Most of what you have posted is common sense; but it’s great to have it out there for all to see.

I dare say that a lot of us are lacking in confidence; when it comes to considering jobs as freelance writer’s/blogger’s, which leads us to dismiss the possibilities available to us.

I truly think that there are a lot of talented writer’s out there, who simply don’t realise that they have what it takes.

So thanks for opening up a few eyes.

Because of this, I’d also say his comments shouldn’t only be directed at the people who applied through this blog. They came from all over the Internet.

Perhaps if Mr. Tippyleaf only stuck to this blog for applicants he wouldn’t have been inundated and we wouldn’t be so awed by the amount of responses he received.

OK, we’ll forgive you… but if we catch ya slurping again there is no going back

Joy- Nope, that was me. I was a nasty little snit for a minute.

Not all heated “conversations” here have ended that way. It’s good to see this happen.

Very cool, glad to see you back!

Although I never applied for the gig, I just thought I’d go and take a look at your blog…
yummy, those cakes have sold it to me!

I just want to raid the food cupboard now and, you guessed, I have just finished a nice cup of tea.

Seriously, it looks a very interesting blog and who ever wins this gig, I feel, is going to be a very lucky tea lady or man

You’re right, I should have been more specific. I meant, of course, the editor James, from the tea blog.

Thank you again.

By the way… when you mention James in this thread, you’ll have to be more specific

But in all seriousness, it isn’t often that clients give feedback on applications and should be done more often to help writers in general.

This has been an interesting read and seeing how we all react in different ways just shows that we are all passionate about what we do.

I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got a lovely cup of tea waiting for me.

If you toss the folks who reply quickly, you could be dumping an application from someone who is already a loyal reader of your blog. If a blog I frequented asked for a writer, it would not take all that long to craft a reply. For all they know, I might have been thinking for weeks or even months how much I could improve the blog if only given the chance.

With the 99% or so of the other quick repliers, your opinion is probably quite justified.

I do find it refreshing that at least one employer does not hold it against an applicant if they didn’t reply within an hour or two. I always take the time to do a little research about a company before I apply/reply. One prospect actually emailed me back and snidely told me that two hours was too long to take to reply and that he had already signed a contract with another writer. (Somehow, I think I dodged a bullet with that one.)

I am surprised that James wants a resume or CV. I have seen many folks with great academic and professional qualifications who simply can not write a decent sentence. Many of the technical writers that I have worked with had great resumes but were more interested in churning out pages than actually producing something useful.

I would think someone hiring a blogger would be much more interested in seeing what the writer has already done elsewhere. And if looking for a blogger, I would certainly expect the writer to have their own or at least one where they contribute regularly.

Great feedback! It is always useful to see how an employer evaluates applicants.

@ Deb – Don’t regret it. You did what you had to, situation resolved, everyone’s all good and no one blames you.

I emailed Deb and apologized for being a nasty little commenter and I’m going to apologize to the community, too. It’s not normal for me to be so touchy and I’m sorry for putting a thorn into an otherwise enjoyable read.

I’ll behave from now on, I promise. Of course, I don’t promise to agree, just to be polite about it!

It would be funny if James hired James, you are right there….

Wouldn’t that be too funny if James hired James? I’d have to blink each time I wrote an email addressed to myself. (Hey, I’m game!)

@ James: Re James the blogger commenting on a post from James who owns a blog who wants to hire a blogger (who may or may not hire one named James) – have I lost you yet? – I am now hearing “Twilight Zone” music in my head….Doo Doo Doo Doo…

The file format note was a surprise. I wouldn’t have expected that you were getting resumes, clips, etc. in non-standard formats. Weird.

It’s funny – at first I thought job-posting James was the James from Men with Pens. There might be millions of blogs, but it’s still a small world.

I couldn’t see my post and the one posted by the new writer. He had his email address in the message, so perhaps something happened there and it was misinterpreted as a link or something. I was just responding to his question. Never mind, hopefully he read it.

I must agree, it is good to get employer feedback. I was thinking about this yesterday, that whilst we had the Cover Letter Clinic it helped a lot of people. However, to have potential employers give feedback is like gold dust to the majority. It really is. Okay, we may not always agree with what is being said but a least we get an insight into what people are look for and accepting on certain gigs.

You know, many people would often like to chase up a potential employer and ask why their application was not accepted, but they don’t often get a reply. This way, we are all receiving feedback, which must be a positive thing!

Let there be more, I say… it gives us all food for thought. And, what with so many mouths to feed, how can we refuse?