Just to add my 2 cents, I recently placed an ad on Craiglist for freelance SEO writers. I was inundated with replies.

I chose rather quickly because I had deadlines to meet. BUT, I kept all others on file for future consideration.

After I chose two writers, I sent a blind group email out to everyone who applied within the first week — thanking them for applying and letting them know that it was a group email and that I apologized for that fact.

So many wrote back to say “Thank you” for getting back to them and letting them know what happened with the job. I was surprised by this b/c I apply to tons of stuff and just move on, never expecting a response UNLESS I get the job.

Anyway, in response to that ad, I wrote an article about how to increase your chance of getting hired from a mass site like Craigslist, b/c I saw so many things that turned me off as an “employer.”

The article can be accessed here: http://inkwelleditorial.com/freelance-writing-jobs-on-craigslist.htm

Best,
Yuwanda

This has been an exciting topic to follow. I applied, probably too late as I didn’t see it posted here first, I caught it somewhere else and applied the next day. Then I came here and found the article reference over 500 applicants on the first day. I try not to be dismayed.

I can only hope I’m in the 150. This is like going out for a play….waiting for the parts to be listed. Should he list his top 10 applicants.

LOL

@ James – If you start a country, Canada seems to have plenty of available space in the northern regions of frozen tundra. Unfortunately, Internet access might not be so great, there, but then again, that would cut down on the competition

So I do the best I can and move on.

James said it so much better.

If you start to worry about everyone else in the world, you’ll go nuts. Read, polish, apply, and get on with life – your life, not everyone else’s.

And if you don’t get the job? It’s always a good idea to figure out why. Then you improve yourself for next time.

If you don’t apply for the job, you have zero chance of getting it, so at least put your application in if you are qualified. Someone is going to be hired and you may be the person this client is looking for.

I’ve picked up magazine work for the exact same reason, though there’s one editor who keeps complaining about his writers, loved the first thing I did for him, but still doesn’t come through with more work.

Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason.

Two weeks ago, she contacted me again and asked if I could do the article within a week because her other writer failed to meet the deadline.

Then a couple days ago I heard back from a job I applied for in October, sometimes patience pays out too.

That being said, when I do apply I focus on my dedication to deadlines and daily newspaper experience. Not the same as several blog posts a day, but you can’t survive in newspapers unless you can make daily deadlines on a regular basis.

See rejection as an opportunity to learn and view it in a professional light rather than a personal one. I know that’s a pretty tall order–not seeing it as personal because our product often comes from a very personal place inside.

In the case where we are sending in resumes and project proposals with any number of other applicants, it is not so much that each one of us, except the project winner, is being rejected, it is much more about, in the opinion of the project owner, the most correct fit for the project is chosen.

That way we can all lose sleep the next time we apply for a gig LOL.

Time for a cup of tea to calm my nerves.

I wonder if that is normal, then continue to wonder about the whole process until I hear back. If I never hear back, I always wonder what it was I did that wasn’t good enough. But, I know, sometimes it isn’t being good enough, just the ‘fit factor’. But when you’re needing cashflow, the fit factor can be a real bummer.

Mostly I think people hire me because I’m so sweet Just kidding, likely it’s cause I’m into competing too. I spent years acting in the theater and arguing on speech & debate teams – so I always think I’m going to win. I think I act like that in my apps. This attitude is useful, because when I get rejections, I don’t get down about it. I mainly consider it an error of their judgment.

Well, except once from my favorite mag – I was bummed to be rejected by them.

(And I remind myself of this when I’m feeling like I don’t have a shot at the jobs I try for, too!)