Your Turn: Do You Correct an Employer’s Errors When Applying for a Gig
March 18, 2008 by Deb Ng
Filed under Freelance Writing
I was chatting with someone who placed an ad on Craigslist yesterday for a desirable freelance writing gig. While she wasn’t the person who wrote or placed the ad, she’s the one who has to screen all the applicants. She was impressed for the most part at the different applicants and their credentials but she was dismayed at what she sees is a trend in rudeness from job applicants. I’m posting her words with permission:
Even though we’re hiring writers not all of us who work here write for a living. It’s off-putting to read emails from writers telling us of our minor errors. I would never contact someone I wish to work for with corrections to his ad. It’s very disrespectful. I received one response from a lady telling me we forgot a few hyphens and how she will tell us about all our errors during the interview. What interview? You insult someone you wish to work for and believe there will be an interview? Another person said "judging by the quality of the writing in your ad, you need me in a very bad way." No. No I don’t.
Deborah, this isn’t the first time we had writers tell us about minor grammar issues in our ads. Am I the only one who finds something wrong with this?
If I found an ad riddled with misspellings or grammatical errors, I’d probably think the employer needs a good proofreader. I’d never write to that person telling him so, however. I agree with the human resource associate above. It’s rude and off putting. I imagine the writers who do point out errors feel they’re being clever, but it’s not something I would do.
What do you think?
@ Karen: Re the “content snobs”: If they are looking to hire writers with a certain level of experience, they should say so. I wonder how well it would go over if a writer placed their own ad explaining they were a “client snob” and only accepting a certain level of client? It likely wouldn’t go over well.
Re the PLR crack: If a person is smart, they don’t use PLR products they have bought “right out of the box.” Instead, they change it a bit so they aren’t posting duplicate content on the Web. The “crap” the ad is referring to may not the fault of the initial writer, but the marketer who bought the materials.
@ Gerry Actrick: I found your use of the term “retard” in your post to be offensive. If you are a writer, then I think you could have chosen a different way to express yourself.
I also take exception to your statement that Deb has sold out in any way. It sounds like you don’t know very much about her if that is your opinion.
As tough as it is for me, I probably wouldn’t mention it, particularly if was in a free-for-all like craigslist. If it were placed in the Times or WSJ, you bet I’d like them know – in a nice way mind you. Serious publications, who make their living churning out words, would be much more receptive and appreciative of a keen eye.
@Gerry.
What is your problem? Your comment to Deb are totally inappropriate.
So is your “retard” comment. There are some people who are mentally challenged through no fault of their own. Yes, there are people that are just plain stupid. But to confuse these people with the politically incorrect term retard shows you may want to rethink some of your writing.
Guys – Gerry is a troll. He has lots of names – you might remember him…or her…as Camera Obscurra. I don’t know why he made it past my comment filter today, I guess it’s his lucky day. Usually he’s spammed and deleted.
As Gerry is a troll who likes to say things to stir up the bad feelings, my suggestion is that we just ignore him. His issues most likely have nothing to do with us, though he does seem to feed on bad vibes.
In the mean time, let’s hope he’s dealing with his anger issues accordingly.
Well said, Deb. Commencing ignoring….
When it comes to correcting ads, I would NEVER do it for a job I was applying for. However, I did do it on one occasion for another ad I saw but to which I was not applying (it was not a writing position). While the employer never responded, I checked back an hour later and saw they had edited the ad (which was rife with misspellings and misused words – “applications will be excepted”… et al).
This brings up an interesting trend — the demise of the proper use of English, and what it means to us as writers. While I cringe when I see a typo-riddled ad, I have to remind myself to smile because what it really means is — employers will start needing us more and more.
And might we one day see an advertisement like this – “Plz submit ur application 2 HR via e-mail.”?
My mom graduated from college with an English major, and when my sister and I were both old enough to be in school, she started working as an advertising manager for a local furniture store.
The owner was (is) a hard working businessman who knowa lots of people, talks deals, and works the sales floor. He has helped this small-town business survive even through the toughest times.
But he is a horrific speller. My mom had to correct a lot of his correspondence every day so it still sounded professional. He knew it, and he had hand-picked mom to be his ad person. He must have believed she could help him with professional communication as well as advertising. Smart move!
I rarely respond to job ads which are riddled with grammatical errors, but I think it’s very rude to write a snarky letter to the job poster pointing out errors.
But in defence of people who have done it, I’ve seen “experienced” writers advice newbies (on writing forums) to trawl web sites in their niche to find out if the content is up to date/writing up to par, and to offer their services if the site is not up to scratch (in their opinion).
This is supposed to demonstrate the wrter’s expertise, and demonstrate to the owner why she needs professional writing/editing help.
I’ve been a writer long enough to know to skip over useless bits of advice.
But what about new writers who haven’t yet established reliable ways to find work/are desperate for work/may be straight out of college and have no clue about marketing do’s and don’ts? Some of them listen to these “experienced” writers, especially when someone gives strong anecdotal evidence about how this approach worked for them.
Deb, I’d like to suggest a post dealing with some of the bad advice new writers/bloggers get from “experienced” writers, which either shows them in a bad light, or even loses them business.
I’m a little shocked to hear that people find this rude…when looking for editing gigs, I’ve always worried that it’s an unspoken “test” for applicants. If I don’t mention it, am I failing the test?
I’d rather work for someone who can be upfront with what they want, not give secret tests. I could be wrong, but I don’t think a legitimate upstanding employer is likely to do that.
While it bugs me to see typos in job listings, I can see how pointing out errors might offend the HR person/employer. That said, I think it’s unprofessional on the part of the company to list an opening that contains typos. Proof it or have someone else proof it.
I guess we’re hypersensitive to glaring errors because of our line of work. And I understand that some people don’t like being corrected. But, I am surprised at how often I see typos and misuses of punctuation, etc. in ads, menus, web sites, and newspaper articles.
I hope there are no typos in my comment…
I wouldn’t point out the errors but neither would I apply for the job. If a job posting is riddled with typos, I would seriously wonder about the professionalism of the person or company who posted the ad.
I took a proofreading course with a very well-known author and proofreader. She actually suggests trolling the Web to find sites that need proofreading and then sending an e-mail that points out one or two errors and says, “the first one (two) are on me, but to hire me to proofread your entire site, contact me at ____.” I would NEVER do this, yet she is a successful proofreader and copyeditor with a thriving business. I know it’s not exactly the same as correcting an ad, but it’s similar.
This is a very interesting discussion. My personal opinion on this is that it’s like the episode of the Simpsons where Homer is trying to sell his dad’s super-duper libido drink. He walks up to a guy and says, “You sir!! You look like someone who needs help pleasing his wife…”
I also share the opinion that I wouldn’t want to work for/with someone who was trying to deliberately add mistakes as a secret test. I’m pretty forgiving about such things because I once worked with a guy who was virtually unintelligible – he mispronounced everything over 2 syllables, had no idea what order the words went in, and stuttered. I literally fell out of my chair laughing when I got a project that I would be working with his crew on (he was actually a supervisor) and received my first email from him. He wrote EXACTLY like he talked, complete with stuttering. I couldn’t believe he actually took the time to type, “Um, um, um, Let’s meet today…”, but he did.
Also, I know a lot of young people who were absolutely ruined for spelling by “Hooked on Phonics”. They can read, but spell? Not so much…
Anyway, unless the ad said, “This ad is indicative of the high standards we expect from our writers.” and was full of errors, I wouldn’t say anything, and even then I would be polite.
My $2c worth
I did reply to an ad and, respectfully, asked the editor if he was aware of several errors in the copy, knowing that I would probably not get the gig. I even acknowledged so in my response.
I sincerely just wanted to help. Some editors don’t have the time to review their websites and its contents. If errors such as not capitalizing the word “English” fail to be noticed, there is no harm in bringing this to the attention of someone responsible for the business.
If you intend to insult and degrade the site and its writer(s), then you have no excuse for that type of behavior. Act with professional tact and empathy.
I was on vacation last week and I’m just getting caught up. This post made me laugh as I’ve taken some changes; although not at insulting potential employers.
I’d have to say that while I have not corrected errors of any potential employers I did rewrite a job post once that an employer wrote that was mostly a rant about all the bad writers she had hired in the past and she wanted a fair quote since she had already paid these writers for their crappy writing.
I figured, who would want to work for her now with that insulting attitude so I puffed up her job post and sent it to her telling her right out that I didn’t intend to be a smarta$$ but here was a writing sample for her. She hired me and I had repeat business from her when she needed help in topics that we had in common. It was probably more in the timing as she had just posted and I responded quickly with a rewrite, a skill she was looking for.
Sometimes there are snarky employers looking for snarky writers as well, so I’ve done off the wall cover letters here and there and it has paid off as well.
That said, I would never however say, your work is crap. I’d rather say, I’d love to be a part of your team.
I mean chances, I’ve taken chances! LOL I hate the first day back at work after a vacation. LOL
Happy Easter all. Time for me to go through some more job posts.
I definitely agree with Cindy that it’s true about professionalism of the individual or company that posted the ad with all those typo errors. In fact, the majority of individuals or companies that post classified ads that are not written properly are not legitimate. I, myself, had made a mistake in answering these ads and wound up with bad results, especially with my current job as a web designer.
Therefore, if you see any typo errors in classified postings via the Internet, you have two options. Avoid that posting or flag it-some online classifieds have that option. Basically, I flag it so no one will apply for that individual or company.