Comments on: Freelance Writing Jobs for Wednesday, May 21, 2008

By: Tamara

Tamara — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:16:54 +0000

@ Adam & Brandi: Thanks for your responses. Yes, they may think it’s illegal or some such thing; they may think it easier to hire an American, or that the English is different. But they’re missing out, frankly. The main editing gig I have is for an American-based company, requiring me to know colloquialisms in US, Cdn, and UK English. Plus, I’m highly skilled at online editing. Their loss, but it’s misinformed. The outsourcing argument is all well and good I suppose, but seems to only ever go one way; plenty of US/UK citizens applying for Cdn jobs. Ah, well, that’s life as a freelancer, I guess.

By: Brandi

Brandi — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:05:18 +0000

@Tamara: I would imagine for some employers it’s a matter of language, too. Even people who are native English speakers but not in the US may use non-US colloquial expressions. I’ve written for both British and Australian audiences as well, and while most of the time it doesn’t matter, for a couple where I needed to be more casual, the language issue can be problematic.

Of course, they could just oppose outsourcing…

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:12:01 +0000

@ Tamara: it could be a case of the company mistakenly thinking it’s illegal to hire a non-US citizen. Or they just may think you’ll be easier to track down if something goes wrong if you live in the US.

Or maybe they just want to give a job to their neighbors.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:23:04 +0000

So many American-only freelance/telecommute ads these days. I’m perfect for the Online Editor job, but the specs say they want US citizens. For a freelance gig? Is that normal?

By: Jodee

Jodee — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:25:13 +0000

@ Ayda: Thank you; you’ve just made my day!

@ Jack: I always appreciate it when some one takes the time to say thanks.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:20:48 +0000

@ Brandi: if it’s that ideal for you, it couldn’t hurt to call them and inquire. It shows initiative and interest on your part, and it’s often harder to say no to someone over the phone than via email.

You’d likely at least get an answer, and at worst, you don’t get the job. Which seems to be the case currently anyway.

Nothing to lose and everything to gain.

By: Brandi

Brandi — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:15:50 +0000

@Adam: I hope you’re right. Though I don’t mind not getting the job, it is one I’d like for our current situation. The email interview had a fair number of questions about technical aspects outside web writing, but I have experience with them. Maybe they are looking for someone with a really specific skill set and can’t find it (I’d like to hope anyway…).

By: Rudy

Rudy — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:56:37 +0000

I love the last one: “middle grade fiction editor.” It’s a 6-8 week job that pays $200! I hope there’s no low-ballers out there that will take it. I have a no-freebies/no cheapies policy and I hope all the writers do too.
You can get experience at an official internship if that’s what you’re after.

By: Jack B

Jack B — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:50:26 +0000

Thankyouuu Jodeee.

I might as well set up an auto-comment that just posts that everytime I look at one of these.

By: Ayda

Ayda — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:47:10 +0000

@Jodee

You’re a blessing, Jodee. My hearty thanks for the support..

By: Ayda

Ayda — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:44:51 +0000

@Robin

Thank you very much for the best wishes and the tip. I really appreciate that. Yes, I do check Craigslist now and then and it is true that we sometimes come across ads that sound and feel like they can work for anybody in the world. However, I’ve only got one reply so far and that was from a translation company in need of Turkish translators.

Actually there are many international translation services that you can apply online as a Turkish translator. My problem is I am done with translating (after doing it for 7 years) and now stand more on the writing/blogging side.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:43:51 +0000

@ Matt: Thanks, I’ll check out Trashmail.

By: Jodee

Jodee — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:33:31 +0000

@ Ayda: How nice to hear from you! Now that I know we have someone in Turkey reading FWJ, I will make a point of checking out CL listings for that country and including them on my list.

By: Robin Marie

Robin Marie — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:29:30 +0000

@Ayda

Good luck! have you checked out craigslist on your own at all? A freelance friend who grew up in Turkey told me awhile back that they sometimes have things…

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:02:42 +0000

Adam, I posted this in another topic but the lag in getting approved (because of the link) means it got largely missed. If you’re worried about spam, you can use Trashmail.

Trashmail.net

There’s a plugin for Firefox so you can right click on a form and create a new, disposable email addy. It has options for how many replies/how many days to keep the email active, then it simply ends.

Very cool, especially for craigslist or other less than safe places to respond to emails.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:53:43 +0000

Agree with others that mediabistro is fine.

By: Ayda

Ayda — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:52:56 +0000

I guess I’m one of the very few (if not the only one Turkish freelancers who frequent your site, Jodee. Thank you for providing us with such a vast array of possibilities every day. I hope, in time, the tides will turn for the international freelancer hailing from one of the Third World countries and we will see more telecommuting opportunities for the likes of me.

I believe this is the first time I’ve ever seen a listing here that is directed toward the Turkish freelancing market. I keep my fingers crossed.

By: Ann G.

Ann G. — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:49:49 +0000

Re: MediaBistro

I’ve been a member for a year now and have never had any spam from them. Monster.com is the one that I have the biggest problem with for spam. They are horrible!

By: Jodee

Jodee — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:42:44 +0000

@ Adam: Go ahead and sign up for Mediabistro. I have an account there so I can see job ads and they have never sent me anything spammy.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:41:25 +0000

@ Brandi: Maybe they’ve got some overly specific ideas in mind of what their ideal candidate would be like. You might find they call you yet, if they realize they were not being realistic.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:37:09 +0000

One of the links wants you to create an account with Mediabistro.com before it lets you see the ad. Has anyone had spamming problems with them?

I don’t want to get on an obnoxious mailing list only to find out the job isn’t real.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:11:10 +0000

The “online editor” job isn’t new, either. I remember it from last week as a Craig’s List listing; a subscription-based site picked it up.

By: Brandi

Brandi — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:02:25 +0000

Of course now that I think of it, maybe the really awesome writers there have the $50,000 jobs and don’t want this one. Still I’d love to have steady money coming in. It was a W2 contractor, so I’d save on FICA, and it would cover childcare.

I just find it hard to believe no one is qualified, and that’s my rambling point.

By: Brandi

Brandi — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:00:14 +0000

What’s up with jobs reposting and reposting? I applied to the Raleigh web writers job a couple of weeks ago. I know then it was at least the 2nd time they’d posted.

We’re moving to Raleigh, but I got an email back from someone in HR. Everything seemed to check out. They asked me to complete an email interview first. I did, and the woman said I’d hear back for a phone interview. I was really excited, but I didn’t hear back. Now they’re reposting again.

I suppose they didn’t like me, which I can deal with (rejection no longer stings so much), but I find it hard to believe that in an area of the country known for its technical expertise – and where I’ve seen FT content writer jobs paying $50,000+ a year that they cannot find a single candidate for this position who fits their needs.

By: Ann G.

Ann G. — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:41:06 +0000

Finance Writers – This is another that was at Freelancewriting.com a few weeks ago that sends you a form email and then says you must create an account to be considered for the job and then you never hear from that person again.

They didn’t sucker me into that one, but I have a friend who fell for it and is currently receiving 200 emails a week from this debt consolidation company and they ignore her when she tells them to take her off their mailing list.