Comments on: Back to Basics Part 3: 11 Things NOT to Do When Applying for a Freelance Writing Job

By: Camesha

Camesha — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:37:18 +0000

Rushing is a fault of mine. I have rushed to apply for jobs, looked in my sent folder later and realize I have wordy sentences, words such as “form” when I meant “from”, and other errors. After making this mistake one too many times, I now quadruple check my apps.

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:52:59 +0000

@ Hazel I would reframe the negative statement into a positive statement. “I have three clips you can look at on this webpage.” Attach the link and you are good to go. That doesn’t address the aspect of following directions, but you have remained positive in the process.

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:10:44 +0000

Cover letters should be of appropriate length with pertinent information and not too much, since the interviewer has many other applications to go through. This is a good point when applying for any job.

Diana @ http://www.DianaTan.net

By: krista

krista — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:57:22 +0000

@ Kori That’s awesome! lol

By: Kori

Kori — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:45:03 +0000

Good tips, Deb. The funniest application email that I received recently (I’m hiring a few bloggers for b5) was just last week. Here’s the email in its entirety.

“I heard you are looking for bloggers. Email my name in Google to see my work and get back to me.

-Joe XXX”

By: Alik

Alik — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:31:08 +0000

@Krista: I don’t think that’s cold at all. When you’re applying for a gig or a job, I think it’s important to keep it business-appropriate. An employer or potential client doesn’t need to know anything about you that doesn’t apply to your business relationship with that person and your ability to do the job – at least not right away. I have clients that I’ve worked with for many years, and we’ve gotten to know a bit about each other on a personal level. However, that was after we worked together for a long time. I would never do that in an initial email.

By: krista

krista — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:19:59 +0000

#2 is so true. I recently advertised for a proofreader on Craigslist. I got a response from a woman telling me she had a disabled child and a son in high school who was super involved in football. She then went on to say she could work around her committments as a mom. As cold as this sounds, I deleted it right away. Yes, I understand people have personal obligations, but making them the focus of your first contact with me really put me off.

By: gina

gina — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:50:49 +0000

What should be included in a cover letter for a freelance writing/paid blogging job? Especially if you have not had previous freelance/paid blogging experience but are interested in beginning to do freelance/paid blogging?

By: Hazel

Hazel — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:16:48 +0000

One sticky point about following directions is when the prospective employer asks you to attach 3 clips to an email sent to a Craig’s List box. Since their file size limit is about 150K, that’s virtually impossible. I generally send them to my online portfolio or make up a special page on my Web site for them and give them a logon to view it. I don’t mind doing the work (it only takes a few minutes) but it requires me to write a negative statement into my cover letter (i.e., I can’t send … or something like that).

Any thoughts about this?

By: Roxie

Roxie — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:47:17 +0000

#9 is good. I rarely inject humor into my application letters, but my friends tell me I’m funny, and I know I can make people laugh. I think I’ll try that sometime.