I Heard a Rumor…
Here’s something new, and frankly I’m not sure what to make of it. I hear tell writers are applying for jobs at Craigslist and flagging the ads so others can’t apply. After two or three people flag, the fine folks at Craigslist assume the gigs are spam or scams and take the ads off the list, thereby eliminating the competition. To be honest, it would never occur to me to do this sort of thing.
Not too cool, people, not too cool. This tells me some people don’t have enough faith in their ability to be the best person for the job. Either that or that they’re just sneaky and unethical. Not sure I care to be either type of person. It also explains why so many jobs are flagged so quickly lately.
Guys, we should be helping each other out not ruining each other’s chances. If this is true, it makes me very sad.
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Posted
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Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 4:53 am under
Well, if there’s anything to the whole Karma philosophy, maybe the ‘writers’ will wind up with some clients that don’t pay or scam them… Hell, if you’re going to be unethical, the least that can happen is others treat you the same way.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:54 amI’ve noticed this too and was wondering if it was just me. In fact, 2 of the jobs you listed below have already been flagged down. This really stinks! LOL
June 28th, 2007 at 4:55 amBefore you judge, please hear me out. I check Craigslist writing jobs in many cities daily. If anything seems appealing, I reply. If the poster responds to me with details about the gig and it is obvious that he (she) originally posted a deceitful ad, I will not accept the assignment and will go back and flag it. The poster, in many cases, is the one being sneaky and unethical. The writer who flags, in these instances, is doing all of us a favor.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:55 amThat would explain why some legit jobs I did apply for got flagged down….
June 28th, 2007 at 4:55 amAnon -
I think we all flag scammers. My gripe is with those who flag legitimate opportunities in hopes of eliminating the competition.
Deb
June 28th, 2007 at 4:55 amThat would explain why so many ads have been flagged down by the time I see them.
I guess it’s another incentive for being the early bird.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:56 amThat would have never occured to me to do such a thing. I think it’s horrible. I don’t even know how that works to tell you the truth, but I would hope that if a job is flagged down, then the people flagging it down should have to have their names on it, so others can see who is doing what. That’s just awful.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:56 amWow! That’s seriously underhanded (I could have used other words, none of which are in a thesaurus).
Karma, do your magic.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:56 amI should be more surprised by something like this, but I’m not.
I am surprised though that it only takes two or three people flagging an ad before it is removed. I would think it would take more than that. Do the Craigslist people look over the flagged item first or do they just automatically remove it?
The only time I flag a job is when it is non-paying. If I understand it correctly the “jobs” section is for paying jobs only. Isn’t there a separate “gigs” section for non-paying jobs?
June 28th, 2007 at 4:57 amIf you are a solid writer and act professionally (turn in work on time, with the correct word count, on the correct topic, meeting the expectations of your query) then you don’t need to do such a thing.
There’s plenty of work out there if you’re good.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:57 amI agree with everyone here who say it’s unethical as a job seeker to do this. However, it does happen and will continue to happen as long as Craigslist keeps their policy of removing posts with only 2-3 flags.
In the meantime, a tip to help beat the problem. If you click on a job and it hasn’t been flagged down yet, but can’t respond right away, copy the entire posting and email it to yourself rather than saving the link for later. That way you’ll have the info after it’s been taken down.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:57 amthat is so pathetic!!!
June 28th, 2007 at 4:57 amWARNING about the “Freelance Writer for Jewelery (sic) Newsletter” job with Goldenmine.com:
The same ad was posted a couple of weeks ago, and I sent a resume and a very applicable clip.
Today I was told I had made the final cut. The guy wanted me to send in a “free sample article” on a specific topic so he could judge my writing skills. Uh, no … that’s what my clips are for.
And why is he advertising again? Must be fishing for suckers to provide lots of free content!
June 28th, 2007 at 4:58 amActually, I believe it takes flags from separate IP addresses to flag down a CL post.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:58 amYes, the competition is fierce. Nonetheless, I would never think of doing something like that. Unfortunately, we may begin to notice more and more flagged ads.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:58 amSome writers may read this discussion and wonder, “why didn’t I think of that,” and start flagging legitimate and higher paying job offers.
I hope that’s not true! I always thought if a job was flagged, it meant a professional recognized it as a scam — a few jobs I looked at once, was leery of, then went back to look at again have been flagged, and I figured that’s why.
I HOPE so-called writers aren’t just being sleazy!
June 28th, 2007 at 4:59 amI certainly hope that isn’t true! It’s a shame that writers would stoop that low just to get a job. I always thought competiton was fun. A wonderful challenge! It’s a way to give us a chance to really show off our writing talent. Why waste it by flagging posts to gain a job and never really have the opportunity to show potential employers what you can really do?
June 28th, 2007 at 4:59 amThere’s another side too. I posted what I felt was a legitimate opportunity for someone to write content for my website. It wasn’t long before I received several cover letters from not very good writers and an email from Craigslist telling me the ad was removed. I have no idea why I was flagged because Craigslist doesn’t make that information available. I learned my lesson though. I’m never posting on Craigslist again.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:59 amOne more possibility - other job posters who are competing for the attention of writers and who are paying nothing or next to nothing might be flagging posts of better opportunites. We, the writers, aren’t the only ones in this business competition. For example, if Ms. X posts she will pay $10 per 200-word article for a new site and Mr. Y is offering only $3, who knows if Mr. Y isn’t the one who is flagging? Without clear evidence, there’s no need to throw fellow writers under the bus.
June 28th, 2007 at 5:00 amThis is indeed happening - it happened to a job that I posted, and unfortunately, I have no way of knowing which of my applicants was the offender. Completely ridiculous!
June 28th, 2007 at 5:00 amThis would never occur to me — if I can’t get a job legitimately because I am a skilled writer with relevant clips, then I don’t want the job.
Instead of doing this to each other, we should be banding together to flag down the ads from publishers looking to pay $1 per 500 words or who want us to write “audition articles” with no promise of paid work in the future. You know what they say — “United we stand, divided we fall.”
August 15th, 2007 at 9:48 am