Don’t Pay to Get Writing Jobs!
A reader alerted me to a freelance writing job I posted yesterday that required an entry fee and had some other questionable information in it. She had tracked down the url of the company in question, which I had failed to do. I often will double check before I post, but this one slipped through. I’ve removed it from the postings, but I want to say some more on the subject.
I define a writing job or a writing gig as getting paid for work performed. There is, I believe, no legitimacy in a company charging people in any way to apply for a job. That’s a scam.
Entry fees for contests may be slightly different. Contests are not my field and I’m leery of contests that charge an entry fee. On the other hand, I can imagine that under limited circumstances, the contest holder indeed has expenses that need to be covered and a low entry fee might be okay.
Then there are the brokers – services that make money from employers when jobs are filled based on the price of the gig. Some of these services also charge the writer a percentage. I occasionally work for one of these services, but I always include my projected fee in my price.
There are other services that charge to get job postings. I’ve been tempted, believe me. But the truth is everything I post is available for free – I simply aggregate it according to some standards I’ve set – mostly that they be true freelance jobs and not require you to be on site. I’ve developed a set of bookmarks that let me read and post fairly quickly and my reward is page views and the nominal amount I make on Google AdWords, other affiliate programs and the sale of my own products.
So don’t pay to apply and consider carefully any fees you might be charged along the way. Once and awhile they may be worth it, but often they’re not. You’re worth getting paid for your work!
Write well and often,
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POSTED IN: Business of Freelance Writing
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