Red Flags & Job Searches as a Writer
Hi all! Okay, this is a little confusing but I am online despite my hiatus announcement. I was leaving to focus on a new job and find more time to work on writing projects (instead of leaving, I'm going to try to schedule my time online/ offline instead).
BUT the writing job I was going to take had some red flags pop up.
Writers and career seekers, let's talk about that!
Warning, this journal is quite the hodgepodge of information ^^;
A little background: I was in the training process for a writing job that starts as part time and becomes full time as you take on more work. It was a great opportunity but as I asked more questions about what was expected of me, I realized it was a rip off. I ended the training/ negotiations and declined the position.
The job: ghostwriter.
The pay: per word count.
The expectations: research, create an outline, discuss and manage story with the client, and write the story, receive edits and rework, turn in.
... The word count was the only thing they would pay their writers for. The hours of work researching and planning the story and reworking would not be paid for. (I calculated this to come out as only $5.00 an hour-- yikes and heck no)
A good experience or not... this is taking advantage of writers who dream of being a writer, author, or ghostwriter. You are not getting paid for your work.
(For me personally, I make a lot more working for myself or other employers. I will not pick a job that will eat all my time, taking away from my other projects, and make me lose money)
Lesson 1: Never sell yourself short.
As a writer, in our field there are literally millions of options. Make sure you are getting PAID for your work. Companies can and will take advantage of writers because they see it as an art (which it is) but they need to treat it like a paid service. In the more creative jobs, I find people trying to pay writers very little thinking that we'll take anything. What they don't realize is the writing field is so varied, you can find work without selling yourself short.
Unless its an internship or something where you are getting real skills and training, do not accept a job that is trying to pay you less than you deserve. You and your skills have value, don't let anyone take advantage of that.
Opportunities as a writer:
Writer
Copy writer
Content writer
Article/ Blogger
Interviews for magazine
Editing
Publishing
Poet
Essays academic and creative
Marketing
Social Media
Teaching/ teaching assistant
Publicist
translator
Transcriptionist
Speech writer
Technical writing for manuals
and so much more!
It's really endless. Think about it. Every company, school, non-profit, for-profit organization, event, and anything ever needs someone to write their story, their advertisements, their emails, social media posts, newsletters, and more. You can call a company and say hey, I noticed you don't put out a lot of written material, you need a writer who can expand your voice and develop content to attract more customers. Then they might hire you!
Lesson 2: Be Flexible
Everyone has a dream job. I want to be a novelist. But as I try to pay on college loans, save up for an apartment, I need a job to make sure I can keep working on my writings when I am off work. Writing is a skill you need to hone. When I was in high school, I was determined to write only creatively. Now that's an absolute possibility, but I was not a very strong writer back then so it wasn't for me when I started out. In college I took on a variety of writing jobs to learn what I needed to in order to find work after graduation. This gave me the skills to become a sharper writer and my fiction work improved with this too.
A few jobs and projects I worked (to give you more ideas on the variety of work)
I wrote newsletters and articles for departments at my college.
Typed up reports and transcriptions of meetings and plans for college departments.
I got a job in the alumni office. I wrote blogs and interviewed alumni to create magazine articles.
I wrote poetry reviews and worked as an editor at the college's poetry publication.
I wrote a speech for my college president
I wrote blogs about campus life along with my photography and made presentations for different departments to show to college freshman.
I began my fiction commissions on DA
I worked as a copy and content writer for a marketing company.
I was the writer and in marketing for a cleaning company to write emails, social media posts, newsletters, advertisements, and more.
I wrote articles on people's histories and personal stories.
Travel and more blog writing.
I did a little bit of everything. The more I wrote and put out there, the more people began to recognize my name in my community and on campus. People started to request me to come write for them. This is a great example of networking. When I graduated, I got job offers from these people and was able to create my career as a freelancer.
Lesson 3: Put Yourself Out There
As mentioned above, work your connections, your community, your schools and more. Let people know you are a writer or are training to become one! Start writing about your take on things in your community and post it online, look for ways to get published in local magazine, online, or at a university or high school if you are a student. Everything you do, even if it isn't something you like right away, it will be a resume builder that will help you find an even better job that suits your tastes down the road.
Side note: Unless it is published online, do not post your writings (that you want to be published one day) online. This goes for essays, poems, and works of fiction. Posting online is considered a type of publication and may cause you to lose out on publishing it for real.
Conclusion
I really touched on a lot of different topics here.... to recap, don't sell yourself short, don't take a job that is not willing to pay you properly, and keep on writing. I rambled a lot here (because I'm trying to write it in one go!) if you guys have any questions, let me know! If you are a writer, what are your goals and what careers/ specific jobs would you love to have one day? I think a lot of this applies to artists and all you crafty people too. Don't let employers take advantage of your dreams to be a writer, artist, creator, etc. Your time, energy, and work, deserves their respect. I wouldn't work for an employer that doesn't recognize that.
One More Thing
To put it in simpler terms, would you hire a roofer to repair a leak in your roof and say at the end, "oh, I'm not going to pay you fully because you are a roofer; therefore, your love for roofing means I don't have to compensate you." I've had that said to me before as a writer. I've heard people say that to my friends who are professional artists. If someone thinks they don't have to pay you because you enjoy your work... move on.
*one more side note: all of this is for professionals in the field. If you want to write just as a hobby and volunteer your time, go for it! there is nothing wrong with that, and you can build great experiences. Everything I have written here is if you are entering a job situation and the employer wants yours services but treats it like a free service.