What I learned from my not-so-evil market research:
Ok, so I only had my fake job listing up for 12 hours because I felt bad.
Lesson: Lying is bad.
I had been wondering how lame my qualifications and writing ability were when stacked up against the imagined super-established, mega wordsmith competition out there.
Lesson: I learned that I'm just fine. And pretty comparable to the majority of people who responded to my post.
There are people of all kinds going for jobs like the one I posted, and with the Internet, I got responses from all over the country. I received about 20 letters, resumes and links to clips from freelancers. A couple of the more published writers still had gross misspellings and errors. Many resumes had funky formatting. Many sounded like form letters calling me the abstract "sir or madam." Some people's confidence came off as arrogant and superior.
I'd guess that the world of the hiring is probably 90 percent subjective. The rest, of course, is skills, school, blah blah blah. I felt like hiring a few of these writers, the few that sounded personable, happy, grounded. The ones who wrote a few lines, not a book-- just like in good writing, the ones who are simple, to the point, and sincere are the best. Too formal sounds ridiculous. Too energetic comes off desperate. Some of the writing was crap. Some was really really good.
After reading a few, I began scanning the names of publications where work had been published, and current employment.
Lesson: Use my New York Times byline!!! Even though it was 3 years ago in college, and it was the UWire service. It looks good.
In my ad I had advertised a specific type of writing; news and lifestyle features. So, I searched the clips for something that matched. One guy who had written for a weekly alternative paper totally didn't fit in. Though his writing was good, he was way too glib.
Lesson: He shouldn't feel bad I didn't hire him, it was a style thing.
Now, I think this idea was actually pretty ingenious market research. If anything, it helps me to write better cover letters. It also lets me know that I haven't been doing anything wrong, it's just a matter of time until an editor likes my style. I also learned that when sending clips, send what you think and editor wants to read. Match your style of writing to what they want. It sounds obvious, I know. But some of my best stories were fluffy features, and what the Hell am I doing sending them to a news editor? Duh.
Lesson: Lying is more acceptable if it teaches you something.
So, karma? This little experiment happened to coincide with the day I received a rejection letter from a corporation I'd interviewed with telling me the familiar, "we've gone in a different direction." It was nice to hear that at least. They cut me free, and allowed me to worry about something else. I wish I could do that for all the writers who took the time to respond to my fake ad.
Poo, now I feel lame again.
Lesson: Lying is bad no matter what, and I need to volunteer for something to boost my karma. Does anyone need their lawn mowed?
Lesson: Lying is bad.
I had been wondering how lame my qualifications and writing ability were when stacked up against the imagined super-established, mega wordsmith competition out there.
Lesson: I learned that I'm just fine. And pretty comparable to the majority of people who responded to my post.
There are people of all kinds going for jobs like the one I posted, and with the Internet, I got responses from all over the country. I received about 20 letters, resumes and links to clips from freelancers. A couple of the more published writers still had gross misspellings and errors. Many resumes had funky formatting. Many sounded like form letters calling me the abstract "sir or madam." Some people's confidence came off as arrogant and superior.
I'd guess that the world of the hiring is probably 90 percent subjective. The rest, of course, is skills, school, blah blah blah. I felt like hiring a few of these writers, the few that sounded personable, happy, grounded. The ones who wrote a few lines, not a book-- just like in good writing, the ones who are simple, to the point, and sincere are the best. Too formal sounds ridiculous. Too energetic comes off desperate. Some of the writing was crap. Some was really really good.
After reading a few, I began scanning the names of publications where work had been published, and current employment.
Lesson: Use my New York Times byline!!! Even though it was 3 years ago in college, and it was the UWire service. It looks good.
In my ad I had advertised a specific type of writing; news and lifestyle features. So, I searched the clips for something that matched. One guy who had written for a weekly alternative paper totally didn't fit in. Though his writing was good, he was way too glib.
Lesson: He shouldn't feel bad I didn't hire him, it was a style thing.
Now, I think this idea was actually pretty ingenious market research. If anything, it helps me to write better cover letters. It also lets me know that I haven't been doing anything wrong, it's just a matter of time until an editor likes my style. I also learned that when sending clips, send what you think and editor wants to read. Match your style of writing to what they want. It sounds obvious, I know. But some of my best stories were fluffy features, and what the Hell am I doing sending them to a news editor? Duh.
Lesson: Lying is more acceptable if it teaches you something.
So, karma? This little experiment happened to coincide with the day I received a rejection letter from a corporation I'd interviewed with telling me the familiar, "we've gone in a different direction." It was nice to hear that at least. They cut me free, and allowed me to worry about something else. I wish I could do that for all the writers who took the time to respond to my fake ad.
Poo, now I feel lame again.
Lesson: Lying is bad no matter what, and I need to volunteer for something to boost my karma. Does anyone need their lawn mowed?
Comments
And that rejection was so the Corporate 'he's just not that into you'. Haha.
Keep truckin' girlfriend!!