Oh, c'mon

Why don't they just say they're looking to hire Superman or Wonder Woman.

More is better

"Finalists will be asked to complete an editing assignment at home and several timed copyediting tests during the interview process."

For a position in Arlington that I won't be applying for.

We are not machines

Imagination shows a distinct lack of imagination in titling their post on Media Bistro.

Testing experienced editors

My new cover letter

To Whom It May Concern:

I am very interested in the unpaid editorial intern position for which you are currently recruiting on every job board in the DC area.

I’d like to summarize my experience as a professional editor. I believe this will convince you that my skill set and background make me a perfect candidate for an internship — that is, to start all over again so to speak.

I have worked in the editorial field for 30 years and have held every position from proofreader to managing editor. I’ve worked in the public and private sectors, edited book manuscripts, and done online editing via a content management system.

My knowledge of editorial styles includes, AP, Chicago, GPO, and Harvard Law School’s Blue Book.

You might wonder why someone with my experience seeks an intern position. Allow me to answer that question.

As stated above, I entered the editing field three decades ago, at a time when editing was a valued profession that had very high standards. Since that time, the editing field has taken a 180-degree turn. The opportunity to work as an intern would afford me the opportunity to “retrain” myself to the current devalued role of the editor and specifically to the current, acceptably low level of editorial standards.

I should emphasize that I am more than willing to take as many screening tests as you’d like to administer and, if hired, there is no limit to how many hours I can work (including evenings and weekends). I am also willing to carry out any assigned task, no matter how menial.

I believe the attached resume, which contains a summary of my entire editing career, does not merit your review in light of the fact that you have so many applicants to screen.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Diminishing returns

When I entered the editing profession 30 years ago, I never imagined that it is one (the only one?) that actually devalues extensive experience. Have you ever seen a job ad that included "20-30 years of experience required"?

That plus being 68 years old means that my professional work life is effectively over.

I wish I lived in a country where seniors and experienced people are valued.

A rose by any other name

I hate ads like this one:

Temp agencies: a lower form of life than pond scum

Two weeks ago one of the agencies with whom I've worked contacted me about work that was pouring into their office from a client organization. They ran out of editors and asked me if I was interested. Not a word since. I call this "vapor work."

This agency, along with the rest of them, operate with even less humanity than the notorious pond scum that is Human Resources. They don't have to present themselves as representing the interests of employees vs. a company/organization. Nor do they, even superficially, need to purport to reflect a corporate culture that is concerned about employees.  

I believe that temp agency employees are the dropouts and failures of the HR profession who couldn't rise to the surface of the pond. And perhaps the most outrageous aspect of working for them is that however long you have an assignment they will receive their pound of flesh -- the roughly 33% (commission) as much as you earn.

Wash. Post editorial jobs for May 1

There are 78 jobs; of those, 15 are for interns and 8 for volunteers. The latter effectively reduces the market by 30%.

"Give us your tired, your poor, your hungry, your huddled masses yearning to work for free or for a pittance.”

Push

Mr. Redundant

An editor looking for work via his Craigslist post claims to have "experience in shortening papers for specificity and brevity."

Big deal. Now shortening for lengthiness would really be something special.

The never-ending testing of our skills

Regardless of how much experience an editor has, he will usually be required to take an editing test when applying for a job. It's insulting, among other things, in that it effectively dismisses all previous experience.

And what's even worse than being tested is being tested twice.

I sent an email to BARE Intl., a company for which I did some freelance editing in the past. BARE sends out mystery shoppers for its clients, and the shoppers submit reports that are edited before submission to client companies.

Here's part of the response I received:

My records indicate that you have not edited for BARE since January 2010. Based on that fact, I would be happy to process your request to be re-instated as a freelance editor to take on editing assignments (when the next one becomes available), but I would need the following documentation from you first:

1) a copy of your most recent resume [Apparently the resume that BARE has that summarizes 27 years of editing experience won't suffice.]
2) a completed skills demonstration test [I already passed the test.]
3) a signed Independent Contractor Agreement [BARE has my signed agreement on hand.]

I have many lines in the sand that I will never cross. Double-testing is one of them.

The cheap bastards at Journatic.com

Journatic.com is running ads for a variety of virtual editorial positions, including for FT copy editors at $12/hour with no benefits, and for a FT Assistant Print Manager. I responded to the latter ad as follows:

$30K/year with the specified requirements, full-time and no benefits?

You asked for a graph about my favorite movie character. It's your company, aka Scrooge.

Shame on you for undervaluing and exploiting the editing profession to the extreme.

Racing to the bottom: $12.50/hour

From JournalismJobs.com:

Journatic is a news content provider that provides editorial services to some of the most respected news organizations in the world. We are looking to immediately fill the position of 'Project Manager' for our news briefs. This is full-time, remote position. The pay is $26,000/yr., no benefits.

Consider applying if you:

-Can think creatively to find solutions [If so, there's no way you'd apply for this position.]

-Understand quality assurance [QA isn't achieved at entry-level compensation.]

-Can measure and report Journatic performance to management [As if management would care; the company's pay structure is a barometer of that.]

-Can recognize and speak up about issues as they arise [How about we start with how you're exploiters.]

-Can manage numerous data/content projects in varied locations simultaneously [Sure. Why not! Someone will end up performing management magic on slave wages.]

If qualified [you'd be an idiot to apply to these greedy bastards] and interested:

1) Send your resume to jobs (at) journatic (dot) com

2) Include the words "Briefs Project Manager" and the number 138829 in the email subject header

3) Explain in one paragraph the answer to the following question: "If you could have dinner with one famous American, past or present, who would it be and why?" [A better question would be, How can you bastards sleep at night?]

Zen and the art of conscience maintenance

I just copy edited an article on Weed Eater strings. It had five sections like this one: "The 0.080-inch, 40-foot replacement Weed Eater strings are available in three different formats: the Tap N’ Go I L.H, part no. 952-701589, which is compatible with Weed Eater models BC 24W and 30B; GTI 19T; HP30SBP; TBC57; XR105; XT 125KT and 125T; and YP140, as well as the Tap N’ Go II Dual Exit, part no. 952-711564, which is compatible with the Weed Eater BC3100."

I've heard tell that some copy editors might not check all the "facts" in this sort of material. Can you imagine being that irresponsible! We're talking weeds here, people.

A year and a half of online article editing

From ratting out a coworker (5/13/09, How to Report an Employee Not Keeping His Office Clean) to keeping high blood pressure, etc., at bay (10/20/10, Sodium in Sunflower Seeds), in the words of the Grateful Dead, "Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it's been."

Editing is life; life is editing.

An editor friend of mine is a half glass full, make lemonade out of lemons kind of person. I'm the opposite; perhaps that's why we get along so well-- you know, opposites attract.

I was bemoaning the fact that a proposal I'm editing is absolutely brutal. I told her it's like the worst nonfiction MS you can imagine that has been accepted by an acquisition/development editor who cares only about meeting a quota and not a wit about what Acquisitions traditionally has done.

She said that it sounds like what we try to with each project: making the best of a bad situation. (For two and a half years, I was a colleague of hers, as a freelance editor where she still works as a freelancer -- at a nonfiction publisher in NOVA. So we've both seen our fair share of MS's that never should have been accepted and/or turned over to Editorial.)

After this recent conversation with her -- a variation on the same theme we've kicked around ad nauseum -- it occurred to me that, indeed, editing does imitate life, and vice versa. Our profession would make for an interesting career day, n'est-ce pas?

When I first became aware of the editing profession

It was around 1973. I was working at Planned Parenthood HQ in NYC.

On the elevator ride up to my office one morning, there were two guys having an esoteric discussion about the use of a particular word, or it might have been about using one word vs. another. I thought to myself something like: Imagine that, having an entire discussion about a word. These guys must be editors, and this is what they do for a living.

That was the first time I even thought about editing and editors. And here I am 37 years later and into my 27th year of editing.

One of My Kindred Spirits

As I have extensively described on this blog, in far too many situations editors are treated as personae non gratae.

Many years ago I worked with another editor, a woman who became and remains my friend. We often commiserated over the plight of the poor, poor, plum pitiful editor.

I can't remember which one of us came up with our "editor names"—Flotsam and Jetsam.

To this day, we occasionally call each other Flo and Jet. We are, after all, still working as editors.

Editing and trash collection have more in common than most people realize.