Worst job offer?

D

dcuthbert

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I recently had the worst job offer I've had since starting writing as a freelancer and felt I had to share it with you - has anyone been offered a worse job than this?

The job was reviewing computer keyboards - 15 different keywords, each review had to be between 800 and 1000 words. These weren't fancy gaming keyboards either, they were bog standard keyboards with no special features to write about.

Tell me, how the hell was I was supposed to write 1000 words on one keyboard, then write another 1000 words on a keyboard with the same features and make it unique? To top it off the client demanded that the reviews were "interesting and held the reader's attention".

Has anyone been offered a more boring job than this?

To really take the biscuit, the client ended the conversation with the comment "the affiliate earnings are low for these keyboards so I can't pay very much" - needless to say I declined the job!

PS: This was a month or so ago so please don't PM me asking for the client's details, he's probably already found someone.

PPS: This is not a "cleverly disguised" way to offer my services as a writer - I'm swamped with work as it is and am not taking any more writing jobs on for the foreseeable future.
 
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Your OP accenuates how inept and I will throw in stupid some folks are especially when a well crafted text with no more than 300 words with two keywords x 3 and one longtail keyword x 2 would get the keyboards to walk off his sites thanks to conversions!

But some product sellers are that immersed in the sales side BS that they believe a 1000 word doc is needed to showcase a keyboard. Moreover despite these shortcomings these stupid people still manage to stay in business

When what was needed for the keyboards was Less Words = More Sales...

Tens of millions make a living on the Internet more by luck than management

Just looked out the window as the ‘Rag and Bone Man' passed in Peckham High Street ‘Used top quality PC keyboards a Pound' - he hollered ;)
 
I knew a guy who ran adult clubs in London. He told me he employed a guy to clean up the viewing booths after customers had enjoyed their 10 minute show. It sounded even better in a London vernacular "I pay this geezer to mop up the arry monk"

No matter how bad the job is theres always a worse one out there.
 
I feel the pain, few years ago I wrote reviews for TVs and it was absolutely atrocious experience...yours is a bit worse :)
 
Nothing more worse than being offered $1 per 500 word article!
 
I've had jobs like that before. The worst one was probably having to write 10 different articles on cat litter. XD
 
writing a ton of articles of the same topic on beauty creams.. i understand what you guys mean... if you've exhausted your brain in writing the same topic, you probably have to list down and research in a more specific subtopic of that main topic
 
Writing for engineers was probably my most difficult assignment because engineers have a hard time making decisions.
 
In the current economy, I don't think there is any such thing as a "bad job offer".
 
By the way what pay was he offering you for 1000 words?
 
One guy wanted me to write 100 articles, at $1 per article, using the same keyword and every unique article be 800 words minimum.
 
dcuthbert said:
I recently had the worst job offer I've had since starting writing as a freelancer and felt I had to share it with you - has anyone been offered a worse job than this?

The job was reviewing computer keyboards - 15 different keywords, each review had to be between 800 and 1000 words. These weren't fancy gaming keyboards either, they were bog standard keyboards with no special features to write about.

Tell me, how the hell was I was supposed to write 1000 words on one keyboard, then write another 1000 words on a keyboard with the same features and make it unique? [...] Has anyone been offered a more boring job than this?
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We currently have a major garbage bad manufacturer as an off-site SEO client. I don't write the content but occasionally act in a managerial capacity with the content writers; one of whom, the individual to which the work had been assigned, approached me about three months in literally begging for the work to be outsourced. Normally, such a conversation would last all of 10 -15 seconds with me with the crux of it being "suck it up" or some such thing. But you should have seen his face. Just....... dejected. I didn't have the heart, the content has been outsourced ever since.

Not sure if writing about garbage bags 'tops' the situation you've described, but it's certainly no better lol. The cat litter guy, above, might have it beat though, good gods....
 
Guys admit it that you got offered those jobs through DP!

I never really got offered a bad job, it's always people who contact me and I quote them. Though one time a guy scammed me for 5-7 hours of job, he offered $100 but that was when I started out. Fiverr buyers sometimes give me daunting tasks but I try to do them as much as I can because they sometimes come back for more but easy tasks.
 
meathead1234 said:
In the current economy, I don't think there is any such thing as a "bad job offer".
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Well i think this is wrong.

Even people who live in 3rd world countries wouldn't do some stupid job offer, which seems hard, pay low, and isnt worth time and effort to do that.
 
magomago said:
I've had jobs like that before. The worst one was probably having to write 10 different articles on cat litter. XD
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I knew there would be someone on BHW who would have me beat!

meathead1234 said:
In the current economy, I don't think there is any such thing as a "bad job offer".
Click to expand...

I understand what you mean, but I disagree. Taking on terrible jobs for very poor pay will gradually break anyone's spirit, and constantly taking on these jobs will lead to people becoming fed up and giving up.

Taking on the occasional dull job or job with low pay when you need the cash is fine, I completely agree that sometimes it's necessary, but these clients need to be told to p*ss off and come up with a realistic offer, otherwise they'll never learn what fair pay is.

poweronics said:
By the way what pay was he offering you for 1000 words?
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If I remember right it was about $0.005/word, so $5 per article.

Junkfood00 said:
Guys admit it that you got offered those jobs through DP!
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You got it in one! To be fair, I've found several recurring clients on DP who pay well, it's just a nightmare sorting through the guys who want perfect content for ridiculous pay.
 
Haha wow that's pretty bad. Although what you could have done is write a witty story about each keyword and really let your creativity flow.

But if he wanted standard..then you're pretty much SOL haha
 
I've been offered a job where I had to made 20 high-quality long forum posts per hour for $1.
Nice earnings.
 
dcuthbert said:
You got it in one! To be fair, I've found several recurring clients on DP who pay well, it's just a nightmare sorting through the guys who want perfect content for ridiculous pay.
Click to expand...

There is, of course, the other side of the coin. I can't tell you how many content writers I've interviewed who expect premium pay when they can barely write in English and don't know how to structure a well written article.
 
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