| Q. |
How
long does the application take to complete? |
| A. |
That
will depend on how much data you need to enter. Most people will
cut and paste from resumes and writing samples, and supplement
additional information as needed. You should, however, expect the
application to take a minimum of one-half hour. Work as quickly as
you can and please have all information available before you
begin, or plan on returning to the application later. For security
and performance reasons, your browser session will expire after a
stipulated time. If you receive an error, you may return to http://www.writeedge.com/forms/careers.asp
at any time and pick up where you left off by re-entering your
username and password. Please ensure that you enter the SAME
username and password EXACTLY as you issued them to yourself
during your first application; otherwise, you will not be able to
view any of your existing data. Spaces, capitals, and punctuation
all count.
|
| Q. |
I
encountered an error while completing my application. Now what do
I do? |
| A. |
Because of the complexity
of the application and the great variety in the type of data being
entered as well as the browsers and platforms that are being used,
it is very difficult to isolate all potential problems. Internet
Explorer versions 4.01 and higher will work most reliably with the
application process, although other browsers work perfectly most
of the time.
AOL connections can be
especially troublesome. We are still trying to resolve this issue
and regret any inconvenience that it may cause. If you receive
any errors, please return to http://www.writeedge.com/forms/careers.asp
at your convenience and pick up where you left off by re-entering
your username and password. Please ensure that you enter the SAME
username and password EXACTLY as you issued them to yourself
during your first application; otherwise, you will not be able to
view any of your existing data. Spaces, capitals, and punctuation
all count.
Where you encountered
errors, please review the information that you entered. If any
information has been lost, please consider whether you were using
any special characters or punctuation in your text. Then, if you
still cannot complete the application, send a problem report to us
with the details of what occurred and the data that you were
trying to enter. We will manually update the database on your
behalf.
|
| Q. |
How long does it take
to process my application? |
| A. |
Although it has taken
longer in the past, we will normally perform a preliminary
evaluation of your application so that you receive a response from
us within one week.
|
| Q. |
After
my application is evaluated, what is the next step? |
| A. |
It is Write Edge company
policy to have all qualified candidates complete a series of
standardized tests so that we can best evaluate strengths and
weaknesses and match candidates to specific assignments. Normally,
evaluating these tests takes no more than one week, but during
extremely busy sessions, the process can take up to three weeks.
|
| Q. |
I
applied a long time ago but haven't heard anything. |
| A. |
It is possible that your
information has somehow been lost. The upload/download area does
occasionally experience failures and in a very small number of
cases, it appears that people receive an automated message indicating that their tests had been received when in fact, the tests did not
transmit properly or did not reach us at all. Please rest assured
that we respect the amount of time and skill that is involved in
taking the tests and that we are trying to get back to you at the
earliest possible time. If you have not heard from us within three
weeks of taking your tests, please accept our sincere apologies!
Check to see if you still have copies of your test and send them
to us by email at Careers@WriteEdge.com
marked HIGH PRIORITY -- we guarantee that you will have a response
within three working days. If you do not have copies of the tests,
please send us a high-priority email giving us the approximate
date and time that you performed the upload so that we can try to
track down your files.
|
| Q. |
Why
does The Write Edge test all writers in copyediting and structural
editing? |
| A. |
Even
though we ask all candidates to take the copyediting test, this
does not necessarily mean that you will be receiving copyediting
assignments. The copyediting test is one of the evaluation tools
we employ as part of the overall process. For example, even if you
submitted writing samples with your application, we have no way of
knowing how much editing was performed on that piece by others,
and we do not know how long you spent working and polishing it.
Before we can give you an assignment, we need to know how much
copyediting your work will need so that we can budget time and
cost accordingly on projects. Writers that score very poorly on
the copyediting test will not be eligible for writing assignments.
Similarly, our structural editing test gives us some insight into
how you think and what kinds of issues you address in your
writing. Taking both tests will also give you valuable information
about our procedures and expectations.
|
| Q. |
Do you have any tips
or hints for taking the tests? |
| A. |
First, read our
technology requirements carefully. If you haven’t used the
revision-tracking tool (Track Changes) in Word, please familiarize
yourself with this feature before beginning the test. Also
remember that the ability to follow instructions is an important
part of the test. Don't forget that Word has both a spelling and
grammar checker. Use them. You will find that your score is VERY low if you make even one such mistake on the test. And last, but not least, please remember that we use American English. If you are accustomed to British or Canadian English, you can set Word's language feature to English U.S. and
it will help you to catch potential problems.
To make it easier to
preserve revision-marking mode even with the automated checking
tools, try the following procedure:
Open the test file. Turn
on revision-tracking mode. Run the spelling and grammar checker.
As the dialogue box shows you errors, correct mistakes manually in
the text (this will highlight the change onscreen), then resume
the spelling checker. Do not allow the software to make the
changes for you, otherwise the changes you make will not be
highlighted, and you will not receive credit for having made the
correction. When you have completed the spelling and grammar
checker, proceed with manual editing.
Errors
can be difficult to spot using the revision-marking mode. To check
your work before turning it in, run the spelling and grammar
checker again. (Why twice? Because running it the first time will
save you manual editing time!) To do this, you will need to make a
copy of the file, accept all revisions (changes) and then run the
spelling checker. As the software shows you errors, make
them manually in the original file. |
| Q. |
What
should I do with the Structural Editing Test? |
| A. |
Use your judgment, but
consider the writing from an economic standpoint. How much of an
editor's time does the document justify? What would you do if you
were an acquisitions editor receiving this submission? Under what
circumstances would you change your level of involvement? Proceed
accordingly. |
| Q. |
What if I don't get
all the answers right on the Programmer's Test? |
| A. |
We have many different
levels of programming needs, ranging from basic HTML tasks to the
most complex Web applications. Answer the questions that you can
answer quickly. The application questions can be cut and pasted or
modified from previous work. If you have already done an
e-commerce application, for example, the database relationships
question will be a five-minute task. If you haven't, then the task
will obviously take longer -- and we need to know that for billing
purposes. The same with the coding sample: we recognize that for
many programmers this will be a challenging task -- it is
obviously much easier to create a new row for each item -- but for
many e-commerce stores, a two-, three-, or four-product row is
preferable. We need to know which of our programmers can
accomplish such a task.
|
| Q. |
Do I have to
understand Web graphics to be considered for graphics or design
work? |
| A. |
No.
Your test will tell us how familiar you are with the issues
involved and what technology you have available to accomplish Web
tasks. But a good designer does not necessarily need to optimize
his or her own images.
|
| Q. |
What kind of work
assignments can I expect from The Write Edge? |
| A. |
The Write Edge offers a
variety of writing, editing, graphics, promotion, business, and
web development services. Assignments can vary from book projects
for publishers or businesses to full-scale Web site development
for small to medium enterprises. In some cases, we might handle
content, design, and marketing strategy in conjunction with a
company's in-house IT department and an outside Public Relations
firm; or we may work as one part of a development team, providing
content services while another Web site development firm handles
design. We assign jobs based on your qualifications and
availability, using our database to best match your desired pay
rate, experience, and interests to the needs of the client and
project. |
| Q. |
How much work can I
expect to get from The Write Edge? |
| A. |
We have no means to
ascertain workloads on a long-term basis. The quantity of work
that you can expect depends on your speed, efficiency,
flexibility, and willingness to work as part of a team. It also
varies based on the number and type of contracts that are
currently in-house, and on the time of year. We are currently in the process of developing several large applications that will require content work, and and are in the planning stages of several
large projects. In addition, we are launching an increased
marketing effort to add new clients. We are also seeking alternate
revenue sources for our contractors. In other words, we are
poising ourselves for growth in 2000, and expect to increase our
volume substantially above the current level.
|
| Q. |
Can
I work for other companies at the same time I'm working for The
Write Edge? |
| A. |
Absolutely, as long as
you do not engage in any project that would create a conflict of
interest or would adversely affect our business or the business of
our clients. Our Independent Contractor’s Agreement specifies
details in this regard. |
| Q. |
How do I get
assignments from The Write Edge? |
| A. |
Once we have fully
processed your application and test results and you have executed
an Independent Contractor's Agreement with us, your information
will be available in our database when we search for contractors
to handle specific assignments. We can search by job type, job
sub-type, experience, and interests, and then we review each
application to find the most suitable candidate.
If job requirements
would suit a large number of candidates, or if we do not find any
one or two contractors that seem to be right for an assignment, we
will occasionally place assignments on the jobs board in our
Contractors’ area. This area is password protected, and can be
accessed once you have executed an Independent Contractor's
Agreement with us. The jobs board will provide the instructions
necessary for applying for any particular assignment.
|
| Q. |
How do I invoice? |
| A. |
There is a
password-protected link in the Contractors’ area (http://www.writeedge.com/contractors)
that leads to our invoice application. Each project site will
provide guidelines that specify the client ID, phase name, project
name, and payment terms.
|
| Q. |
How
often do I get paid? |
| A. |
This varies from client
to client. For most clients, you will be requested to submit
invoices for completed work on the 15th and 30th or 31st of each
month, and processing your payment usually takes two weeks to six
weeks, depending on the terms that we are able to negotiate with
the client. In a best-case scenario, an invoice that you submit on
the 30th of the month would be paid shortly after the 15th of
following month, but most clients will be on 30-day payment
cycles. Work that is quoted per project is generally invoiced to
the client on completion of the project.
Your contract will state
that you will be paid within 20 days of our receipt of payment
from the client. We do collect and maintain significantly large
deposits from all clients, however, to allow us to pay in all but
catastrophic situations. To date, we have never failed to pay on
time and have paid on time even when client payments have been
delayed.
|
| Q. |
What about deadlines? |
| A. |
All work assignments will have an associated deadline. It is a
critical that deadlines be met. Of course, we understand that
occasionally unforeseen circumstances may arise. Whenever possible
we will attempt to work around such circumstances, but we do
expect to be notified immediately if you encounter any situation
that could result in a delay, additional expense, or
reduced-quality product for the client.
|
| Q. |
Do I have to accept
all assignments? |
| A. |
No. We understand that
you may be occupied with other clients, or that some subjects may
not be in your area of expertise or interest. You will always be
given the option of accepting or declining an assignment.
|
| Q. |
Can
I suggest new clients or market The Write Edge to potential
clients? |
| A. |
Absolutely! The more
clients we have, the more work everyone has available to them. If
you have your own clients, we can often handle other aspects of
their business and coordinate with you on work that you are
already doing for them.
|
| Q. |
How
do I submit my work? |
| A. |
Contractors receive and
submit most work using the download/upload area on the client's
project directory on The Write Edge website. This is why the
testing process is exceedingly important; in addition to testing
your skills, it will familiarize you with our procedures,
expectations, and technology requirements.
|
| Q. |
As
a writer or editor, what are my system/software requirements? |
| A. |
We ask all our
independent contract writers and editors to use Microsoft Word
97ä
for PC format or a later version. We realize that this is a
problem for MAC users, however there are conversion programs
available that will allow MAC users to submit and send files in
the correct format. While our format structure may seem rigid, it
is vital on most of our projects that require that several
writers, editors, and project managers to work on any given file.
Long file names are a critical part of our overall system because
they allow us to track various versions and revisions of
individual files. Naturally you will also need Internet access.
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 or higher will be the
most compatible, however you can usually work in Netscape 4.0 and
higher without problems.
|
| Q. |
As
a graphic artist, what are my system/software requirements? |
| A. |
We ask all our
independent graphic artists to use Adobe Photoshop 5.0TM
or higher to produce .PSD files that preserve layers. We also ask
that you optimize images using Adobe ImageReadyTM or
PhotoShop 5.5TM
or similar software. For print work, we usually ask you to work in
QuarkXPressTM.
 |
| Q. |
As
a programmer, what are my system/software requirements? |
| A. |
You will need to be able
to test your code on an IIS 5.0 server. For some clients, we do
produce light HTML coding in Microsoft Front PageTM
for the sake of speed, but we prefer Front Page 2000 with the
preserve existing HTML format option. Visual InterDevTM
is preferable for many projects, however UltraEditTM,
HotMetalProTM,
Adobe GoLive!TM or even text editors are fine provided
that you show no degradation in speed. You will need Microsoft
Access 2000 for most projects, but you do not need to maintain a
live version of SQL 7.0 in most cases, as we can upscale from
Access.
|
|
