Saturday, February 6, 2016

Hiring Me

Over the past year, I have gotten a lot of comments asking how to hire me. I don't make it a secret that I work on Guru. In fact, when I type "Paradoxical Guru" into Google, my profile is the first thing that comes up. It amazes me that after reading my blog and being familiar with my tongue-in-cheek attitude that some of you would want to do this, but if you do hire me, I will give you the best job I can. As you probably know, I don't candy coat things. 

I don't necessarily think it is difficult to find me; however, getting on Guru as an employer can be a daunting task. At the top of my profile, you will see a "join now" link and that is how you set up your own profile. Then you will need to create a job post and make it private if you only want to work with me and aren't interested in seeing what other freelancers have to offer. I actually recommend JoyMC and Pam Pieroni because they have equal or better skill than me. I use them to edit and help with my stuff. They have learned the art of PR and so probably wouldn't be as abrasive as my ADHD makes me at times. 

Once you post a job and invite me, it will show up in my leads. Now, if you invite me to a job for something I don't do- like say you send me a job wanting me to write an app for you- I will either (a) ignore it or (b) send you back a slightly sassy message that says the equivalent of REALLY?! Guru keeps track of a variety of matrices. When you see the listing of Freelancers, the ones that appear at the top either (a) paid for it or (b) earned it. Guru lets you know who paid for it so the ones that are toward the top and not marked as premium bids are the ones that deserve to be there. Part of getting to the top of that list involves not only how well you keep and retain employers (and how much you make) but also how well you bid on things. Every time I bid on a job and someone else is hired, I get points against me and can drop down that list. If I bid on a job that doesn't fit what I do, then my chances of getting it are poor. 

Also keep in mind that I CAN do some things because I have the knowledge, but there are many things I don't like to do. I know about SEO and writing web content, but I hate doing it. If you try to hire me for that, chances are good I will ignore it. I also won't work for peanuts- I prefer pecans... My going rate as of today (read: it will go up in the future) is $4 per page for formatting and proofreading. If you can't afford that, you should save until you can. I am not saying you should hire me, but I am saying I am on the cheap end of the scale for good editors. 

Finally, some times I get bogged down with work, and I may not be able to respond or accept your job. For example, I was recently hired to format and proofread a master's thesis (my absolute favorite job). It was 400 pages, filled with tables and figures that need reformatting and a general mess. I was given a week and a half to do it. That is really pushing my skills to the max and most nights I got 6 hours sleep some nights I got less. I had one guy try to hire me for a job during that time, and he got upset that I didn't get back to him. I told him I was busy and he complained that it only takes a few seconds to send an e-mail. That may be true, but it takes a little longer to check e-mail (which may have more than just his message in it), craft a reply, and then send it. I suppose I could set my e-mail to autorespond with a generic, "I am currently working on a rush job, I will get back to you when I am done." But again, that would take time and I would rather be blogging. And then my life still happens. I now have five children who all require doctors visits and other appointments, as well as a baby who requires a lot of my attention. I am thinking about a vlog for the joys of parenting.

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