How Many Hoops Are You Willing to Jump Through?

By Ann Douglas

My friend Jen went through a series of 25 interviews before she was ultimately named editor-in-chief of a major consumer magazine. That’s a lot of hoops to jump through in the hope of landing a job—but, then again, it was a pretty nice job, complete with a rather droolworthy salary and a skyscraper office with an amazing view.

But what if the job you’re applying for doesn’t offer the potential for that kind of payoff—or at least not anytime soon? How many hoops are too many to jump through when you’re applying for a part-time or contract freelance writing gig?

It’s a question I started mulling over recently, after stumbling across a rather over-the-top writer/editor recruitment ad on a marketing agency website. Not only did the company in question expect writers and editors to bring “intense joy, abundant love, and infinite gratitude” to the job application table. They also expected them to “pay their dues” by going through a rigorous, six-step job application process, one that involved...

1. submitting a sizzling résumé (“If it’s boring, liven it up,” the company advises)
2. pouring through the company’s corporate and community websites and submitting written feedback on “the parts that spark your interest”
3. being explicit about what you have to offer the company—and submitting an “authentic” mini-bio as opposed to spewing out a mash-up of career achievements (“We don’t care if you were published in The New York Times unless it changed your life and is your proudest accomplishment,” the company warns)
4. writing a short story about something “non work-related” that made you feel good about yourself recently
5. explaining “what joy and celebration look like for you” (because “joy is imperative” at this company) and, finally,
6. “saying something nice” in your e-mail to the person in charge of vetting job applications for this company because “she deserves it.”

I don’t know about you, but this strikes me as an awful lot of hoops to jump through in order to have a shot at part-time, contract work (although, to be fair the advertisement does indicate that there is the potential of the job “growing into a full-time role” within the company).

So how do you go about deciding just how many hoops you’re willing to jump through in order to apply for a particular freelance writing opportunity and when it simply makes more sense to walk away?

For me, it’s a matter of weighing the potential payoff against the time and effort involved in applying, while also factoring in the likelihood that I’ll actually be successful in landing the job:

• Potential payoff: Will this result in a steady stream of potentially lucrative work for a client that is a good fit for me?”
• Time and effort involved in applying: There’s an opportunity cost involved in applying for any position. I could be using this same block of time to pursue other types of work, to hone a new skill, and/or to enjoy some time off with my family.
• Odds of success: Is this a slam-dunk or a long-shot for me?

I also consider whether I’m likely to be able to re-use any of the materials required for a particular pitch when crafting similar pitches in future. In applying for this particular position, I’d likely only be able to re-use two out of the six elements required (my “sizzling” résumé and my “authentic” mini-bio): the other elements would likely languish untouched on my hard-drive forever. Frankly, that’s kind of a waste.

Other considerations that show up on my radar screen when I’m trying to decide whether or not to apply: how badly I want or need the work right now (which means taking into account everything from whether or not this is my dream job to how healthy my bank account balance is looking these days) and how likely it is that I’d be happy working for this particular company over the long-term (if they want me to jump through this many hoops at the job application stage, what are the odds that they’re likely to be high-maintenance every step of the way?)

I don’t think it will come as any surprise to you to learn that I decided to take a pass on applying for this particular job.

It’s not that I didn’t find the job intriguing.

I did.

It’s just that, as a busy freelancer, there are countless other opportunities competing for my time, energy, and attention on any given day—and when I factored in the number of hoops I’d have to jump through just to be considered for this opportunity—well, I simply couldn’t justify the time, energy, and attention involved.

Now I’d love to toss this out to you, Story Board readers: How do you go about deciding when it is—and isn’t—worth your while applying for a particular freelance opportunity (or non-opportunity)? And what’s your best advice to other freelancers who want to enjoy a reasonable return on the time, energy, and attention they invest in pitching?  

 

Ann Douglas is the author of numerous books about pregnancy and parenting including, most recently, Parenting Through the Storm (a guide to parenting a child who has a mental health, neurodevelopmental, or behavioural challenge). She is @anndouglas on Twitter.