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Posts by Polly / Posting Activity: 4
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Joined: Jan 02, 2011 		Last Post: Jan 04, 2011
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Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Searching for a Reputable Company To Work as A Freelance Writer (tips / assistance) [37]

Hi

I've been researching taking up writing again this last few days as I always enjoyed it in years past, however I am finding myself a little concerned regarding the number of scam sites out there. I have no interest in working for any of these. I have a Ph.D, which I wrote myself, experience of working in both the Public Sector and also the Private Sector for the last 10 years and I also taught undergraduates whilst studying. There doesn't appear to be a niche within these companies for someone like me. At least not so far, which is why I have registered here to ask for some assistance.

Writing AssistantI am British, graduated from a British University, and resident in Britain, and so many companies claim that people like me are who they hire, however the websites do not read as though they have even been written by someone with English as a first language. The rates also seem very low too, so I cannot see how they can be staffed with MSc. or Ph.D level writers. Or is this the Industry rate?

I haven't read this forum extensively yet, but sufficiently so far to appreciate that no-one will direct me to reputable companies. I did find one company I liked the look of, however I did not graduate in the South so that one is not an option particularly. So many sites provide an impression of credibility on first viewing, however when I look more closely at them, it is beginning to feel like peeling back the layers of an onion and finding it's not an onion inside. I've found a couple which do not appear to be located in the country which they claim, several which have been extensively criticised in forums for poor service to both writers and also students, and also a couple who don't appear to even pay their writers.

Therefore, I am beginning to wonder if I am wasting my time and efforts on this idea. There are so many dubious companies to filter through that I am beginning to doubt that I will find what I am looking for. How can it be so difficult to find a reputable company?

So, I am asking please, if there are any obvious pointers to look for when reading these websites which would speed up my research? I expected to find scams and sharp practice yes, but I did not expect to find it with such grim regularity. Is there a thread on here somewhere which I could be directed to which has key indicators to look for please which will help me tighten the search criteria?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions you have or threads you can point me to.
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Searching for a Reputable Company To Work as A Freelance Writer (tips / assistance) [37]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it. I did have a read of Essay Chat but it didnt seem to be busy so I wasn't sure if it received the page views. It appeared to be quite new though, so perhaps it is still building traffic. I have read about Craigslist, but the reviewer wasn't very enthusiastic about them but I'll gladly take your suggestion and look at it more closely.

I enjoy butchered analogies. Made me smile.

Many thanks
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Searching for a Reputable Company To Work as A Freelance Writer (tips / assistance) [37]

Very true. I hadn't considered doing it that way around first. My initial plan was to find a good reputable company where I could help students (I always enjoyed teaching them), produce good work and receive fair pay for it and consider going it on my own later, whilst still maintaining a good working relationship with whichever company was the best fit. I'm definitely considering what you have suggested whilst reading a bit more of the forum.

One aspect which has surprised me is that it seems difficult to find companies which specialise in particular disciplines. I am a scientist, and I expected there to be a split of companies specialising in science, literature, history, etc but all seem to be able to produce all disciplines. How then, can these companies edit and check work for technical accuracy when they are stretched across every subject possible? I can't see how a consistent standard to the students can be maintained and therefore a form of quality control over the work produced. I assume that is the responsibility of the student to check the technical aspects before they produce their own work but some responsibility must still rest with the company.
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Searching for a Reputable Company To Work as A Freelance Writer (tips / assistance) [37]

Why not please? This, obviously, is a different opinion to Amons so I am curious about the reason for your opinion.

Major, thank you for your reply. Company interaction is obviously less than I anticipated. Interesting. As the writers are the experts, do any here also offer online tutoring services? I'm wondering if this may be a better route for me as I seem no closer in my search for a legitimate US or UK company for academic writing. There must be a couple of them out there, but it's looking like a fruitless search so far.
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Searching for a Reputable Company To Work as A Freelance Writer (tips / assistance) [37]

I've been doing a little reading about it. I did my Ph.D between 1995-99 when I was in my late 20s and all the way through that I took lectures, supervised and taught laboratory classes, supervised final year student projects, dissertations etc, set and marked exams, essays and at times was called upon to take classes if the lecturer was off sick. We all did. It would seem I've spent too many years in Industry as now it appears that many types of certificates are needed to do what we all did as a matter of course. Experience doesn't seem to count the way it used to do.

More research! I'll keep looking. On the positive side, this niche does appear to be less scam filled than academic writing is.

In fact, there appears to be a niche for an honest essay writing company! Marketing would be an issue for me though as whilst I am very good with computers and the Internet, marketing a business was not a learning curve I anticipated climbing. I'm unsure about whether that is a path I would choose to walk down. So much to consider....
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Searching for a Reputable Company To Work as A Freelance Writer (tips / assistance) [37]

Having said that, you won't find a whole lot of positive reviews on a site that tries to expose fraudulent activities, either ;).

That is very true. I've read a few threads on here and it is difficult to separate fact from agenda. It has, however, been very useful in confirming my suspicions over some of the companies which I did put a line through before I ever found this forum via Google.
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Should companies treat independent freelance writers as their "employees"? [462]

Hi Editor, thank you for your reply. You make some interesting points throughout your post. I genuinely don't know what other writers do, I don't know anyone here and certainly haven't read all the threads (I only found this site on Sunday). My definition of freelance though, is that I choose when I work and what work I take. I don't wish to be classed as a full-time employee in truth as that would take away the facility to decline work which I didn't feel I could produce to benefit the student. Also, as I am British and subject to British taxes, if I did some work for a USA company and was classed as a full time employee, surely that would make my tax more complex rather than as a self employed individual in England?

I accept that there may be many writers who wish for the points you make in your post, but I want to be able to pick and choose the work I can do well. If I was classed as a FT employee, I would lose that facility and could be pushed into producing work way outside of my area of knowledge. That would go against my principles and would be unfair on the student who had paid for the work.

Also, just thinking aloud so to speak, if all writers were to be classed as FT employees of these companies, surely this would create a large dent in their profits and reduce writer salaries overall? The cut of these companies is what pays for their marketing, order processing, servers, salaries of office staff etc and in the UK, just the NI liability of all these extra employees would take a huge slice off that. I don't mind companies and their directors making a profit as they initially took the risk in setting up the business and carry the corporate liability for that business. All I am looking for is honest pay from an honest company.

So, whilst this may be applicable for other writers, for me personally it isn't. But I thank you for your interesting post and for taking the trouble to write it.
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Writing Careers / Should companies treat independent freelance writers as their "employees"? [462]

if organized writers can somehow get together and enforce work stoppages during a busy season, for example, they could really improve conditions for themselves.

I get the impression that many write for 2-3 companies rather than just one, so whilst they may write FT, they are not writing FT for one particular organisation FT so I can't see how it would work in practice. Surely it is up to the individuals to improve their own conditions? Just my thoughts which relate to me personally, you're perfectly entitled to believe otherwise.
Polly   
Jan 03, 2011
Essay Services / The Example Dissertation Network - also known as Urgent PhD Thesis. Scam or not? [40]

I'm looking at the UK Dissertation Network website at the minute, UK address, Companies House certificate etc. Are there any threads on here which cover this group please? It looks genuine but a couple of things concern me a little and I'd like to look at them more closely. Anything on here please?

Also, could I ask, is the information in the history of the forum still current for Master Papers or have they improved in the last couple of years please?
Polly   
Jan 04, 2011
Essay Services / The Example Dissertation Network - also known as Urgent PhD Thesis. Scam or not? [40]

Thank you WRT, for a really constructive reply. I'm researching so much before applying to any because I really don't wish to send my certificates, name, details, cv etc to a scam company and have them able to hold this information on their computers. In the UK we have Data Protection, and a similar system in the USA, but there would probably be nothing to prevent a Ukraine scam set-up taking those details and carrying out professional identity theft.

Maybe I'm too cynical.

Or maybe not. After some of the things I have read on here this last couple of days I believe caution to be the better approach. Thank you again for the reply