My comeuppance
Things are kinda tight around the old Gypsy-Lancelot household (and I don’t mean in my hoo-ha region, although they are there, too, you dirty-minded freaks — wait, that’s just me, isn’t it?). We’ve been making it, but there’s no cushion to speak of (damn, I really am talking about finances — why is everything sounding dirty?). Lancelot has recently started a new and much better job, but it’s early days yet and we haven’t quite gotten caught up. I know — I just know — things will get better for us financially, but right now we’re struggling like a lot of people.
So I thought, hey, why not try to pick up some part-time freelance editing work? Surely there’s something out there for someone as qualified and capable as I! Well, you’d think that, wouldn’t you? But I haven’t found doodly squat.
Finally I stumbled upon a fairly mediocre online content provider who shall remain nameless. This is a company who squeezes “writers” (I use the term very, very loosely) for $7-15 an article on such illustrious topics as “How to Repair a Window Panel.” I’m only partially ashamed to admit I have written for them in an effort to gain a little extra pocket money. Hey, you do what you gotta do.
But I figured I’m an editor: They hire copyeditors. Problem solved. After some hoop jumping and emailing and test taking, come to find out my test results “don’t meet their standards.”
I don’t meet their standards.
What the hell kind of standards do they have that someone with almost 10 years of editing experience and an MA in publishing is unqualified?
At first I was scornful. I mean, come on. But then it really got to me. What if I really screwed up the test? What if I’m a sucky editor? What if I can’t hack it and I’m doomed to mediocrity and I’m total failure and I’m doing the entirely wrong thing with my life and I suck, I suck, I suck!
All because they don’t think my work meets their standards. Let’s just forget all the kudos and accolades and stuff I get at work day-to-day. Let’s just set aside my passion for the job. I’m just gonna take their grubby little words for it.
No I damn well am not!
Ok, so maybe I’m not Ms. Supergalactic Editrix Exceptionale. Chances are there’s an error or two in this post, for heaven’s sake. But I fucking care about it. I pay attention to words and meaning and context and grammar and punctuation. I read about it, I notice it, and I love it. So they with their big fat “standards” can suck it. Interrobang!
You didn’t meet your standards bc you are too damned good at what you do. They were afraid the “writers” wouldn’t understand what the hell you were talking about.
Anyone who wants to pay a writer $15 for an article is not interested in quality. I’m actually surprised they have editors at all.
The Internet has lowered the bar for writers; I can only imagine the same goes for editors.
It’s not you, it’s them.
I would have to say, that in this instance “Don’t meet their standards” means “She’s over-damned qualified and we can’t afford her because she’s good. Real good.”
I’m just sayin’.
I’d like to think you’re all right. So I will.
I used to work for this company so obviously their standards are not high:
http://www.proquest.com/en-US/default.shtml
My first job there was editorial assistant….i organized the paperwork for the freelance editors….back then everything was on paper so all the freelancers had to be close by….maybe now they hire editors from afar.
It likely means you are over-qualified. You’d end up setting the bar much higher for the other folks, which would make things unbalanced, cause strife, et cetera.
Mostly, it probably means they saw your work, looked at their budget, and figured they couldn’t pay you what you’re worth.
I get similar rejections from online schools and I have taught online forever and have great student evaluations. It’s like, even though you’re qualified, it’s not good enough. You’ll find something though!
I’m a totally unqualified proofreader. But I edit the English and since all the documents I read are written by Germans, Italians, Spanish, etc, they think I’m qualified just because English is my native tongue.
I hope I never have to take any sort of exam. That would suck hard.
Your job description reminded me of a documentary about the caste system in India.
In the state of Bihar this is still strongly enforced, and the dalits have a new sub-caste called the “rat-eaters”. The upper caste landowners reward them by allowing them to eat all the rats that they catch. And it always tastes like chicken.
As a writer, I have to say that editors drive me crazy. Until my present job, I never dealt with editors–I dealt with creative directors. You didn’t really want to learn about window panes anyhow, did you?
Perhaps you didn’t meet their standard because YOURS are too high? Certainly a better way of looking at it, isn’t it?
Standards are for losers.
Hi Gypsy.
I’ve started a collaborative blog with different women discussing their different sexual encounters and how they define themselves through them.
It’s not erotica, it’s pretty basic.
I was wondering if there’s any chance you’d like to be a part of it.
You can check it out here: http://ChocolateForAphrodite.blogspot.com
and if you like it, drop me a line at libertad 22 mj at hotmail dot com telling me a gmail mailing address so that I may send you the invite and you can write in it as well. I’d be very honored if you decided to go ahead and do so.
if not, that’s OK too and I won’t take it personally.
They are quite clearly very drunk or WAY below that 100 point IQ average.