When the applications started rolling in, I was dumbfounded. All of my best intentions and systems notwithstanding, the applicants seemed intent on ruling themselves out of contention by sending sub-standard application emails. They were so bad that, at times, I felt like I was shortlisting based on the quality of the application, rather than the quality of the applicant.

This article is for any writer – experienced or not – who plans to apply for a copywriting job. It presents 12 tips (in order of importance) on how to apply in such a way that you stand a chance of making the shortlist.

1) Follow Instructions

If the job ad contains instructions, follow them. If it contains instructions which are labelled “IMPORTANT”, and which are formatted bold and red, you can assume they’re somewhat important and that there’s a reason for them. Follow them! Read and re-read the ad to make sure you’ve followed every instruction. If the ad says apply via email, apply via email! If it says to use “Copywriter Application” as the subject line, use “Copywriter Application” as the subject line! If it says to visit a website, provide a quote, supply three copy samples, and include your resume, DO ALL OF THOSE THINGS! If you don’t follow the simple, obvious instructions in a job ad, the employer will have no faith that you’ll be able to adhere to a complex copywriting brief!

2) Less is More

Don’t waste the employer’s time. Remember, they’re hiring a freelance copywriter because they need someone to take on a bit of their workload. They’re ‘time poor’. Keep your application short ‘n’ sweet. This is your chance to show what you’re capable of, so don’t fall into the trap of using big words and complex sentences. Less is more.

3) Show How You’ll Help Their Business

Try to see things from the employer’s perspective. Most employers who advertise for freelancer copywriters are looking for people who can help them streamline their business. Employers – particularly copywriting studios, advertising agencies and web design agencies – who want freelance copywriters are trying to ‘productize’ copywriting. They want to be able to ‘turn the handle’: they want an affordable freelance copywriter who can be relied upon to deliver client-ready first draft copy, with minimal supervision. They’re trying to build a copywriter factory line. Remember this when you apply, and try to show how you’ll help them achieve this goal.

4) Make Your Application Scannable

Once again, remember that the employer doesn’t have a lot of time. So make your copywriter application easy to scan. Don’t just write one long block of text. Use short paragraphs, headings and bullets, and bold the important bits.

5) Address the Requirements

If the copywriter ad lists the requirements of the job, make sure you address them, individually. (But remember, keep it short ‘n’ sweet.)

6) Be Open and Honest

Don’t oversell yourself; if the story told by your samples and resume doesn’t match your sales spiel, you’ll be discounted. If you don’t have the experience or expertise to satisfy one or more of the requirements, say so. And don’t lie about your experience or include samples you didn’t actually write. This may get you one job, but you may not get paid for it, and you’ll certainly never get another. And remember, the copywriting world is very small; everyone knows everyone, and warnings about deceptive freelancers travel very fast along the grapevine.

7) Provide Relevant Samples

If the job ad asks you to supply samples of your copy, do everything in your power to find and supply samples that are relevant. The ad may specify the kind of samples you need to supply, but if not, take a look at the employer’s website, and send samples that are relevant to their main service offering. If they do mostly web copy, send web copy samples. If they do short copy, send short copy samples. And if you don’t have any relevant samples, try to identify the core qualities required by the employer, and send samples that show you possess those qualities. (e.g. If the employer does mostly online brochure-type web copy, you’ll need to supply samples which show your ability to simultaneously capture a product and an audience, and maybe even educate the audience.)

Don’t Expect Immediate Feedback

Because most job ads attract hundreds of applications, and because the employer is still trying to run their business, you can’t expect immediate feedback on your application. Don’t send a reminder email after a day or two days. If you’re going to send a reminder, do it after a week or two weeks. And, unless the ad says to call, don’t call! Phone calls take up a lot of time, and this can be very frustrating to a busy employer who, most likely, has no feedback to give yet, anyway.

9) Don’t Use Broken English

If you’re applying for a job as an English-language copywriter, you have to have a solid mastery of English. If your application is written in broken English, you WILL NOT get the role; you’re simply wasting your time and the employer’s time.

10) Proof-Read Your Application

Nothing undermines a copywriter more than mistakes in spelling, punctuation, grammar and syntax (he says as he nervously scans his article!). Pay close attention to detail. You may be applying for quite a few roles, but don’t hurry through your application; always take the time to proof-read and spell-check. TIP: Although it’s not a show-stopper, try to spell the employer’s correctly!

11) Don’t Ask for Work Experience

Unless the ad specifically states that unpaid work experience is a possibility, don’t ask for it. While it certainly indicates great enthusiasm, most employers simply don’t have the time to mentor a junior copywriter, even if they’re not paying the writer anything.

12) Don’t Ask for a Critique of Your Writing

If your application is unsuccessful, feel free to ask why not, but don’t ask the employer to critique your writing. Explaining why your writing is inadequate is a very time consuming task, and it’s not the responsibility of a prospective employer. If you ever had a chance at a call-back somewhere down the line, this is the surest way to lose it.

Conclusion

You’d be surprised how many freelance copywriter applicants DON’T observe the above guidelines. These applicants make the employer’s job extremely frustrating and time consuming, and they all but rule themselves out of contention. Follow all of the above tips when applying for your next freelance copywriter position, and you’ll be a very big step ahead of your competition.

Happy applying!

r you; you need access to the internet and some online employment portals that will ask you relevant questions about your education and skill-set and also your experience. As you go on answering these questions the system will automatically build your resume for you.

There are some things you must bear in mind when using these free resume writing services on the internet.

• When writing your resume you must first decide what it is you want to tell the reader of the resume. You must understand that the reader is looking for information on your education and skill. The reader should not have to surf through the resume looking for the information. It should pop right out at him or her.
• Never resort to the use of Jargon in your resume. Slang is a big no-no when it comes to presenting your services to a prospective employer through a resume or in the course of an interview. Stick to being absolutely formal.
• If you are not applying for a technical post, avoid using technical terminology like the plague.
• Remember that you are making a resume and not a bio-data. So never include information such as the color of your eyes, hair and your height.
• Include only the education, training and experience that are relevant to the job profile you are applying for. Never detail your entire work history from jobs that is not relevant to the post you are applying for. Include an abbreviated list of the responsibilities you shouldered but do not go into detail.
• Stick to facts when making out your resume. Never try to over sell yourself as this may backfire during the course of the interview.
• Never fill your resume with graphics. In fact, never include graphics in your resume apart from a simple snap-shot of yourself shoulders up and do not wear dark glasses when getting your photograph taken.
• Lastly check the resume for spelling and grammatical errors. One error and your resume may just be thrown into the waste basket.

When you adhere to the above mentioned tips while making your resume even an automated system will produce a professionally written resume that can clinch the best job interviews for you.

‘Grammar’ is one of the most problematic issues in writing and Business Letter Writing Application was developed in order to help us better deal with it. English writing is a process that involves with several steps: pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing. The following article will show you how you can easily transform your English writing accurate, rich, and professional.

Quick overview

Automatic proofreading solutions such as the following Business Letter Writing Application are designed to ensure that your English writing matches the basic grammar and punctuation rules. It automatically identifies and corrects any writing errors. Many of these NLP solutions (Natural Language Processing) quickly analyze your content by using advanced algorithms, and then ‘fix’ it according to their internal ‘correct text’ DB. In most cases these solutions enables us to do the following: grammar check, misspelling and typos correction, and suggesting proper punctuation.

Advantages

Let’s summarize the main benefits and advantages:

* Saves us time spent on grammar guides.
* Saving on proofreading and editing costs such as hiring proofreading services or professional editors.
* Improving our inter-personal communication skills.
* Improving our word choices with synonyms, adjectives, and adverbs suited to our text.
* Improving the image we want to project through our writing.

There are probably many other benefits that are not covered here, as this exciting program constantly changes, bringing us new ideas and additional solutions that help us on improving our English writing.

Quick summary

There is no doubt that Business Letter Writing Application is a great way to enhance our writing capabilities and improve our written based communication. Can we completely trust this technology to fix our writing in 100%? Probably not, but it certainly helps us on identifying basic writing problems before we do. We can only expect this technology to further develop itself, simply because writing is one of the most important tools that help us fulfill our daily assignments.