I do believe I've been duped

There are too many people out there looking for jobs right now, and you know what that means...

Lots of opportunities for scammers.

I just finished up a bit ghost writing project for a freelance writing company that promised to pay me a set rate on a specific day. I turned in the project. Got praise for my good work. And waited. And waited. And...you get the point.

I didn't get paid.

For the record, I got this position through a friend. His wife is the woman I wrote the document for. I thought, "Hey, I know this guy. This should be the real deal." Maybe I was wrong.

I sent a kind email asking if I had been mistaken on the payday and guess what? I waited some more. I finally got a response saying that she was waiting for the client to review the document and send it back for me to look over one last time, but that it could take a week before she even gets it back.

And that's when I realized I had just wasted three weeks of my life that I could have spent searching for a better job that will actually pay me. I doubt I will see a paycheck for my efforts. I will keep you posted.

Anybody have advice for job seekers trying to avoid these kinds of scams? Post your comments.

The Ghost in the Machine: The Ethics of Writing for Another Author

Among my job prospects this past month is a position ghost writing a book. I'm great with research and writing, but this just seems like cheating to me. Here's why:

The research is hasty and I'm not allowed to quote sources. Knowing little about the topic means I would normally rely on sources to back me up. I'm doing the very best I can to write everything I learn, being very thorough and not copying the work already done by others, but I'm not an expert on the topic and I question whether I would buy a book researched and written in two weeks by a person who has just learned the very basics.

And here's the kicker:

The client has accepted every draft of the project without any major revisions!

Now, I'm wondering who this guy is trying to cheat. And that's what lead me to questioning this whole idea of ghost writing.

What are your thoughts? Is ghost writing unethical? And who should be accountable, the client or the writers?

I've Graduated College, Now What?

It's been nearly a month since graduation and I am anxious to dive into work. I knew that it would take some time to find a job, but I'm an impatient person. I want to be working now. So what should I do in the meantime, aside from job hunting?

Blog of course!

Okay, so that probably won't get me far, but I have dedided to work on my professional portfolio. I probably should have done that long before graduation, but who has the time when in the middle of final exams and deadlines for major projects?

Nevertheless, here I am relearning to build a website from scratch and trying to incorporate my writing samples, in the hopes of obtaining a job. If nothing else, I hope to find some sort of freelance writing work. Dreamweaver is a chore.

For the writers out there, what are the best and worst resources you've found for building your online portfolios?

I will be posting a link to the portfolio soon. Stay tuned.